Vast vibration sources existing in the environment are predominantly in low-frequency ranges, such as vibration of the bridges induced by passing vehicles, swing of the tree branches in the wind, etc. These vibrations can be harnessed as a renewable power source for infrastructure or environment condition monitoring.
This project aims to develop a self-powered condition monitoring system by harvesting and wisely utilizing the energy from low-frequency vibrations, which eliminate the need of battery.
The device will consist of an electromagnetic energy harvester, a power management module, a microcontroller, a sensing module and a data transmission module.
The electromagnetic energy harvester will integrate some novel mechanisms developed previously to maximize the efficiency of converting low-frequency vibration energy into AC electrical output. The power management module will be customized, and the microcontroller will be optimized to minimize the power consumption. The data will be transmitted through low energy Bluetooth (BLE) and LoRa. User interface will be designed to show the measured data on smart phone or desktop.
The performance of such a self-powered sensing system will be first tested in the laboratory with mimicked low-frequency vibrations by shaker. A field test will be conducted if time allows for proof of concept (e.g. installing the proposed system on a bridge for structure condition monitoring).
This project will work closely with leading industrial IoT partner and pioneering power electronics experts.
Undergraduate
A self-powered sensing system will be developed and deployed for remote condition monitoring.
None
Dynamics & Control Lab (405.852, Lab)