mems tech showcase® engineering team of the year …meptec.org/resources/3 - vaeth.pdf · various...

microGen Generations of Power™

Startup of the Year

2012 ‘Top 25’ Journal Paper 2012 to present

Engineering Team of the Year MEMS Tech Showcase®

2012 Winner

2013 Winner 2014 Runner-up

© 2015 MicroGen Systems Inc.

Company Background

2

Rochester, NY

Itzehoe,

Germany

Developing MEMS Piezoelectric Vibrational Energy Harvesters for wireless sensors and sensor networks HQ in Rochester, NY, Sales Office in Santa Clara, CA

Founded in 2007 – Developed technology at Cornell University & University of Vermont between 2007-11

Volume manufacturing coming online at X-FAB foundry

Funding Status – Series A investment


http://www.xfab.com

http://www.xfab.com

http://www.xfab.com

Vibrational Energy Harvester:

Agnostic Power Source for IOT

IOT Applications

3 © 2015 MicroGen Systems Inc.

Use of Vibrational Energy

Harvesting with Wireless Sensors

Vibrational Energy

Harvester

Sensor

Vibrational

Energy Harvester Reservoir (e.g.

Rechargeable

Battery)

Sensor


• Direct powering (no battery)

• Trickle charge a reservoir

MEMS Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

• Piezoelectric materials

have the ability to

generate charge when

strained.

• If the piezoelectric

material is coated on a

mechanical structure

that can respond to

ambient vibrations,

energy can be

harvested from the

environment.


Piezo-MEMS Design Platform

6

200mm Si fabrication process

Simple 5-mask process, using available MEMS fab processes:

Si structural cantilever material

Aluminum nitride (AlN) piezo-material

Si

wafer-level

packaged

harvester


Resonant Mode Energy Harvesting

Cross-section of harvester in operation

Beam up Beam down

mass

mass

cantilever

Vibration input at constant frequency

(0.3 G or greater, depending on frequency) © 2015 MicroGen Systems Inc.

Harvester Cross-Section: Packaging

Borofloat

Glass Frit

Al

Passivation

AlN

Electrode

Cantilever

Si

Oxide

Mass Frame

Wafer Level Package (WLP) Cap

Wafer Level Package Cap

vacuum


Enclosed packaging prevents overextension of the harvester, but control of

the movement of the cantilever is still required in order to prevent breakage

Where should the

stopper be placed?

Energy Harvester Robustness


Modeling: No Stopper Contact

10 © 2014 MicroGen Systems Inc.

WLP Vibrational Energy Harvesters

with Stoppers

stopper

cantilever


“Resonant mode” Operation:

MicroGen’s BOLTTM Product Line

M

k

158 159 160 161 162P

ow

er

(uW

)

Frequency (Hz)

Q factor > 250

< 1 g acceleration, Power 25 - 200 µW DC

Impedance ~ 700 kOhm @ 120 Hz

Voltage ~ 4 - 8VACpeak, loaded

external vibration at a constant

frequency matched to harvester

resonant frequency


Industrial, Building, and

Smart Infrastructure

Real-time monitoring for

structural integrity

Design Parameters: Low G and Frequency, Specifically Tuned Frequency

Machine to machine (M2M) connectivity

Process automation (e.g. oil & gas industry)

Equipment preventative maintenance

Constant Commissioning

(Smart Buildings)


http://www.myfox47.com/story/20882711/2013/01/31/bridge-collapse-survivors-request-mementos

Design for Frequency Tuning

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

Re

so

na

nt

Fre

qu

en

cy (

Hz)

Normalized Cantilever Angle

Predicted and Experimental Resonant Frequencies

Cantilever L1, Modeled Cantilever L1, Experimental



Modeled Frequency is within 5% of experimental observations

Frequencies from 100 – 1500 Hz typical

FEM Modeling

cantilever angle


Examples Powering off of real devices @ 120 Hz

Motor of fish pump Building heater fan

Fan

Vacuum Pump Microwave © 2015 MicroGen Systems Inc.

60Hz

60Hz 120

180 240

300

360 420

120

600

840

Demos Powering off of real devices @ 120 Hz


Wireless Sensor Network

Powered by BOLTTM Power Cells

• Installed in the exhaust fan system in the Science Building at Rochester

Institute of Technology.

