Marine energy harvesting for remote sensor systems

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

There is a growing community of scientists, ranging from biologists to chemical oceanographers, that rely on data collected from marine animal mounted remote sensors (known as bio-loggers) or autonomous unmanned vehicles (AUVs). The scientific capabilities of these remote sensor platforms are inherently limited by the amount of energy stored within their batteries. This research leverages the expertise of an interdisciplinary team to develop ambient energy-harvesting technology for marine environment electronic sensor nodes, which will extend operational lifetimes, enhancing observational and experimental capabilities for the ocean science research community. The research will benefit society in several ways. Primarily, the effort will result in an enabling technology that will be used by multiple ocean science communities. The research results of many of these users are critically important and inform areas ranging from fishery sustainability to wildlife conservation and climate change. Additionally, the program will actively participate in outreach efforts to engage the public in this technology development and science therein.Energy harvesting is used in terrestrial sensor applications, but is largely absent in the marine sensor field despite several possible harvesting methods and calls for use by the ocean science community. This program focuses on the development of a peripheral energy harvester device for small marine sensor systems such as animal mounted tracking and data-logging tags. The first objective of the research is to quantify potential energy sources and select that which has the broadest impact potential. The team plans to develop a harvesting module and conduct lab-based tests to verify the functionality. The second objective is the integration of this system with a data collection system for use during on-animal deployment testing. The third objective of the program is a significant outreach effort, including local and regional visibility. To meet these objectives, a team of mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, biologists, and private industry personnel has been assembled to focus on individual technological challenges. Initial work will focus on the development of energy harvesting technology matched to marine wildlife activity. The research will consider variables such as energy requirements, transducer efficiencies, and potential effects on the host when determining the viability of each potential energy source. Concurrent efforts will include circuit development and programming associated with data collection for use during the deployment tests occurring in the last year. In-lab testing will be performed in simulated environments and final demonstration tests will be performed on northern elephant seals using a standard translocation and recovery method. A leading marine tag manufacturer has been included in the project as a member of an advisory panel. This panel will help ensure systems develop through this research will be applicable to device manufacturers in the future. Products from this research will include publications detailing theoretic models and experimental system results, as well as the prototype mechanical and electrical systems comprising the energy harvesting device.