Ambient Wireless Power Harvesting Sensor Platforms (WPHSP)

这项研究的目标是开发新的，环境，电力收集设备，沿着电容器可以取代或增强电池。这种电力采集器可用于在潮湿或暴露于低于冰点或超过60摄氏度的极端温度的环境中供电，在这种环境中电池不能工作或可能爆炸。电池也会将有毒的重金属渗入周围的土壤和水中，因此它们不能留在户外或地下，超过其可用的保质期。短期内的直接重点是开发新型电力采集器，这些电力采集器可以采集、收集和使用加拿大和美国大多数城镇空气中弥漫的无线数字电视和蜂窝上行链路信号中的电力。地面电视信号可用于为应变和裂缝传感器中的电池供电或增强电池，以用于建筑物、桥梁和电力设施设备的结构健康监测。手机的无线辐射，其中一部分通常会被人体吸收，可以增加智能手表和健身手环的电池容量，从而增加待机时间和电池寿命。** 这些无线收集传感器平台（WPHSP）的开发将涉及设计和集成以下组件：共形和自调谐波换能器，如柔性天线，可以调整其频率谐振，以符合电视和蜂窝信道;有源和可调匹配网络，以降低射频信号的典型反射损耗;新型数字控制RF-DC功率转换器，具有微瓦级的高效率;超低功耗16位处理器中的能量感知嵌入式软件;超低功耗充电监控器，可通过不同水平的收集无线功率来运行应变传感器和可穿戴电子产品。*这些平台还将进行定制，以从不同频率谐振的电源中获取电力，例如机械，电力线和管道中的电气噪声和振动，以取代或提高传感器和低功耗M2M继电器的电池寿命，用于事件监测和控制。这种收割机可以用于许多行业，例如消费电子、国防/安全、医疗保健、农业、物流、电力公用事业以及石油和天然气。* 电力收集已被列为IBM的五大创新之一，有可能在未来十年改变人们的生活，工作和与物理世界互动的方式。拟议的研究希望在阿尔伯塔省建立第一个电力收集研究计划，该计划与该省和卡尔加里大学的战略研究计划保持一致，成为加拿大顶尖的研究型大学。

The goal of this research is to develop new, ambient, power-harvesting devices that along with capacitors can replace or augment batteries. Such power harvesters can be useful to supply power in environments that are either moist or exposed to extreme temperatures below freezing or over 60 degrees Celsius in which batteries cannot operate or can explode. Batteries also leach toxic heavy metals into the soil and water around it due to which they cannot be left outdoors or in the ground beyond its usable shelf-life.***The immediate focus in the short term is to develop new types of power harvesters that can harvest, collect and use power present in ambient wireless digital-TV and cellular uplink signals that permeate the air in most cities and towns in Canada and the U.S. Such a pervasive power source can be useful in replacing or augmenting batteries in various applications that are spread out over large areas. Terrestrial TV signals can be used to power or augment batteries in strain and crack sensors for structural health-monitoring of buildings, bridges and power utility equipment. Wireless emissions from cell phones, part of which typically get absorbed by the body, can augment batteries in smart-watches and fitness bands thereby increasing standby time and battery-life. ******Development of these wireless harvesting sensor platforms (WPHSP) will involve designing and integrating the following components: conformal and self-tuning wave transducers such as flexible antennas, which can adjust its frequency resonance to line up with TV and cellular channels; active and tunable matching networks to lower reflection losses that are typical with radio frequency signals; new and digitally-controlled RF-DC power converters with high efficiencies at microwatt levels; energy-aware embedded software in ultra low-power 16-bit processors; ultra low-power charge supervisors to run strain sensors and wearable electronics from varying levels of harvested wireless power.***These platforms will also be customized to harvest power from sources that resonate at different frequencies such as electrical noise and vibration in machinery, power lines and pipelines to replace or improve battery life in sensors and low-power M2M relays for event monitoring and control. Such harvesters can be useful to a number of industries such as consumer electronics, defense/security, healthcare, agriculture, logistics, power utilities and oil and gas. ***Power harvesting has been listed as one of IBM's top five innovations with the potential to change the way people live, work and interact with the physical world in the coming decade. The proposed research hopes to establish the first of its type power-harvesting research initiative in the province of Alberta, which aligns with the provincial and University of Calgary's strategic research plans to become a top Canadian research university.**