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

Abstract

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.

Energy Harvesting Powered Wireless Sensor Nodes With Energy Efficient Network Joining Strategies

“…The most power hungry process during the network join process of a TSCH node is the listening process, consuming around 5.5 mA of current [15]. C of 92 mF is obtained by substituting the values of 15 s, 5.5 mA, 3.15 V, and 2.25 V into dt, I, Vmax, and Vmin in (1), respectively.…”

“…So far, many studies on TSCH-based networks are battery powered [11]- [13]. Attempts to power TSCH nodes using energy harvesting were either unsuccessful [14] or took 12 hours to charge up a 0.33 F capacitor for only 12 s of initial startup [15]. Thus, there is a need to address the network join issues of energy harvesting powered wireless sensor nodes so that the nodes can truly benefit from the abundance of energy in the environments for perpetual operation of WSNs.…”

Detecting of the Longitudinal Grouting Quality in Prestressed Curved Tendon Duct Using Piezoceramic Transducers

“…In recent years, piezoceramics transducers have been used to monitor structural health [28][29][30]. Piezoceramic transducers have their superiorities of wide frequency range [31][32][33], low cost [34,35], energy harvesting [36][37][38], and the dual functions as a sensor and an actuator. Among various piezoceramic materials, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) has the strongest piezoelectric effect and can be fabricated in different shapes [39,40].…”

A study on a near‐shore cantilevered sea wave energy harvester with a variable cross section

“…Therefore, some scholars have explored the application of piezoelectric materials in energy harvesting including large power generation . Due to simple structure and cushy integration, piezoelectric coupled cantilever structures (unimorph and bimorph), as one of the most popular energy harvesters, are studied by many scholars and applied in a wide range of fields . The following literatures focus on the research of cantilever‐style energy harvesters for the same kind of study object in this research.…”