Energy harvesting and wireless energy transmission for embedded sensor nodes

Abstract

In this paper, we present experimental investigations using energy harvesting and wireless energy transmission to operate embedded structural health monitoring sensor nodes. The goal of this study is to develop sensing systems that can be permanently embedded within a host structure without the need for an on-board power source. With this approach the required energy will be harvested from the ambient environment, or periodically delivered by a RF energy source to supplement conventional harvesting approaches. This approach combines several transducer types to harvest energy from multiple sources, providing a more robust solution that does not rely on a single energy source. Both piezoelectric and thermoelectric transducers are considered as energy harvesters to extract the ambient energy commonly available on civil structures such as bridges. Methods of increasing the efficiency, energy storage medium, target applications and the integrated use of energy harvesting sources with wireless energy transmission will be discussed.

Wireless energy transmission to supplement energy harvesters in sensor network applications

“…In previous studies, such a test fixture was tuned to match the fundamental frequency observed in the vibration response of the Omega Bridge, located in Los Alamos, NM [18]. A more detailed description of the energy harvester, including its analytical model and experimental verification has previously been presented by the authors [18]. Researchers have also worked to develop broadband vibrational energy harvesters [9].…”

“…While commercially available parabolic grid antennas are still useful for transmission, custom microstrip patch antenna arrays designed by our group in both 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequency bands significantly outperform commercially available designs on a per receiving area basis [18,19]. A more detailed description of the individual patch antenna arrays can be found in the references [18,19].…”

“…Aluminum blocks (2.5cm x 2.5cm x 2.5cm) were added as a tip mass to reduce the natural frequency of the test sample, increasing the transverse displacement of the cantilevered beam (and thereby the strain in the PZT), while maintaining a higher frequency to maintain efficient energy conversion. In previous studies, such a test fixture was tuned to match the fundamental frequency observed in the vibration response of the Omega Bridge, located in Los Alamos, NM [18]. A more detailed description of the energy harvester, including its analytical model and experimental verification has previously been presented by the authors [18].…”

Hybrid energy sources for embedded sensor nodes

“…Aluminum blocks (2.5cm x 2.5cm x 2.5cm) were added as a tip mass to reduce the natural frequency of the test sample, increasing the transverse displacement of the cantilevered beam (and thereby the strain in the PZT), while maintaining a higher frequency to maintain efficient energy conversion. In previous studies, such a test fixture was tuned to match the fundamental frequency observed in the vibration response of the Omega Bridge, located in Los Alamos, NM [12]. A more detailed description of the energy harvester, including its analytical model and experimental verification has previously been presented by the authors [12].…”

“…In previous studies, such a test fixture was tuned to match the fundamental frequency observed in the vibration response of the Omega Bridge, located in Los Alamos, NM [12]. A more detailed description of the energy harvester, including its analytical model and experimental verification has previously been presented by the authors [12].…”