Title: Charging Wearable Devices Through Natural Interactions with Instrumented Everyday Objects
Recent advancements in semiconductor technologies have stimulated the growth of ultra-low power wearable devices. However, these devices often pose critical constraints in usability and functionality because of the on-device battery as the primary power source [1]. For example, periodic charging of wearable devices hampers the continuous monitoring of users' fitness or health conditions [2], and batteries and charging equipment have been identified as one of the most rapidly growing electronic waste streams [3]. To counteract the above-mentioned complications associated with the management of on-device batteries, wireless power transmission technologies capable of charging wearable devices in a completely unobtrusive and seamless manner have become an emerging topic of research over the past decade [4]. Researchers have instrumented daily objects or the surrounding environment with equipment that can wirelessly transfer energy from a variety of sources, such as Radio Frequency (RF) signals, laser, and electromagnetic fields [5]. However, these solutions require large and costly infrastructure and/or need to transmit a significant amount of power to support reasonable power harvesting at the wearable devices, which conflict with the vision of ubiquitously available and scalable charging support. more »« less
Lightweight batteries are highly consequential to a wide range of Department of Defense (DoD) applications, including the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), wearable devices, and light combat vehicles. Additionally, the use of increasingly sophisticated equipment has caused DoD power requirements on the battlefield to rise substantially in re- cent years (see Figure 1). For example, a typical Army platoon in Afghanistan in 2001 required just 2.07 kilowatts per hour to power their devices. That requirement now stands at 31.35 kilowatts per hour [1–3]. Technologies that enable the production of higher-capacity batteries at the same weight (or lower) will bolster warfighter mobility and readiness.
Bhat, Ganapati; Park, Jaehyun; Ogras, Umit Y.
(, 2017 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD))
Wearable internet of things (IoT) devices are becoming popular due to their small form factor and low cost. Potential applications include human health and activity monitoring by embedding sensors such as accelerometer, gyroscope, and heart rate sensor. However, these devices have severely limited battery capacity, which requires frequent recharging. Harvesting ambient energy and optimal energy allocation can make wearable IoT devices practical by eliminating the charging requirement. This paper presents a near-optimal runtime energy management technique by considering the harvested energy. The proposed solution maximizes the performance of the wearable device under minimum energy constraints. We show that the results of the proposed algorithm are, on average, within 3% of the optimal solution computed offline.
Alsubhi, Arwa; Anaraky, Reza Ghaiumy; Babatunde, Simeon; Bakar, Abu; Cohen, Thomas; Hester, Josiah; Knijnenburg, Bart; Sorber, Jacob
(, International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction)
Batteryless wearables use energy harvested from the environment, eliminating the burden of charging or replacing batteries. This makes them convenient and environmentally friendly. However, these benefits come at a price. Batteryless wearables operate intermittently (based on energy availability), which adds complexity to their design and introduces usability limitations not present in their battery-powered counterparts. In this paper, we conduct a scenario-based study with 400 wearable users to explore how users perceive the inherent trade-offs of batteryless wearable devices. Our results reveal users’ concerns, expectations, and preferences when transitioning from battery-powered to batteryless wearable use. We discuss how the findings of this study can inform the design of usable batteryless wearables.
