A 1-mW vibration energy harvesting system for moth flight-control applications

This thesis focuses on the approach and methodologies required to build a 1-mW energy-harvesting system for moth flight control applications. The crepuscular hawk moth Manduca sexta is the chosen test subject. This project is part of the Hybrid Insect MEMS (HI-MEMS) program. The objective of the program is to establish an interface between adult insect neural systems, wireless communication and MEMS systems so that insects may be directed to fly to specific locations in real time. As in all micro-air vehicles, power is one of the major concerns. A power source on the moth is required to support the flight control and wireless communication systems. There are two methods by which these payloads might be powered. The first method is to draw power from a battery, while the second method is to harvest energy from the environment. Batteries have the advantage of simplicity, while energy harvesting systems have much longer life and lower mass per total energy delivered. In addition, the total mass of circuitry, MEMS devices, and batteries may severely limit flight duration. Therefore, we have chosen the energy-harvesting method. The energy harvesting system includes a vibration energy harvester and a boost converter that delivers power at the required 1-V level for the entire flight control system.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Chang, Samuel C

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jeffrey H. Lang.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58456

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/58456