SBIR Phase I: Flexible Internet of Things (IoT) Smart Label Powered by Organic Photovoltaics

SBIR 第一阶段：有机光伏驱动的灵活物联网 (IoT) 智能标签

• 批准号: 2112259
• 负责人: Olga Griffith
• 金额: $ 25.59万
• 依托单位: NANOFLEX POWER CORPORATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-15 至 2023-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2112259&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Flexible; Internet; Things

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will create a low-cost, flexible, Internet of Things (IoT) Smart Label that is self-powered in all lighted conditions. This Smart Label can be directly attached to packages, shipments, buildings, or worn as a medical device, enabling real-time data with improved accuracy. Sensing labels and asset trackers are extensively used to control inventories and monitor the freshness, quality, safety, and shelf life of perishable goods, as well as pharmaceuticals, foods, healthcare samples, and more. Existing radiofrequency identification (RFID) smart labels have no energy storage or energy harvesting capability. Current asset trackers have rechargeable batteries, with some powered by silicon-based photovoltaics which have poor indoor light performance. This project integrates organic photovoltaics (OPV) into flexible smart labels for continuous power supply under indoor and outdoor light, allowing frequent transmission of data to the cloud. OPV technology will be uniquely tuned to the common indoor light spectra to deliver light-to-electricity performance values over 20%, twice the indoor light performance of the best commercially available silicon photovoltaics. This program will combine flexible OPV with flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) to create a low-cost, flexible, thin, light-weight, and credit-card-sized IoT device with onboard sensors and radios for continuous wireless communication.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a continuously-operating flexible IoT device for flexible IoT smart labels on packaging, asset tracking, and in retail. The current limitations to a completely flexible, OPV-powered IoT device are: (1) OPV has not been specifically tuned to the light emitting diode (LED) spectrum; (2) OPV has not been attached to FHE before; and (3) IoT-Smart-Label-integrated OPV has not existed in production before. Attaching the FHE to OPV is the most significant technical risk, so the goal of this project is to validate flexible OPV-powered IoT smart labels as a viable product, delivering three proof-of-concept prototypes. To achieve this primary goal, the objectives are divided into groups based on eight key elements: (1) develope OPV sheet for printed electronics integration, (2) demonstrate printed device circuits and antenna on the backside of OPV sheets, (3) determine ideal power management chip for conversion to flex-compatible form factor, (4) place and integrate silicon chips, (5) integrate and test the flexible batteries, (6) package/laminate the entire flex label, (7) demonstrate wireless data transfer from the flex IoT device to the cloud, and (8) develop roadmap for manufacturing scale-up in Phase II, including an estimate of scaled-up product cost.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将创造一个低成本、灵活的物联网（IoT）智能标签，在所有照明条件下都能自动供电。这种智能标签可以直接贴在包裹、货物、建筑物上，也可以作为医疗设备佩戴，从而提高了实时数据的准确性。传感标签和资产跟踪器广泛用于控制库存和监控易腐货物以及药品、食品、医疗保健样品等的新鲜度、质量、安全性和保质期。现有的射频识别（RFID）智能标签没有能量存储或能量收集能力。目前的资产跟踪器采用可充电电池，其中一些由硅基光伏电池供电，室内光照性能较差。该项目将有机光伏（OPV）集成到柔性智能标签中，在室内和室外光线下连续供电，允许频繁将数据传输到云端。OPV技术将独特地调整到常见的室内光谱，提供超过20%的光电性能值，是最佳商用硅光伏电池室内光性能的两倍。该项目将柔性OPV与柔性混合电子（FHE）相结合，创造出一种低成本、灵活、薄、轻、信用卡大小的物联网设备，配备机载传感器和无线电，用于连续无线通信。这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种可连续运行的柔性物联网设备，用于包装、资产跟踪和零售领域的柔性物联网智能标签。目前，完全灵活的OPV供电物联网设备的限制是：(1)OPV尚未专门调谐到发光二极管（LED）光谱；(2)以前未将OPV附加到FHE；(3)物联网-智能标签集成的OPV尚未投入生产。将FHE连接到OPV是最大的技术风险，因此该项目的目标是将灵活的OPV驱动物联网智能标签作为可行产品进行验证，并提供三个概念验证原型。为了实现这一主要目标，这些目标根据八个关键要素分为几组：(1)开发用于印刷电子集成的OPV片，(2)演示OPV片背面的印刷设备电路和天线，(3)确定理想的电源管理芯片，用于转换为柔性兼容的外形因素，(4)放置和集成硅芯片，(5)集成和测试柔性电池，(6)封装/层压整个柔性标签，(7)演示从柔性物联网设备到云的无线数据传输，(8)制定第二阶段生产规模扩大的路线图，包括扩大后产品成本的估计。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。