Du, Xian; Wankhede, Sahil P.; Prasad, Shishir; Shehri, Ali; Morse, Jeffrey; Lakal, Narendra
(, Journal of Materials Chemistry C)
Personalized healthcare (PHC) is a booming sector in the health science domain wherein researchers from diverse technical backgrounds are focusing on the need for remote human health monitoring. PHC employs wearable electronics, viz. group of sensors integrated on a flexible substrate, embedded in the clothes, or attached to the body via adhesive. PHC wearable flexible electronics (FE) offer numerous advantages including being versatile, comfortable, lightweight, flexible, and body conformable. However, finding the appropriate mass manufacturing technologies for these PHC devices is still a challenge. It needs an understanding of the physics, performance, and applications of printing technologies for PHC wearables, ink preparation, and bio-compatible device fabrication. Moreover, the detailed study of the operating principle, ink, and substrate materials of the printing technologies such as inkjet printing will help identify the opportunities and emerging challenges of applying them in manufacturing of PHC wearable devices. In this article, we attempt to bridge this gap by reviewing the printing technologies in the PHC domain, especially inkjet printing in depth. This article presents a brief review of the state-of-the-art wearable devices made by various printing methods and their applications in PHC. It focuses on the evaluation and application of these printing technologies for PHC wearable FE devices, along with advancements in ink preparation and bio-compatible device fabrication. The performance of inkjet, screen, gravure, and flexography printing, as well as the inks and substrates, are comparatively analyzed to aid PHC wearable sensor design, research, fabrication, and mass manufacturing. Moreover, it identifies the application of the emerging mass-customizable printing technologies, such as inkjet printing, in the manufacturing of PHC wearable devices, and reviews the printing principles, drop generation mechanisms, ink formulations, ink-substrate interactions, and matching strategies for printing wearable devices on stretchable substrates. Four surface matching strategies are extracted from literature for the guidance of inkjet printing of PHC stretchable electronics. The electro-mechanical performance of the PHC FE devices printed using four surface matching strategies is comparatively evaluated. Further, the article extends its review by describing the scalable integration of PHC devices and finally presents the future directions of research in printing technologies for PHC wearable devices.
We demonstrate the first example of a wearable self-charging power system that offers (i) the high-energy harvesting function of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and (ii) the high-power operation of a supercapacitor through charging and discharging. The MFC uses human skin bacteria as a biocatalyst to transform the chemical energy of human sweat into electrical power through bacterial metabolism, while the integrated supercapacitor stores the generated electricity for constant and high-pulse power generation even with the irregular perspiration of individuals. The all-printed paper-based power system integrates the horizontally structured MFC and the planar supercapacitor, representing the most favorable platform for wearable applications because of its lightweight and easy integrability into other wearable devices. The self-charging wearable system attains higher electrical power and longer-term operational capability, demonstrating considerable potential as a power source for wearable electronics.
Mohammed, Noor, Wang, Rui, Jackson, Robert W., Noh, Yeonsik, Gummeson, Jeremy, and Lee, Sunghoon. Charging Wearable Devices Through Natural Interactions with Instrumented Everyday Objects. Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10418343. GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications 26.2 Web. doi:10.1145/3551670.3551680.
Mohammed, Noor, Wang, Rui, Jackson, Robert W., Noh, Yeonsik, Gummeson, Jeremy, & Lee, Sunghoon. Charging Wearable Devices Through Natural Interactions with Instrumented Everyday Objects. GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications, 26 (2). Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10418343. https://doi.org/10.1145/3551670.3551680
Mohammed, Noor, Wang, Rui, Jackson, Robert W., Noh, Yeonsik, Gummeson, Jeremy, and Lee, Sunghoon.
"Charging Wearable Devices Through Natural Interactions with Instrumented Everyday Objects". GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications 26 (2). Country unknown/Code not available. https://doi.org/10.1145/3551670.3551680.https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10418343.
@article{osti_10418343,
place = {Country unknown/Code not available},
title = {Charging Wearable Devices Through Natural Interactions with Instrumented Everyday Objects},
url = {https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10418343},
DOI = {10.1145/3551670.3551680},
abstractNote = {Recent advancements in semiconductor technologies have stimulated the growth of ultra-low power wearable devices. However, these devices often pose critical constraints in usability and functionality because of the on-device battery as the primary power source [1]. For example, periodic charging of wearable devices hampers the continuous monitoring of users' fitness or health conditions [2], and batteries and charging equipment have been identified as one of the most rapidly growing electronic waste streams [3]. To counteract the above-mentioned complications associated with the management of on-device batteries, wireless power transmission technologies capable of charging wearable devices in a completely unobtrusive and seamless manner have become an emerging topic of research over the past decade [4]. Researchers have instrumented daily objects or the surrounding environment with equipment that can wirelessly transfer energy from a variety of sources, such as Radio Frequency (RF) signals, laser, and electromagnetic fields [5]. However, these solutions require large and costly infrastructure and/or need to transmit a significant amount of power to support reasonable power harvesting at the wearable devices, which conflict with the vision of ubiquitously available and scalable charging support.},
journal = {GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications},
volume = {26},
number = {2},
author = {Mohammed, Noor and Wang, Rui and Jackson, Robert W. and Noh, Yeonsik and Gummeson, Jeremy and Lee, Sunghoon},
}
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