Power-harvesting sensors

I’m seeing some interesting progress in the industry with harvesting ambient power to drive low-power devices, like wireless sensors.  While it still seems to be in the lab stages, it’s quickly advancing and I expect it’ll become a part of our lives in the near future.  Texas Instruments has recently introduced a small device (the TPS62736) to help use the minuscule amounts of power harvested from any source really (solar, radio wave, thermoelectric, magnetic, or vibration).  We’re talking about microwatts and milliwatts here, but it’ll be cool to see devices that no longer need batteries (not to mention, keeping that battery waste out of the landfills will be good for the environment).  Imagine a smoke detector that never needed a new battery, for example.  Anyway, cool technology…it’ll be here before you know it!

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