Engineering: Vibration power to generate wireless systems

 

A generator has been developed by British engineers that is ten times more powerful than any other similar device.

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University of Southampton scientists developed a kinetic energy generator which produces electricity from the vibrations and movements present within its environment.

Team leader Dr Steve Beeby from the University's School of Electronics & Computer Science (ECS) said: "This is the most successful generator of its kind and generates energy much more efficiently than any similar device of its size."

The generator, which is less than one cubic centimetre in size, was developed as part of the EU-funded €4.13 million VIBES (Vibration Energy Scavenging) project.

It has been designed to power wireless sensors that monitor the condition of industrial plant and is intended to be installed within an air compressor unit supplying several laboratories within a building.

The generator could also be used in wireless, self-powered tyre sensors and, if developed further, could even form the basis of technology for self-powered pace makers.

The technology offers the potential to replace or augment batteries.

The periodic replacement of batteries is not feasible for embedded applications and is highly unattractive in wireless sensor networks containing hundreds of sensor nodes.

'Considerable amount of interest'

"Vibration energy-harvesting is receiving a considerable amount of interest as a means for powering wireless sensor nodes," said Dr Beeby.

"The big advantage of wireless sensor systems is that by removing wires and batteries, there is the potential for embedding sensors in previously inaccessible locations."

According to Dr Beeby, over the years, there has been a growing interest in the field of low power miniature sensors and wireless sensor networks.

An area that has received comparatively little attention is how to supply the required electrical power to such sensors, particularly if the sensor is completely embedded in the structure with no physical connection to the outside world.

He believes that the VIBES generator could hold the solution.

A paper about this research entitled 'A micro electromagnetic generator for vibration energy' has just been published on the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering's website.

Dr Beeby and his team plan to exploit this application further through Perpetuum, the vibration energy-harvesting company which was formed in 2004 as a spin out from the University of Southampton.

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