This paper focuses on the design and development of a tire pressure measurement systems (TPMS) sensor powered by on-the-go piezoelectric energy harvesting. The prime research motivation was to achieve replacement of a limited capacity power source such as a battery with an on-the-go power generation method in order to enhance TPMS lifespan and simplify the design, with the former having greater priority. Very low cost and highly flexible piezoceramic (PZT) bender elements are used to generate power inside the automobile wheel assembly thereby replacing the battery and eliminating the need for a motion sensing mechanism and/or circuitry since PZT harvesters only produce power during wheel rotation. A fully operational sensor configuration which proves the feasibility of PZT based energy harvesting as a substitute for a permanent power source is discussed in detail.
An in-wheel wireless and battery-less piezo-powered tire pressure sensor is developed. Where conventional battery powered Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) are marred by the limited battery life, TPMS based on power harvesting modules provide virtually unlimited sensor life. Furthermore, the elimination of a permanent energy reservoir simplifies the overall sensor design through the exclusion of extra circuitry required to sense vehicle motion and conserve precious battery capacity during vehicle idling periods. In this paper, two design solutions are presented, 1) with very low cost highly flexible piezoceramic (PZT) bender elements bonded directly to the tire to generate power required to run the sensor and, 2) a novel rim mounted PZT harvesting unit that can be used to power pressure sensors incorporated into the valve stem requiring minimal change to the presently used sensors. While both the designs eliminate the use of environmentally unfriendly battery from the TPMS design, they offer advantages of being very low cost, service free and easily replaceable during tire repair and replacement.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREVs) currently mainly rely on Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) utilizing conventional fuels to recharge batteries in order to extend their range. Even though Piezo-based power generation devices have surfaced in recent years harvesting vibration energy, their output has only been sufficient to power up sensors and other such smaller devices. The permanent need for a cleaner power generation technique still remains. This paper investigates the possibility of using piezoceramics for power generation within the vehicle's wheel assembly by exploiting the rotational motion of the wheel and the continuously variable contact point between the pneumatic tire and the road.
This paper focuses on the design and development of a low-cost multifunctional composite component integrated into a shoe hill that generates power in the order of milliwats (mW) through piezoceramic (PZT) stacks and stores this harvested energy in a capacitor integrated into the composite. The use of a thin-film lithium battery integrated into the composite is also explored as a means of permanent power storage. PZT bimorph elements are stacked in a cantilever manner. The space in-between and around the elements is being filled with foam, which provides structural support as well as walking comfort. An insole composite with a PZT layer is also developed that is capable of producing 2.2mW of power to give a total power output of 12.2mW for the in-heel insole combination. The experimental results revealed that the use of PZT bimorph elements (d33=110) instead of polyvinylidene difluoride PVDF sheets (d33=20) increased the power generation potential over five folds, which is further compounded by stacking the PZT elements.
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