Saturday, May 12, 2012

No. 510: Successful development of a batteryless, wireless sensor system that utilizes oscillation generation (May 12, 2012)

Technology
Mitsubishi Electric Engineering developed a batteryless, wireless sensor system that utilizes oscillation generation. The system consists of an oscillation generator that uses spring and a control board that incorporates sensor and radio unit. The generator amplifies imperceptible vibrations by virtue of the resonance of the spring and collects electricity. The company exercised its ingenuity to allow the spring to generate electricity even with a small number of vibrations. The new sensor is maintenance-free and long-life because replacing batteries is not required.

The test model generates feeble electricity even with vibrations of less than 10 Hz. The sensor measures such data as lighting intensity, temperature, and humidity with generated electricity and sends them through the control board. The company simplified the circuit design to curb power consumption. The test model employs the intermittent control that sends a signal for every 10 seconds. The company developed this sensor for the remote control in places where human cannot work with safety, such as on the ocean and on the steel tower. It has not decided whether or not the new sensor is produced on a commercial basis, but the test model can be build at less than 100,000 yen. The company is now checking the responses from the market to explore its marketability. 

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