N092-107 TITLE: Power Harvesting Systems for Use with In-water Instrumentation

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Ground/Sea Vehicles, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-264, Air Anti Submarine Warfare Systems

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative transducers that eliminate the need for batteries through the generation of electricity by virtue of exploiting and converting various forms of energy that surround us on a daily basis.

DESCRIPTION: The Navy has an immediate and continuing need for at-sea training systems. The primary operational constraint for portable, autonomous sensor systems is currently battery power. As a result of limited operational durations, battery based systems must be recovered, repowered and redeployed at considerable operational time and expense. Furthermore, large scale systems requiring more power call for lengthy power cables to shore locations which can be costly and environmentally unfriendly. Resulting training locations become fixed and installation costs are high. Installed in-water sensors with autonomous power sources could benefit navigation, communications, and sensor systems. Successful development of an effective power harvesting system would enable the design of low cost, portable and sustainable instrumented training ranges that could be rapidly deployed in threat representatvie locations.

Power harvesting solutions for small autonomous devices, like those used in sensor networks are sought. These systems are often very small and require little power, but their applications are limited by the reliance on battery power. Successful scavenging of energy from ambient vibrations, heat, light, salinity gradients, or water movements such as tides, waves, or currents could enable smart sensors to be functional for prolonged periods of time. Proposed methods for harvesting energy to produce sustainable autonomous power from a range of 10 Watts to 1 KWatt for a period of 2-20 years are of interest. Solutions must be developed for systems deployed from at or near the ocean surface to the ocean bottom in water depths that might range from 100 feet to greater than 5000 feet. Systems that are not physically secured to their location must incorporate a means for remaining in situ.

PHASE I: Define and demonstrate feasibility of a methodology for harvesting energy from an at-sea environment. Develop analytical models for detailed analysis of predicted performances of various conceptual designs.

PHASE II: Design and develop a prototype and demonstrate the operation meets the defined performance criteria stated in the description above.

PHASE III: Extend the phase II prototyping efforts and proceed with a design for manufacturing. Integrate the technology with ongoing range instrumentation programs.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Ocean based alternative energy sources have world-wide implications for ocean monitoring applications, energy conversion, and related applications.

REFERENCES:
1. S. Shearwood and R. B. Yates, "Development of an electromagnetic micro-generator," Electron. Lett., vol. 33, pp. 1883–1884, Oct. 1997.

2. R. Amirtharajah and A. P. Chandrakasan, "Self-powered signal processing using vibration-based power generation," IEEE J. Solid State Circuits, vol. 33, pp. 687–695, May 1998.

3. W. J. Li, G. M. H. Chan, N. N. H. Ching, P. H. W. Leong, and H. Y. Wong, "Dynamical modeling and simulation of a laser-micro-machined vibration-based micro power generator," Int. J. Nonlinear Sci. Simulation, vol. 1, pp. 345–353, 2000.

4. S. Meninger, J. O. Mur-Miranda, R. Amirtharajah, A. P. Chandrakasan, and J. H. Lang, "Vibration-to-electric energy conversion," IEEE Trans. VLSI Syst., vol. 9, pp. 64–76, Feb. 2001.

5. P. Miao, A. S. Holmes, E.M. Yeatman, T. C. Green, and P. D. Mitcheson,"Micro-machined variable capacitors for power generation," in Proc.Electrostatics ’03, Edinburgh, U.K., Mar. 2003.

KEYWORDS: Power Harvesting; Sensors; Autonomous; Pyroelectric; Electrostatic; Energy Harvesting

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