Institute of Solid State Physics


SS22WS22SS23WS23SS24WS24      Guidelines for Master Students

Optimization and realization of piezoelectric floor harvesters
Asier Alvarez
HEP group, Joanneum Research-Materials
https://tugraz.webex.com/tugraz/j.php?MTID=mdcdb6c1cabf911c39e820cae6191f94e
11:15 - 12:15 Wednesday 29 March 2023 PH1150

Smart floors are devices consisting on floor tiles with integrated sensor networks. In particular, piezoelectric sensors make the floor pressure-sensitive, which enable it to respond to our needs. These needs might be to make our homes more comfortable, by triggering functions in a smart home, or to track occupancy in public places. In any case, the sensor nodes must be powered. This objective can be achieved by harvesting the energy generated during steps, making these devices self-powered and thus avoiding the use of batteries. Still, retrieving enough energy while seamlessly integrating the transducer in the floor and at the same time fabricating it with cheap and sustainable processes is a challenging task. In order to achieve it, design optimization and computer modelling is necessary.
In this talk, I will present the developments on these devices from Joanneum Research-Materials. On one side, I will introduce a tile with screen printed P(VDF-TrFE) sensor pixels together with a finite element model which allow us to predict the output of the device and thus, optimize the design. On the other side, I will show a highly compact, cantilever based floor harvester using also screen printed P(VDF-TrFE) as active material.