New vibration energy-harvesting generators
26/04/2021
Replacing batteries in Internet of Things (IoT) devices is said to be the number one problem limiting the exponential adoption of the IoT. This is driving significant developments in ultra-low-power microprocessors, new IoT-centric communication standards, ‘always awake’ smart sensors and energy harvesting. Xidas claims to have revolutionised energy harvesting for Industrial IoT by releasing the industry’s first high-power-output, vibration-based energy-harvesting generator (the VEG series) in a small footprint, with prices similar to those of industrial batteries.There are thousands of machines that vibrate when operating and, until now, there has not been a practical vibration-based energy-harvesting solution that generates the required power at a cost similar to industrial batteries. Xidas has spent over two years working in partnership with the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to address and develop a commercial solution to resolve this problem for the IoT. The VEG series completely eliminates the costs and headaches that end-users face with battery replacements and encourages wider acceptance and adoption of wireless sensing solutions for applications such as machine condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.
Paul Dhillon, CEO of Xidas, said: “There’s a good amount of energy coming from machines via their vibrations, which might as well be captured and used to power the wireless sensors being used to monitor their condition.
“The value triangle of our VEGs makes the product an ideal replacement to standard batteries for IoT wireless sensors: high power output (at the low vibration profiles of machines) combined with small size and affordability. Typical energy-harvesting solutions can’t generate the appropriate amount of power or are simply too expensive to be used for a large wireless sensor network until now.”
