LYNNTECH INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF191-046

Description

The US Air Force seeks an energy harvesting system (EHS) for enabling easy installation of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) on aircrafts without significant modifications. The EHS will need to support continuous power requirement for the sensor nodes for the entire flight duration (expected ~ 4 hours). Lynntech in collaboration with Prof. Tian-Bing Xu from Old Dominion University, propose an ultra-high-power density piezoelectric energy harvesting system to harness mechanical vibration energy from the aircrafts. The proposed EHS solution is based on Prof. Xu’s already demonstrated multiple stage force amplification piezoelectric energy harvester (MS-FAPEH) technology. The force amplification mechanism provides a large amplification ratio, high safety factor, and compact size. An order of magnitude higher (> 10 times) power density is hence obtained. The MS-FAPEH concept will be integrated with Lynntech’s energy dense battery or ultracapacitor technology for a complete integrated EHS solution. Phase I will demonstrate the concept at a relevant vibrational frequency with a target of meeting 210 mW power. A tunable system design solution to address the varying frequency scenario will also be developed. The Phase II will scale up the EHS design with integration of multiple harvesters to demonstrate a prototype system meeting the 200 W power target.