With the rapid development of WSN (wireless sensing networks) and IoT (Internet of Things), the number of sensors in each device, system and the entire society will increase exponentially. It is estimated that trillions of sensors will be installed in the next decades. Changing batteries for these sensors will become impractical and unpredictably costly in terms of labour resources. Therefore, the lifespan of batteries should be significantly extended. Ideally, the role of batteries as the power supply of smart sensing systems should be taken over by other technologies. Energy harvesting is considered a proper substitution candidate and even an ultimate solution to the issue of battery lifespan. Energy harvesters collect ambient energy (which otherwise will be wasted, such as light, kinetic and thermal energy) from the working environment of the WSN, and then convert it into electricity to provide long-term (typically >20 years) power sources. In this course, you will walk through different energy harvesting systems and will learn how to design a new energy harvesting system for specific use cases.
- Teacher: Yang Bai
- Teacher: Jari Juuti
- Teacher: Jani Peräntie