TYRELESS - Integrated Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Systems for Smart Truck Tyre Monitoring

The purpose of the project is to develop an integrated TPMS transducer system. This includes; a) kinetic harvesting element (based on PVDF and/or ceramic materials), b) energy storage elements (supercapacitors) and integration with c) power management and sensing devices. The active harvesting element is to be developed by Prof. Chris Bowen at Bath University and will be coupled to a rectification/power management chip (supplied by Linear Technologies) which connects to an NXP wireless ARM Cortex M4 processor. An early stage prototype would consist of an EH/S element alongside a pressure sensing MCU and RfID circuit capable of relaying data remotely without connection to the tyre. The work would include fabrication and testing to understand the power that can be harvested, the operating temperature window and the lifetime of the EH/S transducer. Robust integration of the components is always a challenge for demanding environments, and so CPI will look into the best laminating/joining technologies to maximise performances.