SBIR Phase I: Energy Storage, Electrical Distribution, and Packaging for Wireless Sensor Networks

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目包括开发和综合用于分布式传感系统无线传感器节点的互连，封装和电池电源系统的技术。 将采用基于激光的方法在各种有机和无机材料中制造非常精细的特征导体图案、通孔和机械结构，以大幅减小传感器电路的尺寸。 这些技术还将提供传感器结构中形状因子的灵活性，允许传感节点的几何形状适应特定应用的要求。 该项目开发的传感器节点将采用先进的可充电薄膜电池，其储能密度大大超过目前商业市场上的任何电池。 电池技术与各种能量收集方法兼容，例如射频，太阳能，振动和热能。 该项目将实现电路小型化和高密度储能的结合，很容易适应大多数传感器设计，并将适用于几乎任何无线传感系统。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力被无线传感技术的大量潜在应用所利用。 经过一段长时间的培育期后，无线传感网络正经历着市场增长的激增。 预计2019年将有超过1亿个传感器节点的市场机会。 潜在的应用来自不同的领域，如桥梁，道路和管道的基础设施监测，地质和大气科学，电力计量，停车管理，病人监测和医学研究，老年人护理，工业过程控制，作物水管理和家庭自动化。 仅在医疗保健领域，无线传感器网络就可能在全球范围内节省约250亿美元。 许多潜在应用的可行性将受到具有合适形状因子的小型化传感器节点的可用性的强烈影响，这些传感器节点可以在不需要维护的情况下长时间运行。 针对小型化和电源，拟议的项目解决了传感器网络实施的关键瓶颈。 它将对这些大型发展中市场以及医疗和消费电子产品的附带应用产生重大影响。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project comprises the development and synthesis of technologies for miniaturizing the interconnection, packaging and battery power systems used in the wireless sensor nodes of distributed sensing systems. Laser-based approaches to making very fine feature conductor patterns, vias, and mechanical structures in a variety of organic and inorganic materials will be employed to substantially reduce the size of sensor circuitry. These techniques will also provide flexibility of form factor in sensor construction, allowing the geometry of sensing nodes to be adapted to the requirements of specific applications. Sensor nodes developed in this project will incorporate an advanced, rechargeable thin-film battery that exhibits an energy storage density substantially exceeding that of any battery currently on the commercial market. The battery technology is compatible with a variety of energy scavenging methods, such as radio frequency, solar, vibration, and thermal. The combination of circuit miniaturization and high-density energy storage that will be achieved in this project is easily adaptable to most sensor designs and will be applicable to almost any wireless sensing system. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is leveraged by the large number of potential applications of wireless sensing technology. After an extended incubation period, wireless sensing networks are experiencing a surge of market growth. A market opportunity for more than 100 million sensor nodes is projected for 2019. Potential applications come from areas as diverse as infrastructure monitoring for bridges, roadways and pipelines, geology and atmospheric sciences, electrical metering, parking management, patient monitoring and medical studies, elderly care, industrial process control, crop water management, and home automation. In the health care area alone, wireless sensor networks could potentially produce an estimated $25 billion savings world wide. Feasibility of many potential applications will be strongly influenced by the availability of miniaturized sensor nodes with suitable form factors that can be operated without maintenance for extended periods. Targeting miniaturization and power sources, the proposed project addresses key bottlenecks in sensor network implementation. It will have a significant impact on these large developing markets, and well as spin-off applications in medical and consumer electronics.