An experimental study of ultra-low power wireless sensor-based autonomous energy harvesting system: Fid-Bau Portal

An experimental study of ultra-low power wireless sensor-based autonomous energy harvesting system

Ma, Yuzhen / Ji, Qing / Chen, Song / Song, Gangbing

Technological advances for low power consumption and flexible electronics have spurred research on energy harvesting. In this paper, an innovative methodology is proposed to power an ultra-low power wireless sensor node (milliwatt level) autonomously by using a piezoceramic patch which is bonded to a low-frequency vibrating beam. An LTC3588 based energy harvesting module was developed to transfer and collect the energy efficiently. Through a switching interface between the energy harvesting module and the wireless sensor, a 0.33F supercapacitor was charged for 12 h by the harvested vibrational energy to allow the wireless sensor node to join the network and transmit data packets. It was experimentally demonstrated that this applied switching interface could effectively provide on-off control to the power of the wireless sensor node. In order to allow this function, the supercapacitor worked alternatively in the charging mode and the discharging mode. When the supercapacitor stored enough harvested energy, the wireless sensor node initiated the effort to join the wireless network automatically and then sent data packets to the network manager which was connected to a monitoring computer. In addition, wireless sensors which were powered by the energy harvesting system could also send or receive data packets in the network. The developed piezoceramic based energy harvesting method has the potential to be used in structural health monitoring systems by harvesting the ambient mechanical energy.