SoftServe’s TegBand - Ambient Energy Power Harvesting for Battery Free Applications

Previous research has shown that ambient energy can be used in the devices with ultra-low power consumption and produce efficient power management that involves hardware, firmware, and software designs.

Business Challenge

The power and maintenance of indoor sensors has become critical for these types of applications. The common requirements for the sensors are a small size and access to the main power source. Challenges around this can be seen across numerous industry verticals where battery efficiency is essential for cost effectiveness and business continuity. For example, the oil and gas industry commonly requires data gathering from infrastructure where the battery replacement is very expensive and time consu ming. Additionally, transportation and logistics services need real-time tracking capabilities of the high value cargo, requiring reliable, continuous power for these trackers over their lifetime.

Project Description

SoftServe’s TegBand Project demonstrates the ability to use this ambient thermal energy for power harvesting to run battery free applications. The device prototype built into a band format works from the heat of the human body. It validates the concept of battery free devices that can be used to execute communication and sensing tasks.

The harvested energy is stored in the single 1.5mF tantalum capacitor. The power level is sufficient to power a microcontroller unit (MCU), digital sensor, and LED; as well as measure the environmental condition, support communication with the smartphone, and provide visual feedback to the user.

Value Delivered

Thermal energy harvesting provides stable power output with the presence of a temperature gradient with an efficiency greater than that produced by ambient radio or vibration.

SoftServe’s TegBand application holds the potential to power wearable devices in
battery free environments to monitor systems with zero cost maintenance.