Energy self-sufficient sensor systems

Intelligent and wireless sensor-actuator systems with self-sufficient energy supply

Micro-electronic components, such as sensors and arithmetic units, are steadily becoming smaller and require less and less energy. Moreover, the energy consumption of commercial, certified radio systems has declined significantly in recent years. This creates the possibility of operating electronic systems at the application site – energy self-sufficient and wireless. In this case, specifically the energy harvesting technologies are becoming increasingly more important. With the conversion of thermal, mechanical or optical energy into electrical energy, it is possible to “harvest” energy from the immediate environment and use it for operating embedded systems. In addition to energy harvesting technologies, we also utilize RFID-based technologies for implementing passive sensor tags, which can be integrated on or in rotating components, for example. Energy self-sufficient systems are predominantly applied in the areas of status monitoring, process automation, and smart metering.

Energy self-sufficient systems for industrial applications

Hahn-Schickard develops energy self-sufficient systems for industrial applications – from conceptual design up to prototypes. Our many years of experience in the fields of energy harvesting systems, embedded sensor systems as well as wireless energy transmission form the foundation for a successful development result.

Energy self-sufficient systems include the following subsystems:

  • Sensor elements and sensor systems
  • Wireless low-power communication
  • Energy harvesting systems
  • Energy management
  • Energy transmission

In the area of energy self-sufficient systems, we offer the following services:

  • Technology and feasibility studies
  • Analysis of existing energy potentials in the target environment
  • Design and development of solution approaches (from energy converter up to the energy self-sufficient total system)
  • Modeling and simulation of system components
  • Customer-specific new and modification development (energy converter, energy management, energy harvesting system, sensor system, wireless communication, data analysis, data connection)

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