A Sub-Microwatt Self-Powered Fatigue Sensor

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The development of a novel structural fatigue sensor based on integration of a piezoelectric transducer with an array of ultra-low power floating gate computational circuits is proposed. The developed miniaturized sensor will enable continuous batteryless monitoring and time-to-failure predictions of civil engineering structures. By controlling hot-electron injection in floating gate transistors,a self-powered sensing system capable of computing and storing the cumulative fatigue history experienced by a structure is investigated. This statistics in conjunction with machine learning techniques will be used to predict remaining fatigue life and hence the time-to-failure of the structure. The power available from vibration energy conversion in typical civil engineering structures is less than 10W under service loads. This will be the first self-powered fatigue sensors that is capable of on-board data storage and computation at power levels of less than 1W. The fatigue sensor will have applications in civil infrastructure monitoring (of particular importance for structures that are difficult to inspect such as bridges, traffic signs, and buried components); and also for other mechanical and biomedical fatigue monitoring. This project will also facilitate close collaboration between civil and electrical engineering and provide an ideal medium for training graduate students with cross-disciplinary backgrounds.