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Embedded
vision
summit
badgeToday Given that many
Internet
of
Things
(IoT)
implementations seek to remotely
deploy large numbers of devices, one
of the biggest challenges is power.
With mains often unavailable, the
IoT devices must run off batteries
and use as little power as possible.
But even this is imperfect: batteries
eventually run out and must be
replaced or recharged. There’s also
the complexity of needing to monitor
charge levels, to avoid downtime
caused by dead batteries.
What if it was possible to eliminate
these challenges, and create a way
of perpetually powering IoT devices?
It may sound like the stuff of sci-fi,
but there are now ways of harvesting
energy that are sufficient to power
a useful IoT device. Toppan Printing
Co. Ltd., for example, recently
announced its batteryless e-paper
display (EPD) with a built-in RFID
tag – all powered using harvested
RF energy.
By designing the device correctly and
using the right energy-harvesting
method, it’s perfectly feasible to
create batteryless devices that can
run near-enough forever. For those
buying and deploying these devices,
the overheads associated with
maintaining a large fleet of battery-
powered devices are eliminated.
Let’s look at the IoT power challenge
– and how to solve it – in more
detail.
The problem with
battery-powered devices
in the IoT age
Batteries are key to our modern,
wireless ways of living and working.
Everything from our laptops to our
smartphones and wearables runs off
batteries. Plugging these devices in
overnight has become part of our
routines – a small price to pay for
the advantages of cord-free use.
In the same way consumer
electronics have gone wireless, so
have industrial devices, thereby
paving the way for the IoT. We
can now roll out large numbers of
sensors and other kit in remote
locations, without worrying about
power or network cabling.
But this creates a new challenge.
Keeping our consumer device
batteries charged is workable
because there are usually only a few
pieces of kit, and they’re not usually
critical to our existence (if you can’t
check your personal social media
accounts for a few hours, it’s not the
end of the world).
Going batteryless: How to create the next
generation of industrial and IoT devices
Scott Soong, Pervasive Displays
Embedded Solutions
Special Edition
62 l New-Tech Magazine Europe