The MINC team is developing new wireless and battery-free communicating objects that are energy autonomous thanks to electromagnetic Wireless Power Transfer techniques or by harvesting ambient electromagnetic energy.

Electromagnetic Wireless Power Transfer and ambient electromagnetic energy harvesting

The MINC team's research is based on an approach ranging from devices to systems, with the aim of achieving energy autonomy for complex communicating systems by Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) or by harvesting ambient energy. These systems are designed for a variety of applications, including: the Internet of Things (IoT), biomedical (e.g. battery-free intracranial sensors, powering optical sensors by energy harvesting inside an MRI installation, etc.), multi-decade monitoring of intelligent buildings, space, etc.

[V. Palazzi, R. Correia, X. Gu, S. Hemour, K. Wu, A. Costanzo, D. Masotti, E. Fazzini, A. Georgiadis, H. Kazemi, R. Pereira, N. Shinohara, D. Schreurs, J-C Chiao, A. Takacs, D. Dragomirescu, et N. Borges Carvalho, "Radiative Wireless Power Transfer: Where We Are and Where We Want to Go," in IEEE Microwave Magazine, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 57-79, Feb. 2023.]

[G. Loubet, A. Sidibe, P. Herail, A. Takacs, et D. Dragomirescu, "Autonomous Industrial IoT for Civil Engineering Structural Health Monitoring," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 2023.]

[A. Takacs, H. Aubert, S. Fredon, L. Despoisse, et H. Blondeaux, "Microwave power harvesting for satellite health monitoring," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 62(4), 1090-1098, 2014.]

Schematic diagram of the radiated electromagnetic Wireless Power Transfer using radio-frequency waves.

Wireless and battery-free sensors and sensors networks

To meet economic and societal challenges, the MINC team is developing wireless and battery-free sensors that make optimum use of the Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT). In other words, the effective cohabitation of functions relating to Wireless Power Transfer, measurement of physical parameters, wireless communication (BLE, LoRaWAN, RFID, etc.) and cybersecurity implemented at both software (data communication) and hardware (power transmission) levels.

Photo combining two LoRaWAN wireless and battery-free sensors, a source of radiated electromagnetic power (+33 dBm at 868 MHz) and two BLE wireless and battery-free sensors.

Wireless and battery-free BLE sensors

These sensors use a standard capacitor (from 100 µF to 220 µF) as the energy storage element and can perform physical measurements (temperature, relative humidity and dielectric resistivity) with a measurement periodicity controlled by the power source. It also employs an antenna designed on a translucent and flexible substrate.

[A. Sidibe, G. Loubet, A. Takacs, et D. Dragomirescu, "A Multifunctional Battery-Free Bluetooth Low Energy Wireless Sensor Node Remotely Powered by Electromagnetic Wireless Power Transfer in Far-Field," Sensors, 22 (11), pp.4054, 2022.]

Block diagram and photo of a wireless and battery-free BLE sensor.

Wireless and battery-free LoRaWAN sensors

These sensors use a supercapacitor (2.2 mF) as an energy storage element and can perform physical measurements (temperature, relative humidity, mechanical deformation and dielectric resistivity) with a measurement periodicity controlled by the power source. They have a tested remote powering distance of at least 11 metres and a telecommunication distance of several kilometres. Using a radio frequency circulator, a single antenna is used to simultaneously recover the electromagnetic power generated for its supply and transmit the measured data.

[G. Loubet, A. Takacs, et D. Dragomirescu, "Implementation of a battery-free wireless sensor for cyber-physical systems dedicated to structural health monitoring applications," IEEE access, 7, 24679-24690, 2019.]

Photo of a wireless and battery-free LoRaWAN sensor.

Contacts: Alexandru TAKACS, Daniela DRAGOMIRESCU, Marjorie GRZESKOWIAK, Gaël LOUBET