The tiny sensor on
the finger of PhD-student Hao Gao. Photo: Bart van Overbeeke.
(December 7, 2015) Researchers
at TU/e have developed a very tiny wireless temperature sensor that is powered
in a very special way: from the radio waves that are part of the sensor’s
wireless network. This means that the sensor needs not even a single wire, nor
a battery that would have to be replaced. The arrival of such sensors is an
important development on route towards smart buildings, for instance. But the
applications are many and various.
The smart buildings of the future will be full of sensors
that will respond to the residents’ every need, and will be as sustainable as possible.
Like heating and lighting that only switches on when someone is in the room.
That’s only possible if these sensors are wireless and need no batteries,
otherwise in a large building you would have to change the batteries every day.
This is demonstrated by TU/e researcher
Hao Gao who will be awarded his PhD on Monday 7 December for his thesis in
which he developed a sensor that measures just 2 square millimeters and weights
a mere 1.6 milligrams, equivalent to a grain of sand.