Autonomous Active Tag Using Energy Harvesting Strategies

Abstract

In this work, we present autonomous active tags. The power sources of these active tags employ energy harvesting techniques, specifically, solar and mechanical techniques. The integration of these techniques, and the storage of the energy obtained with a supercapacitor, converts the active tag into an autonomous device. These tags work in a low power mode in which they dynamically adjust their radio communication capabilities. Such a configuration depends on the application. We tested the tags in a real environment with testing parameters to check the modules, meaning more wake-ups over a longer time. Under these conditions, the tags gather enough energy to autonomously maintain standby operation on a sunny day for ten hours. In conclusion, this autonomous active tag is a demonstration that the integration of energy harvesting techniques, supercapacitor storage and the management of low power modes for transceivers, microcontrollers, and memories creates a device without energy dependencies that only depends on the requirements, and can be used in many applications related to, for instance, smart homes, smart cities, smart cars, and connected forests.

Keywords

• autonomous
• energy harvesting
• active tag
• supercapacitor
• solar energy
• mechanical energy