• Three locations continuously monitored for temperature, all powered from

harvested vibration using MicroGen’s MEMs Power Cells.

• Texas Instruments eZ430 wireless temperature sensing

mote and custom logging software


Harvester

Mote

Harvester

Energy Storage

Location # 2

Fan Cover

Te

mp

era

ture

(°F

)

Vo

ltag

e

Battery Charging!


“Impulse Mode” Operation

MicroGen’s VIBETM Product Line

WLP piezo-MEMS VEH

Vo

ltag

e

Harvester ‘rings down’ at its resonant frequency when impulsed (> 100 g) from

the environment at a lower frequency, generating power (~ 10 -20 µW DC)


Harvesting from Impulses

video © 2015 MicroGen Systems Inc.

../../Demo Videos/TPMS_HarvesterDemo_Ver2_smaller.mp4

21

TMS unit moving

through tire footprint

TMS unit in tire

tread Actual TMS unit with

power source inside

Impulse Example:

Tire Mounted Sensors (TMS)


Why tire mounted sensors?

Allows improvements to safety, fuel economy/emissions, and handling

Basic TPMS Intelligent Tire

http://www.gizmag.com/continental-load-detecting-tire/26496/

http://www.continental-corporation.com/www/pressportal_mx_es/general/information/pi_tire_information_es.html?page=4

http://www.conti-online.com/www/automotive_de_en/themes/commercial_vehicles/chassis/chassis_control/intelligent_tire_system_en.html?page=3

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2

aradial

aimpulse(3)

a fp aradial

aimpulse(5)

6

ITS unit

with

power

source

inside

Position #

6 2

5 4 3

1

R =

radius

V =

speed

tire footprint

Radial Acceleration in a Rotating Tire

tire footprint

Harvest the impulses generated

entering and exiting the tire footprint

K. Singh et al, Mechtronics 22 (2012) p 970-988


Harvester Design Parameters: High G, High Frequency, Minimal Tuning

Powering a TPMS unit from a

double impulse

video © 2015 MicroGen Systems Inc.

Harvester

Double impulse generator

TPMS

../../Demo Videos/DblPulseTPMS_smaller.mp4

Capacitors Used For Energy Storage

TMS board with

harvester

(not actual drum tester used) (not actual tire used)

VIBE™ for TMS battery-less trials

24

VIBE™ demonstrated in Heavy Duty, SUV and Passenger Vehicle Tires Powered TPMS chip set w/ transmissions received


Exploratory Market Wearables

• Extending the battery life of wearable electronics

Exploratory Market Wearables

Integration of VIBE harvester with Nike + Apple Wearable Sensor

Summary

• MicroGen’s piezoelectric energy harvesting Power Cells

have the potential to expand the power available for

integrated wireless sensors.

– Frequencies of 100 – 1500 Hz

– Powers of 10 – 200 µW, depending on operation

• Multiple recent demonstrations include:

– Powering of wireless temperature sensor network in a

building exhaust fan system

– Powering off electrical frequencies (multiples of 60 Hz)

– Powering a tire mounted pressure and temperature

sensor under impulse conditions.


Thank You!

XTRION N.V.


http://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm

Various YouTube video demos BOLT™ energy harvester enables Linear

Technology SmartMesh™ IP network

YouTube May 10, 2013

Click here to view demo

Distributed power/ vibration

transmission and energy harvesting

YouTube April 18, 2013


Batteries NOT Included Industrial and building applications YouTube – March 29, 2013 (~6,000 views) Click here to view demo

Vibration Powered Motion Sensing Demo

using Analog Devices’ ADXL362Z

accelerometer

YouTube November 15, 2013 Click here to view demo

UAV 'drone' vibration power!!

YouTube October 28, 2013 Click here to view demo

Impulse VIBE™ demo

Operation mode for Smart Tire/TPMS

YouTube October 28, 2013



http://youtu.be/5JuKFYnI56g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qJidruEVJA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vzzh-oD40o

http://youtu.be/LDjHFjyI2R0

http://youtu.be/bw14GBBcyd4

http://youtu.be/sBwll_XmC70

http://youtu.be/sBwll_XmC70

mems tech showcase® engineering team of the year …meptec.org/resources/3 - vaeth.pdf · various...

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