Ambient Wireless Power Harvesting Sensor Platforms (WPHSP)

这项研究的目标是开发新的、环境的、能量收集设备，与电容器一起可以取代或增强电池。这种能量采集器可以在潮湿或暴露在低于冰点或超过60摄氏度的极端温度下的环境中提供电力，这些环境中电池无法工作或可能爆炸。电池还会将有毒的重金属浸出到周围的土壤和水中，因此它们不能留在室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的电力采集器，可以收集、收集和使用存在于加拿大和美国大多数城镇空气中的无线数字电视和蜂窝上行信号中的电力。这种无处不在的电源可以在大面积分布的各种应用中用于更换或增加电池。地面电视信号可用于为建筑物、桥梁和电力公用设备的结构健康监测的应变和裂缝传感器中的电池供电或增强电池。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，从而延长待机时间和电池寿命。******这些无线采集传感器平台（WPHSP）的开发将涉及设计和集成以下组件：保形和自调谐波换能器，如柔性天线，可以调整其频率共振以与电视和蜂窝频道对齐；主动和可调匹配网络，以降低反射损耗，这是典型的射频信号；具有微瓦级高效率的新型数字控制RF-DC功率转换器；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运行应变传感器和可穿戴电子设备从不同水平的收集无线电力。这些平台还将进行定制，以从不同频率的谐振源（如机械、电力线和管道中的电气噪声和振动）收集电力，以取代或提高传感器和低功率M2M继电器的电池寿命，用于事件监测和控制。这种收割机可用于许多行业，如消费电子，国防/安全，医疗保健，农业，物流，电力公用事业和石油和天然气。***电力收集被IBM列为五大创新之一，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这种类型的能量收集研究计划，这与该省和卡尔加里大学成为加拿大顶级研究型大学的战略研究计划保持一致

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.**