ENERGY HARVESTING SYSTEM FOR IOT DEVICES

• US 20170170675A1
• Filed: 12/15/2015
• Published: 06/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Ni Scanaill, Cliodhna, Kelly, Mark, Nolan, Keith, Lazarut, Aurelian
• Granted Patent: US 10,153,650 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/001 Energy harvesting or scavenging
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0063 with circuits adapted for supplying loads from the battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0071 with a programmable schedule
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007182 in response to battery voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/34 Parallel operation in networks using both storage and other dc sources, e.g. providing buffering H02J7/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/345 using capacitors as storage or buffering devices

Abstract

A system and related methods for powering a device module of IoT device with an energy harvesting module. A supercapacitor is charged by the energy harvesting module and discharged to the device module to power the device module. The discharge from the supercapacitor may be scheduled to power demanding tasks to provide sufficient recharging periods for the supercapacitor and avoid discharging the supercapacitor when the supercapacitor is insufficiently charged.

Claims

1. A system for powering a device module, the system comprising:

an energy harvesting module; and

a supercapacitor chargeable by the energy harvesting module;

wherein the supercapacitor is configured to discharge power to the device module at a supercapacitor voltage.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy harvesting module is configured to collect energy from an ambient source, the ambient source comprising at least one of solar panels, wind turbines, hydroelectric generators, tidal generators, kinetic induction generators, electromagnetic induction generators, geothermal generators, and heat pump generators.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy harvesting module is configured to generate energy from a fuel source, the fuel source comprising at least one of gasoline generators, diesel generators, and natural gas generators.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises:

a supercapacitor bank including a plurality of supercapacitors arranged in parallel;

wherein the plurality of supercapacitors are chargeable by the energy harvesting module and configured to discharge power to the device module.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the supercapacitor operates as at least one of an electric double layer capacitor and a hybrid capacitor.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a secondary battery configured to discharge power to the device module at a battery voltage.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the supercapacitor and the secondary battery are arranged in parallel.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the supercapacitor voltage is greater than the battery voltage such that power output to the device module is biased to the supercapacitor until the supercapacitor is discharged.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a controller selectively distributing power discharged by at least one of the supercapacitor and the secondary battery to the device module.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to:

evaluate energy usage statistics for the supercapacitor and the secondary battery, the energy usage statistics include at least one of amount of power discharged, duration of power discharge, frequency of power discharge and total power discharged during the at least one energy demanding task.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to:

generate an alert if the collected energy usage statistics indicate that usage of the secondary battery exceeds usage of the supercapacitor.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a transmitter module; and

a remote receiver;

wherein the alert comprises telemetry data transmittable to the remote receiver by the transmitter module for evaluating the received telemetry data.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a receiver module;

wherein the controller is configured to receive instructions via the receiver module to modify power discharge from at least one the supercapacitor and the secondary battery.

14. A method for powering a device module, the method comprising:

generating energy with an energy harvesting module;

charging a supercapacitor with energy generated by the energy harvesting module; and

discharging power from the supercapacitor to the device module at a supercapacitor voltage.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

identifying at least one energy demanding task of the device module requiring power from the supercapacitor.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

scheduling the at least one energy demanding task such that the supercapacitor discharges power to the device module as the supercapacitor is being charged by the energy harvesting module.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

scheduling a charging period following power discharge from the supercapacitor during the at least one energy demanding task such that the supercapacitor is recharged by the energy harvesting module following the at least one energy demanding task.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

discharging power from a secondary battery to the device module at a battery voltage.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

comparing the supercapacitor voltage to the battery voltage; and

discharging power from the supercapacitor to the device module when the supercapacitor voltage exceeds the battery voltage.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

evaluating supercapacitor voltage and the battery voltage to determine an available charge of the supercapacitor and the secondary battery; and

discharging power from the supercapacitor and the secondary battery when the available charge is sufficient to power the device module.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

identifying at least one energy demanding task of the device module; and

selectively discharging power from at least one of the supercapacitor and the secondary battery.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

comparing the supercapacitor voltage to the battery voltage; and

delaying the at least one energy demanding task when the battery voltage exceeds the supercapacitor voltage until the supercapacitor is recharged by the energy harvesting module.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

comparing the supercapacitor voltage to the battery voltage; and

scheduling the at least one energy demanding task such that the supercapacitor discharges power to the device module as the supercapacitor is being charged by the energy harvesting module when the battery voltage exceeds the supercapacitor voltage.

24. A system for powering a device module, the system comprising:

a controller configured to read computer readable instructions and configured to control powering of the device module.

an energy harvesting module; and

a supercapacitor charged by the energy harvesting module;

wherein the supercapacitor is configured to discharge power to the device module at a supercapacitor voltage.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the instructions for controlling powering of a device module comprises instructions for:

identifying at least one energy demanding task of the device module requiring power from the supercapacitor;

scheduling the at least one energy demanding task such that the supercapacitor discharges power to the device module as the supercapacitor is being charged by the energy harvesting module; and

scheduling a charging period following power discharge from the supercapacitor during the at least one energy demanding task such that the supercapacitor is recharged by the energy harvesting module following the at least one energy demanding task.