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Power Scavengers continued
become a “gateway” to communicate
with sensors everywhere. (This leads to
the kind of ubiquitous computing that
has been “around the corner” for at least
a decade.)
Bradow cited the
example of a child
wearing a bandage that
can monitor temperature
and other vital signs
and transmit that data
to a doctor’s mobile
phone. However, what is
being harvested from the
ambient environment is
not enough power to charge the cell
phone itself.
Harry Ostaffe, vice president of
marketing and business development at
Powercast, a Pittsburgh-based company
that specializes in RF harvesting for
sensor applications, said one of the mostdifficult
parts of his job is explaining to
potential customers that they cannot use
ambient RF energy to charge their laptops
or cell phones. What RF harvesting does
36 | MAY/JUNE 2012 | MICROmanufacturing
is add functionality to otherwise “dumb”
RFID tags. The technology also is suitable
for “trickle charging” batteries in
items that might spend months or years
in storage.
One day, Powercast’s technology also
could power ePaper displays at super-
markets that display prices or other text.
“We certainly hope to see an installed
base in OEM designs and actual deployment
of our technology in millions of
units,” Ostaffe said. “With our new chipset,
the total material cost to implement our
[RF energy-harvesting] technology for 1
million pieces, for example, is less than
$2 (per unit).”
Prices like that will make energy
harvesting more attractive, especially
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How a system handles the small
amount of energy harvested is
the ‘secret sauce’ most energyharvesting
designers keep close
to their vests.
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for energy-efficient lighting and heating
applications.
According to Jim O’Callaghan, North
American president of Germany-based
EnOcean, it’s a challenge to develop a
system that is designed from the start
with energy efficiency in mind. As an
analogy, he said Chevy did not take a
standard car, put batteries in it and call
it a Volt. Chevy engineers had to rethink
the entire concept of how a car is made.
On the road again
On that note, let's return to Microgen
and Robert Andosca, driving from
Ithaca to Boston, thinking about all the
harsh conditions tires are subjected to
throughout the U.S. Tire temperatures
can range from -40° F in Minnesota to
more than 180° F on desert highways in
the Southwest.
Then there’s the shock of each bump.
Contributors
Cymbet Corp.
(763) 633-1792
www.cymbet.com/
EnOcean Inc.
www.enocean.com
(801) 943-3215
Randy Frank & Associates Ltd.
(480) 998-1261
www.randyfrank.net
IDTechEx
+44 1256 862163
www.idtechex.com/
Infinite Power Solutions
(303) 749-4800
www.infinitepowersolutions.com
MicroGen Systems Inc.
(617) 447-1876
www.microgensystems.com
Powercast Corp.
(412) 923-4774
www.powercastco.com