SBIR Phase II: Ambient energy harvesting technology for IoT wireless sensor applications

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是开发独特的便携式能量收集和存储技术，使小型无线传感器模块能够在全国的工业、民用、农业和机构基础设施中无处不在的部署。该项目开发的便携式电源技术将使这些设备无需电缆或电池即可部署。这将消除工业物联网（IoT）发展的最大技术障碍，即在需要它们的地方安装和维护大量无线传感器的困难。无线物联网系统，如安全监控、性能优化或预测性维护，可以显着提高生产率、效率、安全性并降低运营成本。该项目在机电设计、电路设计和集成制造方面的发展将推动环境能量收集技术的发展。这些永续能源产品将帮助美国在物联网领域占据全球领先地位，为将该技术用于物联网应用的公司提供巨大的经济效益。物联网的成功部署直接转化为经济增长、提高工人安全、改善环境和创造就业机会。拟议的项目将开发和制造小型，廉价的能量采集器，内置能量存储，用于无线物联网应用。这些能量收集装置将从环境源（如振动）中提取能量，并为小型自主物联网设备提供电力。这些装置将具有机载能量存储功能，即使环境能源是间歇性的，或者如果临时需要浪涌电源，也能提供电力。第一个单元将被优化，以有效地从低频的小振幅振动中提取电力，并且可以以低成本制造。同样的基础技术可以用于从其他来源提取能量，如空气/水流、机械运动或热梯度。该项目利用独特的电路设计和制造工艺，使该单元能够(1)轻松集成到现有的电子系统中，(2)有效地从低能源中提取电力，(3)以可承受的市场驱动成本制造。这将为无线物联网开发一个广泛的小型、便携式、取之不尽的能源产品线。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be the development of unique portable energy harvesting and storage technology that can enable ubiquitous deployment of small wireless sensor modules throughout the nation's industrial, civil, agricultural, and institutional infrastructure. The portable power technology developed in this project will enable such devices to be deployed without the need for electrical cables or batteries. This will remove the single biggest technology barrier to growth of the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), namely the difficulty of installing and maintaining large numbers of wireless sensors in locations that need them. Wireless IoT systems, such as for safety monitoring, performance optimization, or predictive maintenance, can significantly increase productivity, efficiency, safety, and cost reduction of operations. This project's developments in electromechanical design, circuit design, and integrated manufacturing will advance the art of ambient energy harvesting technology. These perpetual energy products will help the United States take global leadership in IoT, providing significant economic benefit to the companies that use this technology for their IoT applications. Successful deployment of IoT directly translates into economic growth, increased worker safety, improved environment, and job creation.The proposed project will develop and manufacture small, inexpensive energy harvesters with built in energy storage for wireless IoT applications. These energy harvesting units will extract energy from ambient sources, such as vibrations, and will provide electrical power for small autonomous IoT devices. The units will feature on-board energy storage, providing power even if the ambient energy source is intermittent or if surge power is temporarily needed. The first units will be optimized for efficiently extracting electrical power from small amplitude vibrations at low frequencies, and can be manufactured at low cost. The same underlying technology can be used to extract energy from other sources, such as air/water flow, mechanical movement, or thermal gradients. The project leverages unique circuit designs and manufacturing processes that enable this unit to be (1) easily integrated into existing electronic systems, (2) efficient in extracting electrical power from low energy sources, and (3) manufacturable at an affordable, market-driven cost. This will result in the development of an extensive product line of small, portable inexhaustible energy sources for wireless IoT.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.