Improved mechanical reliability of MEMS electret based vibration energy harvesters for automotive applications

14th International Conference on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications

物理学;能源学

Renaud, M.^1 ; Fujita, T.^2 ; Goedbloed, M.^1 ; De Nooijer, C.^1 ; Van Schaijk, R.^1

Holst Centre-Imec, Eindhoven, Netherlands^1

University of Hyogo, Himeji, Japan^2

关键词: Automotive applications;    Commercial products;    Electrical power sources;    Mechanical reliability;    Mechanical shock;    Technical challenges;    Tire-pressure monitoring systems;    Vibration energy harvesters;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/557/1/012071/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/557/1/012071

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Current commercial wireless tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) require a battery as electrical power source. The battery limits the lifetime of the TPMS. This limit can be circumvented by replacing the battery by a vibration energy harvester. Autonomous wireless TPMS powered by MEMS electret based vibration energy harvester have been demonstrated. A remaining technical challenge to attain the grade of commercial product with these autonomous TPMS is the mechanical reliability of the MEMS harvester. It should survive the harsh conditions imposed by the tire environment, particularly in terms of mechanical shocks. As shown in this article, our first generation of harvesters has a shock resilience of 400 g, which is far from being sufficient for the targeted application. In order to improve this aspect, several types of shock absorbing structures are investigated. With the best proposed solution, the shock resilience of the harvesters is brought above 2500 g.