Autonomous, self-powered sensors for smart infrastructure

Autonomous, self-powered sensors for smart infrastructure A collaborative project between UK industrial sensing startup 8power, Costain, and the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction at the University of Cambridge. Costain will install 8power condition sensors on site to create smart, self-monitoring infrastructure and show a sustainable, scalable business case by addressing maintenance and inspection costs. The benefits that wireless sensors offer in many applications are now understood. Remote monitoring of infrastructure can reduce asset management costs by avoiding frequent visual or manual inspection, enhance safety by limiting the need to access dangerous sites, and by detecting problems, real-time, as they occur. Wireless sensors are often favoured over wired sensors where it is expensive or difficult to install cables. However, smart sensor adoption has been limited by common problems: high cost of the sensors, due to costly components and batteries; limited battery life, due to the energy needs of the sensors and wireless link; and poor radio range, due to use of technologies developed for short-range applications. Sensor installation and maintenance costs have thus been high, limiting the viability of the business case for many scenarios. This project addresses these challenges by introducing two emerging technologies. 8power’s breakthrough vibration energy harvesting, using parametric resonance, is able to power sensors in a broader range of applications (such as on rotating machinery and bridges) than is possible with current devices. This is due to its wider bandwidth and ability to harvest up to an order of magnitude more energy than existing technology. A new interoperable long-range wireless low power wide area network (LPWAN) system called LoRaWAN allows sensors to connect with much greater range than has previously been possible, at low power levels available from energy harvesters. In the project these recent inventions will be combined with state-of-the-art technology for monitoring assets, machinery and infrastructure to produce prototypes of easy-to-install self-powered sensor ds. These will be deployed in the field to inform users, designers and stakeholders of the cost of ownership of this low-maintenance lower-cost sensor technology, and the applications benefits it can deliver. This Innovate UK project will speed adoption of this technology by accelerating development, proving the business model, and creating and publicising case studies, which would otherwise be very difficult for this SME. This will create a platform for 8power to rapidly grow headcount, revenue and exports.