element14 launches the Energy Harvesting Road Test Design Challenge
Selected from over 75 entrants, the competitors are developing projects that use energy harvesting technology to either replace a device that uses battery or mains power, or create an entirely new design.
The winner will be judged on the potential of the prototype to be practical to the point where it can be developed into genuine and mainstream products.
With an innovative product with green credentials taking shape from the result, the implications for the winner are potentially huge. The development of low power devices that don’t require the use of batteries is particularly important as we all begin to seriously consider the impact of our energy usage, and the reality of our ongoing reliance on finite energy sources.
The seven projects selected for the final competition are listed below, and with entries received from around the world, the competition represents the global commitment to innovation and the green agenda from the engineering community.
Each competitor has received an Energy Harvesting Solution To Go Design Kit, containing out of the box features to help engineers harvest the energy, manage it and store it for use in their applications along with a selection of components, schematics and software examples to get started.
Gesture activated remote control
Monte Chan, Australia
Electronics and IT veteran Monte is developing an easy to use motion-activated remote control that removes the need for a replaceable battery, instead relying on energy harvesting for charging, while also absorbing surrounding ambient energy while it is idle. This will be achieved through ambient radiation from a solar cell, ambient RF energy (such as wasted WiFi power), ambient sound or forced kinetic energy (charging by shaking the device).
Reptile house power source
Simon Day, UK
Reptile hobbyist Simon is keen to find a solution that results in reptile enthusiasts avoiding the huge energy bills associated with replicating the natural environment of these delicate creatures, by utilizing the excess energy that is wasted from heat, light and water sources. These sources could be converted to power the control system for the automation of the reptiles’ environment, with the hope that this could be adapted to help any area of the hobby, ranging from reptile hobbyists right through to retail and zoological interests.
Batteryless Carbon Monoxide Monitor
Wojciech Gelmunda, Poland
Electronics and telecommunications graduate Wojciech was inspired to create a new form of carbon monoxide monitor after growing tired of replacing batteries – a common issue for all of us. This custom design will allow the storage of measurements, sending daily low-energy RF links to your smartphone, meaning that if you are not at home and the alarm turns on, the device could send a notification to your PC or other devices. Wojciech believes implementing energy harvesting subsystems could save users money in addition to making the alarms safer and more autonomous.
Drone – autonomous flying robot
Chad Johnson, USA
A previous winner of element14’s Wireless Power Challenge, electrical engineer Chad Johnson impressed with his Wireless Power solutions for both the Raspberry Pi micro computer and the Beaglebone board.
Chad was rewarded for his innovative efforts with a TI AR Drone 2.0, a sophisticated autonomous flying robot. Chad will now attempt to power his drone using energy harvesting technology, a project that if successful has strong implications for drone usage in the military, scientific and emergency services sectors.
Piezo and solar bicycle head light
Victor Sluiter, the Netherlands
Self-confessed ‘tinkerer’ Victor is set to develop a bike tail and/or head light based on piezo and solar energy harvesting. Victor was inspired after discovering that in his native Holland there are more bikes than people, with a €50 fine for those riding without functioning lights. Victor believes that bicycle lights that don’t stop during rainfall (as old-fashioned dynamo lights may) or require battery charging (like LED lamps) could have strong commercial advantages.
Homebrew monitoring kit
Sean Reynolds Massey-Reed, Australia
An MA engineering student and maker of homemade beer, cheese and chocolate, Sean is developing a homebrew monitoring kit that can harvest excess heat from fermentation to power the monitor.
Monitoring temperature and the number of bubbles passing through an airlock per minute using a optosensor, Sean is looking to upload this data to his website and study the PH level with an electric PH meter, specifying gravity readings using a hydrometer on a strain gauge.
Forest Fires Surveillance System
Jose Antonio Noda Betancor, Spain
Electronic security engineer Jose is working on a design and implementation for a Forest Fires Surveillance System based on Wireless Sensor Networks.
Low power consumption, good fault tolerance and cheap materials are essential in the development of wireless sensor networks, and Jose is looking to use the ultra low power Gecko microcontroller and low power Micronas GAS 86xyB digital gas sensors as an early fire detection and prevention system, using energy harvesting to power the nodes and make the system completely autonomous.
As the competitors commence work on their ambitious projects over the next few months, I’ll be providing regular updates on their progress. With such complicated projects, it’s inevitable that problems will be encountered as each device takes shape, but we can look forward to seeing how these issues are solved with great interest.
Regardless of whichever project is selected as the winner in July, we will have seven more strong cases to underline the importance of pursuing the development of this significant technology.
About the author
Dianne Kibbey is Global Head of Community, element14 – www.element14.com/Community
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