Perpetuum Ltd, a world leader in vibration energy harvesting, was named Best Demonstrator, Commercial Products at the 2009 Wireless Sensing Showcase in Teddington, England.
The Showcase, organized by the Wireless Sensing Interest Group (WiSIG) of the Sensors and Instrumentation Knowledge Transfer Network (SIKTN), recognizes excellence in practical application of novel technologies that enable wireless sensing. Projects were scored for relevance, innovation, challenges addressed, benefits to Showcase delegates and benefits to society.
“We are extremely proud of this honor, as SIKTN is a key player in the British sensing community,” said Roy Freeland, Perpetuum Ltd CEO. “The Showcase is an opportunity for the best minds in wireless sensing to gather, network and collaborate on this cutting-edge technology.”
Perpetuum Ltd demonstrated the use of its vibration energy harvesters to power wireless condition monitoring systems. From the Perpetuum entry:
The systems are comprised of nodes that monitor temperature and vibration. The resulting data is transmitted to a laptop-based receiver for display and analysis. The wireless sensor nodes are available separately for integration with other systems, and can be adapted to measure other parameters such as pressure or flow.
“The Wireless Sensing Showcase is what the Sensors & Instrumentation KTN is all about,” said SIKTN director Phil Cooper. “We’re here to enable the practical transfer of knowledge from research laboratory to market. There are thousands of papers showing the possibilities of wireless sensing, but far fewer systems demonstrating their practicalities. It’s very exciting to recognize the best in class, and to bring together those groups doing hands-on work and to see the networking and collaboration that results.”
Perpetuum Ltd brought the first commercially available vibration energy harvester for industry – the PMG17 – to market in 2004. The company’s newest product, the PMG37 is optimized for use in the transportation industry, from on-highway trucks to rail cars and earth moving equipment.
Perpetuum’s products convert unused mechanical vibration into usable electrical energy to power wireless sensor systems used to monitor critical systems. The energy harvesters provide a long-term power solution for these sensor systems, providing the ability for continuous autonomous monitoring while reducing the cost of cabling and installation.
Perpetuum also produces a Wireless Sensor Node Assessment Kit (wSNAK), a field-deployable demonstration system designed to demonstrate to OEMs and end users the significant advantages and simplicity of condition monitoring systems powered by vibration energy harvesting.
The wSNAK consists of four wireless sensor nodes powered by Perpetuum’s PMG17 vibration energy harvesters, each incorporating an LCD display of the power harvested. The nodes monitor temperature and vibration, and the resulting data is transmitted to a laptop-based receiver for display and analysis.
Applications for the wSNAK include:
Wireless condition monitoring
Balance-of-plant condition monitoring
Asset management solutions
Plant safety systems
Wireless instrumentation
Perpetuum’s wSNAK is easily and quickly installed and open source, which can accelerate OEM product development by up to 12 months as well as reduce development costs by tens of thousands of dollars.
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