Energy Harvesting using Piezoelectric Igniter for Self-Powered Radio Frequency (RF) Wireless Sensors

Abstract

The field of miniature low-powered and low cost A fatal feature of battery-powered WSNs is the conwireless sensor nodes has been growing tremendously and strained source of energy supplied by batteries coming with the wireless sensor nodes have been widely used in applications like medical implants, embedded sensors in building, s n b military applications, etc. However, little research works thus use tiny batteries. In many scenarios, it seems like it is have been carried out on the energy sources of the wire-not feasible to replace or recharge batteries of sensor nodes. less sensors such that the sensor nodes become self-powered. For example, NASA plans to deploy sensor networks in ar-This paper discusses various renewal energy sources available in the environment that can be tapped to supply en-eas of interest on Mars [8]. Meanwhile, in WSNs, wireless ergy for these wireless sensors. This paper has special incommunication is considered much more energy consuming terest on piezoelectric generator because it is simple and than sensing and computing [9]. All these factors make it easy to harvest mechanical force energy from human beings as compared to other energy sources. An energy harvest-e t d ing circuit design for piezoelectric pushbutton-generator is protocols to maintain requested network properties (e.g.proposed and implemented efficiently for wireless radio fre-connectivity) as well as effective energy harvesting scheme quency (RF) transmitter. This self-powered wireless transfor network lifetime as long as possible. mitter is capable of transmitting a 12-bit digital word information using the mechanical force energy harvested from There have been two different approaches to maximizing depressing the pushbutton which is attached to the energy sensor network lifetime; efficient routing and topology conharvesting circuit. The experimental results show that when trol protocols and low or even self-powered concept. The the piezoelectric pushbutton is depressed, 67.61 ,uJ of electrical energy is scavenged and it is sufficient to transmit 2 first approach aims to minimize energy consumption and to complete 12-bit digital word information via the RF unit. maximize network lifetime by developing energy conserv-The RF unit consumes 26.4 /tJ of energy for 1 word transing routing and topology control protocols and maximize mission. network lifetime to prolong the WSNs lifetime.

In Vivo Demonstration of a Self-Sustaining, Implantable, Stimulated-Muscle-Powered Piezoelectric Generator Prototype

“…A fixed input voltage for the stimulator would result in a constant stimulus current and would prevent wasted energy. This could be achieved by adding a DC–DC converter commonly used with piezoelectric generators26,42,48 to the system to regulate the voltages of the stimulator and the load. Additionally, emerging technologies should be incorporated 33 into the design of the stimulator and the electrical circuitry should be customized to further reduce power costs.…”

Power Issues in Biomedical Telemetry

“…When the pushbutton is pressed, an inner spring is compressed, and when the pressure exceeds a fixed threshold, the Figure 5.1 System-level diagram of human-step-powered energy-harvesting device (Orecchini et al, 2011). spring-loaded hammer is released in order to deliver the dynamic mechanical force to the piezoelectric component. Once the hammer strikes the piezoelectric element, a pressure wave is generated and reflected a few times between the hammer and the element, creating a mechanical resonance (Tan et al, 2006). Consequently the output voltage that is generated will follow similarly to an AC signal course depending on the dynamic polarization of the element.…”

Energy Harvesting From Vibration With Alternate Scavenging Circuitry and Tapered Cantilever Beam

“…The collected energy from the environment is either sufficient to power a remote Manuscript sensor or at least is able to extend the rechargeable battery lifetime. In addition, small wireless sensors which typically use tiny batteries [6] will not survive long-term usage unless the batteries are impractically larger than the sensing and processing hardware even for low-consumption applications. By using energy harvesting, the battery pack can be made either significantly small or removed [7].…”