Small IoT or Internet of Things devices are fast becoming universal as the said technology allows smart gadgets at home and wearable technologies like smartwatches to communicate, not to mention operate together.
As specified in a Nanowerk report, IoT devices are commonly used throughout all industries to drive interconnectivity and smart automation as part of the so-called "fourth industrial revolution."
Essentially, the fourth industrial revolution builds on widespread digital technology like connected devices, robotics, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence or machine learning. It is expected to be a substantial factor in revolutionizing society and the economy and culture.
These tiny, self-supported, interconnected, and frequently wireless devices play a vital role in the daily lives of helping to make humans more resource and energy-efficient, safe, secure, healthy, and organized.
There's a key challenge here, and that's how to power these small devices. The obvious answer to such a challenge is "batteries." However, it is not that simple.
Small, Yet Complicated Devices
Many of these IoT devices are too small to use a long-life battery, and they are found in remote or hard-to-access areas, for example, in the middle of the ocean tracking a shipping container, or at the top of a grain silo, monitoring cereal levels.
These location types make servicing certain IoT devices complicated, logistically, and commercially infeasible.
Head of ICT for energy efficiency Mike Hayes, from the Tyndall National Institute in Ireland, has summarized the marketplace.
It is projected that there will be one trillion sensors worldwide by 2025, the ICT head said, adding, "That is one thousand billion sensors."
A Call to Consider Battery Life
The landfill is not the only environmental concern. There's also a need to consider where all the material to manufacture the battery will come from.
The EnABLES project, in particular, has called on the European Union and industry leaders to consider battery life from the outset when developing IoT devices to guarantee that devices are not restricting the lifespan of such devices.
According to Hayes, there is no need for the device to last forever. The trick, he elaborated, is that one should outlive the application he is serving.
For example, as specified in a report by the European Commission, if one wants to monitor a piece of industrial equipment, he would, perhaps, want it to last for five to 10 years.
And in some circumstances, if one does a regular service every three years anyway, once the battery lasts longer than three or four years, that is, perhaps, good enough.
Ambient Energy Harvesters
Ambient energy harvesters like a small vibrational harvester or indoor solar panel that generate low amounts of power could substantially prolong the battery life of many devices, explained Hayes.
These include daily items such as radio frequency identification or RFID tags, watches, hearing aids, temperature, light, and humidity sensors, and carbon dioxide detectors.
EnABLES, according to a similar Modern Diplomacy report, is designing the other key technologies needed for tiny IoT devices. Not content with enhancing energy efficiency, the project is also trying to develop a framework, as well as standardized and interoperable technologies for such devices.
Related information about battery-free IoT devices is shown on Capacitech Energy's YouTube video below:
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