MicroGen Systems, an Ithaca based company and Cornell Nanoscale Facility of Cornell University, have joined to build battery-free sensors that can function using energy harvested from any type of motion such as shakes, jiggles, rolls and spins and can function in clothing dryers or car tires.
The tiny power sensors if installed in an automobile will generate enough power from vibrations avoiding the need for battery replacement.
The battery gadget is a small sheet of a piezoelectric material that produces power when fixed over a shock-proof base and gets twisted. When fixed in an automobile, the shaking of a rotating automobile wheel makes the small sheet to sway back and forth generating power to charge the thin-film battery located close by. The tested prototype battery measuring a quarter in size generates up to 200 µW power. The device can be shrunk in size with smaller circuits to meet the needs of lower level power requirements. A number of companies have shown interest in the energy harvester technology developed by MicroGen.
In order to refine the developed technology MicroGen utilized the latest facilities available at the Cornell Nanoscale. New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) has provided the startup funding needed for the project and to sustain the work of the company at the Cornell Nanoscale Facility. The emc2 funding will enable the company to construct, test and redesign the prototype till it develops a product to meet the standard power level requirements of the industry for wireless sensor units.
Presently MicroGen is coordinating with R, Bruce Van Dover, materials science and engineering professor at the University to further refine the technology to build up a design that can endure high level temperatures thus aspiring to develop sensors that can be used in jet engines.
Source: http://www.cornell.edu/