Washington: A new coin-sized device harvests low frequency vibrations from footsteps or the hum of machinery and converts them into energy. It could bolster existing wireless-sensor networks that are hampered by lack of sufficient power. Even though advances have brought their energy consumption down, wireless sensors' batteries still need changing periodically. Especially for networks in remote locales, replacing batteries in thousands of sensors is a staggering task.
Now MIT researchers have designed a device the size of a US quarter that harvests energy from low-frequency vibrations - felt along a pipeline or bridge, the journal Applied Physics Letters reports. The tiny energy harvester - micro-electromechanical system, or MEMS - picks up a wider range of vibrations than current designs and is able to generate 100 times their power, according to an MIT statement.
"There are wireless sensors widely available, but there is no supportive power package," says Sang-Gook Kim, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and study co-author. "I think our vibrational energy harvesters are a solution for that."
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