Open AccessTemperature gradient sensor from pulsed power supply duty cycle in ultra‐low‐power energy harvesting system
Author(s) -
JoveCasulleras R.,
Ramos J.,
Ccorimanya H.,
Camps A.,
Alarcon E.,
Amezaga A.,
Bou E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
electronics letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.375
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1350-911X
pISSN - 0013-5194
DOI - 10.1049/el.2014.0399
Subject(s) - interfacing , energy harvesting , duty cycle , electrical engineering , power (physics) , wireless sensor network , computer science , air conditioning , signal conditioning , electronic engineering , engineering , voltage , computer hardware , mechanical engineering , computer network , physics , quantum mechanics
Directly interfacing sensors that link sensors to micro‐controllers without a signal conditioning circuit or an analogue‐to‐digital converter on the one side and energy harvesting systems on the other side are two key enabling technologies to create self‐powered autonomous low‐cost and low‐maintenance sensor networks. In this reported work, both technologies are concurrently combined in such a way that the duty cycle of the pulsed power supply provided by the harvesting system itself yields in turn a temperature gradient sensor functionality. Originally conceived to power a low‐power satellite beacon in a CubeSat project, it has found application, among other applications, in automatic air conditioning and heating systems aiming smart buildings.