Work

Self-Powered Visible Light Communication for Batteryless IoT via Vibration Energy Harvesting

Year: 2024

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate a case towards the emerging Internet of Batteryless Things by leveraging the latest advances in energy harvesting for self-powered computing. We present the design and implementation of a self-powered IoT system for batteryless computing, which employs a hybrid generator combining electromagnetic generators (EMG) and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) to harvest energy from ambient vibrations. To showcase the potential of the proposed system, we build a prototype for self-powered visible light communication, powering and modulating an LED light for data transmission. Our prototype customizes a mechanically fabricated hybrid generator, which is rectified to sustain a low-power microcontroller. Real-world evaluation shows effective batteryless communication over distances using only the power harvested from environmental vibrations, promising applications in machinery status sensing, equipment malfunctions troubleshooting, and structural health monitoring, all without batteries.

DOI: 10.1145/3698384.3699611

Authors: Sitong Shen, Wenbo Ding, Chenshu Wu

Institutions: University of Hong Kong, Peng Cheng Laboratory, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University

Language: English

Topic: Innovative Energy Harvesting Technologies

Subfield: Mechanical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: gold

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China

Award: G8676120579