Self-described “deep tech” specialist ITEN has unveiled an ultra-compact battery able to driving an autonomous asset monitoring system — and is hoping its little black speck can substitute “polluting coin cells” in a spread of designs.
“When observing the battery-powered digital options, ITEN got here certainly to the next conclusions,” the corporate claims in assist of its creation, delivered to our consideration by CNX Software program. “A number of digital designs depends on very polluting coin cells, troublesome to assemble on printed circuit boards, expensive to recycle and requiring periodic upkeep to switch the battery as soon as empty. Relying on the nations, solely 30 to 50 per cent of such coin cells are successfully recycled.”
Practically misplaced on a fingertip, ITEN claims this solid-state battery can drive a 24/7 BLE asset-tracker — and assist the surroundings, too. (📷: ITEN)
“Autonomous embedded programs require much less and fewer power to function; nevertheless, now and again, the ability provide should ship excessive present pulses for example to drive RF transceivers or actuators,” the corporate continues. “Due to this fact, most digital designers should use outsized coin cells as a result of such batteries are recognized to ship solely small currents.”
Its solid-state battery design, ITEN says, resolves all of those issues — and to show it, has designed an autonomous asset tracing system, which runs each sensors and a Bluetooth Low Vitality (BLE) radio-equipped microcontroller from a tiny battery providing simply 100µAh of power storage topped up by a photovoltaic energy-harvesting system able to working indoors.
Utilizing the battery, which just about disappears on the tip of your finger, the asset ttracking system can ship knowledge each 10 seconds through the day and each 4 to 5 minutes at night time with 24/7 operation — one thing that, the corporate claims, would take a 100mAh coin cell, a thousand instances the capability of its solid-state different.
ITEN’s asset-tracking design builds on its earlier analysis package providing, although full particulars haven’t but been launched. (📷: ITEN)
ITEN can be pushing its merchandise for quite a few different duties from BLE tagging programs and beacons to knowledge loggers and as battery back-ups to real-time clocks and microcontrollers — offering the latter sufficient energy to ship out an alert ought to a major energy supply be misplaced. In comparison with coin cell equivalents, the corporate claims, its designs are significantly extra eco-friendly with no heavy metals, poisonous supplies, or natural solvents and being totally rechargeable — serving to push their carbon footprint down three or 4 orders of magnitude smaller than coin cell options.
ITEN is presenting its design at Electronica 2022 this week, with extra data accessible on the corporate web site.
