{"id":3131,"date":"2021-12-01T17:24:43","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T17:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davra.com\/?p=3131"},"modified":"2021-12-01T17:24:59","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T17:24:59","slug":"can-iot-reduce-its-reliance-on-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davra.com\/can-iot-reduce-its-reliance-on-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"Can IoT reduce its reliance on batteries?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
When it comes to sustainability, IoT is in many respects, a contradiction.\u00a0<\/span>We create connected appliances and equipment that use sensors and predictive analytics to identify device abnormalities, resulting in repairs rather than replacements and an overall longer lifespan. It can save a huge amount of energy through increasing efficiency in processes such as waste maintenance and waste management.\u00a0<\/span>But we also need to grapple with problems like e-waste, hard to recycle materials, and the environmental impact of creating more stuff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Take batteries. Battery innovation has been in the news all year due to the silicon semiconductor chip storage and supply chain woes that have plagued all connected industries.\u00a0<\/span>Batteries are primarily made from mined substances with <\/span>a problematic pedigree<\/span><\/a> and resource-intensive extraction. In turn, these materials can be hard to recycle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Imagine you deploy 10,000 Industrial IoT devices across your factory. Sensors are strategically placed to transmit real-time data about the health and performance of your machines and equipment, temperature, air quality, and other analytics.<\/span><\/p>\n If these batteries were to last five years, you would be replacing roughly 2,000 batteries each year. Or about five every day, a process that is not only expensive depending on the kind of device, but potentially hazardous when trying to access a remote sensor to change a battery.<\/span><\/p>\n But what if we didn\u2019t need to use a battery in the first place or could reduce their use to the most mission-critical applications? <\/span>One company working o this is <\/span>Everactive<\/span><\/a>. They have created self-powered sensors that run indefinitely by harvesting energy from their immediate environment, removing the need for batteries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Everactive\u2019s systems harvest energy from many environmental sources\u2014including low-level indoor solar (and, of course, outdoor solar). Energy comes from the thermoelectric effect (capturing ambient energy generated wherever there is a temperature gradient) and through the vibration of piezoelectric materials (such as certain crystals and ceramics). Energy even comes from radio waves traveling through the environment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image source: Eversensor\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Each Eversensor can collect an array of data using multiple sensors and process, analyze, and transmit that data wirelessly\u2014all on the same batteryless power budget. There is no need to inspect them for maintenance or a battery-level check physically. <\/span>An example of a use case is placing the Eversensors in steam traps to gather data through temperature changes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another option is the use of self-powered chips.\u00a0<\/span>Wiliot<\/span><\/a> is an IoT company that develops self-powered stamp-sized computers that can be attached to products and packaging to sense a range of data, including location, temperature, humidity, motion, and more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the core of the Wiliot IoT Pixel is a chip: a Bluetooth\u00ae Low Energy Wireless Micro Controller Unit (MCU) that offers the ability to sense, compute and communicate. <\/span>It includes a self-power management unit, several sensor interfaces, a security engine, and non-volatile memory for programming and configuration. It\u2019s battery-free <\/span>and powered by harvesting radiofrequency energy from its surroundings and nano-Watt computing operations.<\/span><\/p>\n In real-time, IoT Pixels securely communicate the information to the Wiliot Cloud, which can be accessed and analyzed by brands, and manufacturers.\u00a0<\/span>Its an interesting way to bring efficiency, safety, and sustainability to the entire supply chain, from packaging to shipping, to delivery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe need to reduce the reliance on batteries in IIoT<\/strong><\/h2>\n
A new way to power IoT devices\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Self-powered chips<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Wireless over the air charging\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n