Powering-up Wireless Sensor Nodes Utilizing Rechargeable Batteries and an Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvesting System

Salar Chamanian, Sajjad Baghaee, Hasan Ulusan, Özge Zorlu, Haluk Külah and Elif Uysal-Biyikoglu
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Salar Chamanian: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06400, Turkey
Sajjad Baghaee: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06400, Turkey
Hasan Ulusan: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06400, Turkey
Özge Zorlu: Middle East Technical University-Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (METU-MEMS) Research and Applications Center, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06400, Turkey
Haluk Külah: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06400, Turkey
Elif Uysal-Biyikoglu: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06400, Turkey

Energies, 2014, vol. 7, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: This paper presents a wireless sensor node (WSN) system where an electromagnetic (EM) energy harvester is utilized for charging its rechargeable batteries while the system is operational. The capability and the performance of an in-house low-frequency EM energy harvester for charging rechargeable NiMH batteries were experimentally verified in comparison to a regular battery charger. Furthermore, the power consumption of MicaZ motes, used as the WSN, was evaluated in detail for different operation conditions. The battery voltage and current were experimentally monitored during the operation of the MicaZ sensor node equipped with the EM vibration energy harvester. A compact (24.5 cm 3 ) in-house EM energy harvester provides approximately 65 µA charging current to the batteries when excited by 0.4 g acceleration at 7.4 Hz. It has been shown that the current demand of the MicaZ mote can be compensated for by the energy harvester for a specific low-power operation scenario, with more than a 10-fold increase in the battery lifetime. The presented results demonstrate the autonomous operation of the WSN, with the utilization of a vibration-based energy harvester.

Keywords: autonomous wireless sensor node; MicaZ; energy harvesting; electromagnetic energy harvester; rechargeable battery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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