A Fully Integrated, Printed, SelfRechargeable Wireless Sensor Node for
Engine and Motor Condition Monitoring
Richard Winslow, Chun Hsing Wu, Bernard Kim, Martin Cowell,
Prof. Malcolm Keif, Prof. Ana Claudia Arias, Prof. James W. Evans, Prof. Paul K. Wright
Motivation
2
Prediction of Equipment Failure
Too large, requires
full infrastructure
Printed devices satisfy
necessary form factors
Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory
Design and Target Specifications
3
Current draw from Texas Instruments
MSP430 radio
Thermoelectric
Voltage (V)
Thermoelectric Power
(mW)
1.6
0.35
Battery Capacity
(mAh)
Capacitor Power
(mW)
0.80
51
Current (mA)
Target prototype specifications
Time (ms)
Sleep mode draw: 0.6 mA
Duty Cycle < 1% of Operating Time
Device Components
4
Printed Energy Generation and Storage
Thermoelectric Generator
Battery
Off-the-Shelf Components
Texas Instruments MSP430
Supercapacitor
Printed Traces
Sensor
Conductive silver ink
Manufacturing Scale-Up & Approach
Custom Dispenser Printer
5
Dispenser Supercapacitor
pressure line
printe
r
head
stage
vacuum &
heater lines
Flexographically Printed Cathode
Roll-to-roll Printing
Aqueous-based cathode
on stainless steel foil web
Organic solvent-based cathode
inks on stainless steel foil web
Summary
6
• Designing wireless system for sensing vibrations
in motors and pumps to monitor their condition
• Scavenging thermal energy from nearby pipes
• Integrating three printed energy generation and
storage components onto a single substrate
Principal Investigators
Prof. Paul K. Wright
Prof. James W. Evans
Prof. Ana Claudia Arias
Prof. Malcolm Keif
• Developing metrics and procedures to scale
individual devices to high-throughput
manufacturing
• Investigating balance between ink manufacturing
printability, and electrochemical performance and
power production
Thank You!
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the FlexTech Alliance for supporting this research, and the California Energy Commission
for supporting this research under award 500-01-43. We would also like to thank Dr. Zuoqian Wang, Dr. Deepa
Madan, Dr. Jay Keist, Prof. Xiaoying Rong (Cal Poly-SLO), and Dr. Vince Battaglia (LBNL), for their
contributions.