Researchers develop tiny, autonomous piezoelectric energy harvester

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http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/01/vibration-energy-01-01-2010.jpg (http://www.electroiq.com/index/display/nanotech-article-display/8967502062/articles/small-times/nanotechmems/energy-environment/2009/12/iedm-2009__imec_s.html)Folks have long been using piezoelectric devices to harvest energy in everything from dance floors (http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/17/power-generating-dance-floor-hits-uk-club/) to parking lots (http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/supermarket-generates-piezoelectric-power-in-parking-lot/), but a group of European researchers have now shown off some novel uses for the technology at the recent International Electron Devices Meeting that could see even more of the self-sufficient devices put to use. Their big breakthrough is that they've managed to shrink a piezoelectric device down to "micromachine" size, which was apparently possible in part as a result of using aluminum nitride instead of lead zirconate titanate as the piezoelectric material, thereby making the devices easier to manufacture. Their first such device is a wireless temperature sensor, which is not only extremely tiny, but is able to function autonomously by harvesting energy from vibrations and transmit temperature information to a base station at 15 second intervals. Of course, the researchers say that is just the beginning, and they see similar devices eventually being used in everything from tire-pressure monitoring systems to predictive maintenance of any moving or rotating machine parts.Researchers develop tiny, autonomous piezoelectric energy harvester (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/02/researchers-develop-tiny-autonomous-piezoelectric-energy-harves/) originally appeared on Engadget (http://www.engadget.com) on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).


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