Researchers develop tiny, autonomous piezoelectric energy harvester
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jan 2nd 2010 7:34AM
posted Jan 2nd 2010 7:34AM
Folks have long been using piezoelectric devices to harvest energy in everything from dance floors to parking lots, but a group of European researchers have now shown off some novel uses for the technology at the recent International Electron Devices Meeting that could see even more of the self-sufficient devices put to use. Their big breakthrough is that they've managed to shrink a piezoelectric device down to "micromachine" size, which was apparently possible in part as a result of using aluminum nitride instead of lead zirconate titanate as the piezoelectric material, thereby making the devices easier to manufacture. Their first such device is a wireless temperature sensor, which is not only extremely tiny, but is able to function autonomously by harvesting energy from vibrations and transmit temperature information to a base station at 15 second intervals. Of course, the researchers say that is just the beginning, and they see similar devices eventually being used in everything from tire-pressure monitoring systems to predictive maintenance of any moving or rotating machine parts.
it will keep working even after the zombie apocalypse
@Joeyjoejoe Shabadoo
Zombies don't move around fast enough.
@Kurian
Depends, if there's a hunter than your fucked..
We should put these at the bottom of every button and keys on a keyboard!
@B3astofthe3ast
Exceot for when watching movies and not using the board XD but others MMO's could power their own PC's.
@B3astofthe3ast And when you're low on power a message should appear in big letters: TYPE MOFO! TYPE! TYPE OR NO PR0N! TYPE FOR THAT KITTY IN A BASKET VIDEO!
@B3astofthe3ast pop this under the mouse pad.
Perpetual energy has begun..
@Skate It Dont Spray It
Yes. and inb4 middle-aged idiots saying 'blah blah perpetual energy has been around for yonks'.
Name one place that it's used efficiently and commonly.
This thing looks promising.
@Guybrush Threepwood
It sounds like neither of you understand what perpetual motion/energy is...
@Guybrush Threepwood
It HAS been around for years...idiot!
@NeoJew
you are a tool
just put two of these together and call it one object, thus it shall power itself
Imagine never having to recharge your cellphone!
@Siddharth
And how exactly do you plan to generate enough energy to power your phone with this gimmick? By banging it on your head constantly?
@m1lt0n :
Well.. that could work too.. I was thinking more on the lines of just carrying it around on your person would help charge the phone (way in the future)..
In any case, the world could definitely use "ingenious" thinkers to come up with "smart" solutions like the one you suggested.. :)
@Siddharth
Simple. Masturbation!
Solves the average geeks problems all the time!
@Siddharth
I don't think you understand the large difference in power requirements of a simple wireless thermometer versus the power requirements of a modern cellphone with 3G, a large screen, music playback, ability to play movies and games, etc.
The real applicability of a device like this is to reduce cost in sensor deployments, so that one doesn't have to run wiring to each little sensor (in a large application this could be a significant cost).
@paul34 I don't think YOU understand how intense Sidharth chokes his monkey.
We find the right Youtube video of girls in shorts dancing and he charges all of our netbooks.
Just imagine if these had been in keyboards when Vista came out, we would have had a surplus of power with everyone banging their keyboards in frustrations.
@garfnodie
hurr hurr durka durka durka....
Well a good usage could be a bluetooth/any other wireless technology keyboard that could charge itself, no batteries discharging :)
i remember the old keyboard which were very tactile from early days, i can see a good usage of the exact technology there....
I read the last word of the headline as Hamster not Harvester....now I am just disappointed.
This is a smaller version of a product I worked on a while back. We were not trying to make it tiny, as it was adequate in its current size.
http://mide.com/products/volture/volture_catalog.php#peh
Put them in shoes, and they can be a wireless power hub. Any electronic device you carry will be charged.
This is pretty damn HUGE news in my opinion.
Imagine powering your cell phone just by the act of pushing in the keys to dial. Or powering your laptop as you type (IBM had a prototype laptop like that a few years ago). Put some of these in your sneakers, get home after a run and through inductive charging built into some mat, help power your house.
@Hazdaz do you intended to run around with a capacitor bank to store energy? JK I think the power of these devices is near negligible atm. In the future banks of these maybe able to lie under your floors, just make sure your dog is active during the day so you can watch tv when you get home.
@Hazdaz
Not sure why everyone is acting like these are mini nuclear reactors here. It's a simple little device... you're not going to be powering anything as large as a laptop. Maybe you can power the keyboard status LEDs on your laptop... that's about it.
@paul34
it's not nuclear and insanely toxic it's piezoelectric.
also,
do you vote? If so, why? I mean you're just one vote.
@paul34
thanks for showing there are people with some minimal brains and technical knowledge still paul, it's quite exasperating to read all those nonsensical posts, and I'm only half way, next I expect someone suggesting it can power a car by putting it in a break and gas pedal..
"Their big breakthrough is that they've managed to shrink a piezoelectric device down to "micromachine" size, which was apparently possible in part as a result of using aluminum nitride instead of lead zirconate titanate as the piezoelectric material, thereby making the devices easier to manufacture."
Oh course, aluminum nitride is the only way to go.
Duh— Only chumps use lead zirconate titanate!
Versions of this (probably slightly larger) have been used for vibration monitoring for years. The elegance of the method is that, the more the machine being monitored vibrates, the more data from it is required. And the more power there is available to send that data wirelessly!
There are just so many applications where the need to replace a battery is a hassle, even if it's only every few years. Being able to build sensors right into (e.g.) large truck tyres is a Good Thing.