Energy harvesting is a process whereby a device scavenges relatively small amounts of electricity remotely. Possible sources include mechanical load, vibrations, temperature gradients, and light. This enables the device to function independently without any external energy source. We already do this on a large scale using wind and solar. However, micro-scaling this technology is trickier.
Applying Energy Harvesting to the Internet of Things
Billions of physical devices now connect across the internet, collecting and sharing information. These create the highly responsive technical environment that surrounds us. Some of these things are very tiny, while others are jet planes in the sky and ships out at sea. However, regardless of size they all need electricity to function.
But some internet of things energy harvesters are tiny. They capture and deploy energy from their ambient surroundings to create their independent electricity source. And they can use this power online, or store it for later consumption.
This ambient energy is all around us when we look. We can see it in a cup of coffee as we stir the ingredients. It is in the wind that rustles grass stems and leaves. Moreover, we create it ourselves with every motion of our bodies.
A Bit More About Harvesting Ambient Energy
We are deep into advanced science here. However, we do know that we waste vast amounts of energy from an ocean of radio waves and wi-fi signals. And that we could recover this power in theory at least. Energy explorers ONIO describe the broad brush strokes of energy generation for the internet of things as follows:
- Converting the ambient energy from the source into electricity.
- Processing the raw electricity to make it suitable for the internet thing.
- Sending the refined energy to a sensor, actuator, etc. for use, or storage.
Energy harvesting is materializing from light, vibrations, mechanical stresses, temperature, radio waves and more. But we are only just beginning a journey that may become as vast as our internet of things.
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