ViPSN-Pluck: A Transient-Motion-Powered Motion Detector

The emerging energy harvesting technology facilitates the development of ubiquitous and everlasting battery-free motion detectors. This article introduces a robust design of the transient-motion-powered motion detector, which is called ViPSN-pluck. “ViPSN” is the acronym for the vibration-powered sensing node while “pluck” stands for the plucking-motion energy harvester. By using a piezo-magneto-elastic structure, ViPSN-pluck can efficiently harvest energy from a transient motion. By properly making good use of this tiny harvested energy, ViPSN-pluck can effectively carry out motion detection and Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) wireless communication. Given the concurrency of mechanical potential energy precharging and motion detection, the transient-motion plucking energy harvester used in ViPSN-pluck has the merit of high energy reliability. This unique feature is unprecedented in the solar and radio-frequency (RF) energy harvesting cases, which might suffer from energy outages under fluctuating irradiance or RF signal strength, respectively. The working principle of ViPSN-pluck, in particular, the dynamic characteristics of the plucking energy harvester and the energy matching between generation and utilization, are discussed in detail to demonstrate the robustness in operation. The cyber-electromechanical synergy among the mechanical dynamics, power conditioning circuit, and low-power embedded system is highlighted. The design methodology of ViPSN-pluck provides a valuable reference for the developments of future motion-powered Internet of Things devices.