Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 26

RF1
IMM1
CTL
Tag/µP1
RF2
IMM2
CTL
Tag/µP2
A schematic drawing of a basic HYDRA implementation with two or more Intelligent Multiplexer
Modules (IMMs) containing control circuitry and two-way RF switches with connected antennas. As
shown by the dots in the diagram, more IMMs can be added to the chain, enabling more antennas
require fewer readers and less cabling. For example, eight antennas would normally require eight
cables, but with the HYDRA design, would only require one cable. (Image: NASA)
tionality. In one embodiment, the microcontroller
is replaced with a simple timer.
In another embodiment, the switch
has multiple output ports to connect to
a distributed chain of HYDRA system or
local antennas. Also, the entirety of RF
power exiting a HYDRA module can be
rectified and used to power a local sensor
node, which could be implemented via
WiFi or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
Features of the HYDRA system include
the ability to cover both open regions
and enclosures, the ability to switch RF
power to an unused load for assisting
in the resolution of tag antenna ambiguities,
and the ability to accept plugand-play
add-ons such that the readers
software can use the system without requiring
any embedded modifications.
Typical applications of the system include
aerospace: locates inventory of
mission items in and around vehicle;
agriculture: helps farmers determine
health condition of produce: technology
allows supply chain to add information
remotely to tag; medical: helps staff manage
medical devices and supplies; can
track patients; and retail: tracks inventory
and automates ordering.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information, visit
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/MSCTOPS-111.
Self-Powered
Sensor for Harvesting Magnetic Energy
It could be embedded in a hard-to-reach place, like inside the inner workings of a ship's
engine, and automatically gather data on the machine's power consumption and operations.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
M
IT researchers have developed a
battery-free, self-powered sensor
that can harvest energy from its environment.
Because it requires no battery
that must be recharged or replaced,
and because it requires no
special wiring, such a sensor could be
embedded in a hard-to-reach place,
like inside the inner workings of a
ship's engine. There, it could automatically
gather data on the machine's
power consumption and operations
for long periods of time.
field energy, and can be applied to
those that use other power sources, like
vibrations or sunlight. It could be used
to build networks of sensors for factories,
warehouses, and commercial spaces
that cost less to install and maintain.
" We have provided an example of a
MIT researchers have developed a battery-free, self-powered
sensor that can harvest energy from its environment.
(Image: Christine Daniloff, MIT)
The researchers built a temperature-sensing
device that harvests energy
from the magnetic field generated
in the open air around a wire. One
could simply clip the sensor around a
wire that carries electricity - perhaps
the wire that powers a motor - and it
will automatically harvest and store energy
which it uses to monitor the motor's
temperature.
" This is ambient power - energy that I
don't have to make a specific, soldered connection
to get. And that makes this sensor
very easy to install, " said Steve Leeb, the
Emanuel E. Landsman Professor of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science
(EECS) and Professor of Mechanical Engi26
neering,
a member of the Research Laboratory
of Electronics, and senior author of
a paper on the energy-harvesting sensor.
In the paper, which appeared as the
featured article in the January issue of the
IEEE Sensors Journal, the researchers offer
a design guide for an energy-harvesting
sensor that lets an engineer balance the
available energy in the environment with
their sensing needs.
The paper lays out a roadmap for the
key components of a device that can
sense and control the flow of energy continually
during operation.
The versatile design framework is not
limited to sensors that harvest magnetic
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battery-less sensor that does something
useful, and shown that it is a practically
realizable solution. Now others will
hopefully use our framework to get the
ball rolling to design their own sensors, "
said lead author Daniel Monagle, an
EECS graduate student. Monagle and
Leeb are joined on the paper by EECS
graduate student Eric Ponce.
John Donnal, an Associate Professor
of weapons and controls engineering at
the U.S. Naval Academy who was not involved
with this work, studies techniques
to monitor ship systems. Getting access
to power on a ship can be difficult, he
said, since there are very few outlets and
strict restrictions as to what equipment
can be plugged in.
" Persistently measuring the vibration of
a pump, for example, could give the crew
real-time information on the health of the
bearings and mounts, but powering a retrofit
sensor often requires so much addiTech
Briefs, June 2024

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Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024

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