Piezoelectric Micro-power-generator: MEMS Energy-harvesting ...
Piezoelectric Micro-power-generator: MEMS Energy-harvesting Device for Self-powered Wireless Corrosion-monitoring System A. Hajati, S.G. Kim Sponsorship: NSF, Korean Institute of Machinery and Material
A novel thin-film, lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT), energy-harvesting MEMS device is being developed for autonomous wireless monitoring systems. It is designed to harvest energy from parasitic vibrational energy sources and convert it to electrical energy via the piezoelectric effect. We envision that harvesting parasitic energy from the vortex-induced vibration of the oil pipelines will deploy a massive number of microsensors along the hundreds of miles of pipeline in very cold and remote areas. The proposed system consists of a corrosion sensor, a radio transceiver, a microcontroller, a power management module, and a piezoelectric micro power generator (PMPG) to supply the needed power of the system without replacing batteries.
p Figure 1: Wireless sensor system schematics. The selfpowered sensor node transmits data to a receiver at the base station.
The new pie-shaped design for the harvester (about a size of a nickel) has a radical departure from previous design concepts. This energy harvester design can be regarded as revolutionary as the first self-rectifying piezoelectric power generator. The new design avoids the high Q resonance, which is also a big change from previous designs. This will enable more robust power generation even if the frequency spectrum of the source vibration varies unexpectedly. Furthermore, the beam shape is optimized to achieve uniform allowable strain throughout the PZT layer. Currently, the first prototype, which is shown schematically, is being fabricated at MTL.
p
Figure 2: The structure of a pie-shaped PMPG.
References
[1] Y.R. Jeon, Sood, J.H. Jeong, and S.G. Kim, “MEMS power generator with transverse mode thin-film PZT,” Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 122, pp. 16-22, July 2005. [2] W.J. Choi, Y. Xia, J.A. Brewer, and S.G. Kim, “Energy-harvesting MEMS device based on thin-film piezoelectric cantilevers,” in Proc. of INSS05, San Diego, CA, June 27-28, 2005. [3] R. Xia, C. Farm, W. Choi, and S.-G. Kim, “Self-powered wireless sensor system using MEMS piezoelectric micro-power-generator,” in Proc. IEEE Sensors 2006, Daegu, Korea, 2006.
54
ACTUATORS & POWER MEMS
MEMS@MIT RESEARCH ABSTRACTS 2007
A novel thin-film, lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT), energy-harvesting MEMS device is being developed for autonomous wireless monitoring systems. It is designed to harvest energy from parasitic vibrational energy sources and convert it to electrical energy via the piezoelectric effect. We envision that harvesting parasitic energy from the vortex-induced vibration of the oil pipelines will deploy a massive number of microsensors along the hundreds of miles of pipeline in very cold and remote areas. The proposed system consists of a corrosion sensor, a radio transceiver, a microcontroller, a power management module, and a piezoelectric micro power generator (PMPG) to supply the needed power of the system without replacing batteries.
p Figure 1: Wireless sensor system schematics. The selfpowered sensor node transmits data to a receiver at the base station.
The new pie-shaped design for the harvester (about a size of a nickel) has a radical departure from previous design concepts. This energy harvester design can be regarded as revolutionary as the first self-rectifying piezoelectric power generator. The new design avoids the high Q resonance, which is also a big change from previous designs. This will enable more robust power generation even if the frequency spectrum of the source vibration varies unexpectedly. Furthermore, the beam shape is optimized to achieve uniform allowable strain throughout the PZT layer. Currently, the first prototype, which is shown schematically, is being fabricated at MTL.
p
Figure 2: The structure of a pie-shaped PMPG.
References
[1] Y.R. Jeon, Sood, J.H. Jeong, and S.G. Kim, “MEMS power generator with transverse mode thin-film PZT,” Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 122, pp. 16-22, July 2005. [2] W.J. Choi, Y. Xia, J.A. Brewer, and S.G. Kim, “Energy-harvesting MEMS device based on thin-film piezoelectric cantilevers,” in Proc. of INSS05, San Diego, CA, June 27-28, 2005. [3] R. Xia, C. Farm, W. Choi, and S.-G. Kim, “Self-powered wireless sensor system using MEMS piezoelectric micro-power-generator,” in Proc. IEEE Sensors 2006, Daegu, Korea, 2006.
54
ACTUATORS & POWER MEMS
MEMS@MIT RESEARCH ABSTRACTS 2007
