Self-Adaptive Energy-Autonomous Integrated System for Full-Wave Acceleration Measurement with Single Multifunction Transducer

Abstract

Self-power sensors provide an effective solution of long-term monitoring for many applications. An obstacle in the path is the common mismatching of the harvested power and the required power since the harvester and the sensor are independently designed without cooperative consideration. This article proposes an energy-autonomous integrated system (EAIS) designed to wirelessly acquire and transmit vibration signals without the need for an external power source. The system employs a piezoelectric cantilever that both harvests energy and senses acceleration, integrating two circuit subsystems: the energy harvesting subsystem and the acceleration sensing subsystem. A self-adaptive time-division multiplexing strategy is adopted for the two subsystems so that they can work alternatively in an energy-self-sufficient way. By utilization of a smart and dedicated circuit design, the acceleration sensing subsystem is capable of acquiring full-wave acceleration signals with complicated frequency components, which is considered as a great advancement in self-powered sensing studies. In particular, the entire system is fully energy-autonomous with the capability of self-starting, self-powering and self-sensing.