Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Texas Instruments Builds New Energy Technology For the Internet of Things

Posted by samzenpus on from the power-up dept.

dcblogs writes Texas Instruments says it has developed electronics capable of taking small amounts of power generated by harvested sources and turning them into a useful power source. TI has built an efficient 'ultra-low powered' DC-to-DC switching converter that can boost 300 to 400 millivolts power to 3 to 5 volts. To power wearables, the company says it has demonstrated drawing energy from the human body by using harvesters the size of wristwatch straps. It has worked with vibration collectors, for instance, about the same size as a key. It is offering this technology as a means to power sensors in Internet of Things applications, as well as to augment battery power supplies in wearables.

54 comments

  1. Your power level! by TFlan91 · · Score: 1

    Your power level is draining with every hit!

    This fight is over .... Freeza?

    (Let's hope they call this device Freeze)

    1. Re:Your power level! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfdsu58KXkI

    2. Re:Your power level! by BarneyGuarder · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Say it with me now... Voltage is not a measure of power!

      Looking into the data sheet a little shows that this DC-DC converter maintains decent efficiency from a few microWatts to several hundred milliWatts;

      http://www.ti.com/product/bq25...

      Now, to bring this home with a car analogy (and a moderately controversial one, although it shouldn't be), quoting the voltage of an electrical power source is not unlike quoting the torque of a car engine. Neither is a measure of the power available. Torque can be changed by going through a gearbox without changing the power delivered apart from the efficiency of the transmission. Similarly, voltage can be changed without changing the available power apart from the efficiency of the DC-DC converter. In both cases, load conditions matter. It would be like looking at the specs of an air wrench that has up to 450 lb-ft of torque and saying "Wow, that's as powerful as a Corvette engine!"

    3. Re:Your power level! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now, now. Don't be condescending. We all know Ohm, Watt, Volta, and Kirchoff might as well be abstract painters to CS majors. :p

    4. Re:Your power level! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I wish they offered it in a hand-soldering friendly format, or that the evaluation boards were not really expensive.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:Your power level! by axlash · · Score: 1

      "Now, to bring this home with a car analogy (and a moderately controversial one, although it shouldn't be), quoting the voltage of an electrical power source is not unlike quoting the torque of a car engine."

      This assumes that we all know what the torque of a car engine means.

      I'd use a water pressure analogy myself.

      --
      Deal with reality - the world as it is - rather than ideality - the world as you would like it to be.
    6. Re:Your power level! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except that one of the two major challenges of using this type of ambient power is getting the voltage up to a usable level. i.e. one of the two major challenges has been overcome. The issue of trickle charging a battery with available current has become much easier. Which means your comments, like all the others it's parroting here, are fairly meaningless.

    7. Re:Your power level! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair giving either the watts or volts does give an indication of the rough levels of energy you're working with. I think it is impractical, to the point of absurdity in many cases, for your voltage and wattage to be too far apart. For example you cant practically put 500 amps over a 5 volt connection or 2 amps over a million volt connection. Doing so requires exponentially increasing amounts of insulation or heat dissipation.

    8. Re:Your power level! by rdnetto · · Score: 1

      If I'm reading the packaging info right, the pitch spacing is 0.50 mm. For context, that's about the width of a 0603 resistor (0.8 mm). So, if you have a very steady hand and a microscope, it should be doable.
      Also, I suspect if there's enough interest someone like Sparkfun will start selling these on breakout boards...

      --
      Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
    9. Re:Your power level! by rdnetto · · Score: 1

      But the reality is that current requirements vary. A car battery is rated for ~300 A at 12 V. A laptop power supply might be rated for ~2 A at 12 V. An LED consumes about 10 mA at ~3V. A microcontroller can run off microAmps at 5 V.

      All those voltages are within the same order of magnitude, but the currents span 8 orders of magnitude, and in practice you wouldn't even change the PCB design or wiring for anything 0.1 A.

      --
      Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
  2. Someone just failed Physics 101... by Archtech · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "...can boost 300 to 400 millivolts power to 3 to 5 volts".

    Power? Volts? Boost? Huh???

    --
    I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    1. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      Amps are needed.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Informative

      "...can boost 300 to 400 millivolts power to 3 to 5 volts".

      Power? Volts? Boost? Huh???

      In common vernacular of an EE you refer to voltage as power with the understanding that there is current being supplied. EG This device is powered by a 9-volt battery. So the the use of power in TFS and TFA is not out of line.

      The paragraph form TFA is:

      All these ambient energy sources, such as the difference in temperature in a pipe carrying hot water and the outside air, can generate 300 to 400 millivolts, which isn't enough to power anything. TI has built an "ultra-low powered" DC-to-DC switching converter that can boost this power to 3 to 5 volts, which is sufficient to charge a battery, according to Niranjan Pathare, senior marketing development manager at TI.

      Also while current is a needed aspect, the level of voltage is a defining factor in electronic design.

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    3. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Khyber · · Score: 0

      Much like you failed 5th-grade English, it seems.

      Volts is the power/force/pressure, Amps is the amount of electricity used.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    4. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somebody contact Ohm and tell him his formulas are wrong! (Hint: Power is Voltage multiplied by current) You can have an infinite voltage and absolutely no power if there is no current. Your error was in thinking you could find a solution to a physics equation in a dictionary. :-)

    5. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The whole thing is odd. If you want really low power why not offer 1.8V? Most devices use a lot less energy at that voltage.

      But yes, they should specify power in watts. Without that it's hard to get an sense of what you can actually run from these things. They illustrate a CC110L radio module which uses around 35mA when transmitting, but can be lower if you reduce the power (and range). Unfortunately they don't give any sort of time frame, so are we talking having the receiver always on at say 20mA or just doing one 0.1 second transmit per day?

      You can run an LCD clock from a set-top TV antenna and a simple Dickson doubler or three to boost the voltage to a usable level. The main issue is the size of the antenna required. This Texas part could potentially be quite interesting.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    6. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by janeuner · · Score: 1

      Voltage is a measurement of electrical potential. Power, force, pressure - these are all different things, and none of them describe voltage.

      5th grade English does not give you insight into physics.

    7. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Archtech · · Score: 1

      I don't understand your comment about a dictionary. I referred to the standard definition of power - see (e.g.) http://science.howstuffworks.c... if your recollection is rusty.

      As I was posting on Slashdot, I didn't think it was necessary to explain why the extract I quoted is confusing (and confused).

      "...can boost 300 to 400 millivolts power to 3 to 5 volts".

      Calling millivolts "power" is sloppy at best, but the real strangeness is the idea of boosting "300 to 400 millivolts power to 3 to 5 volts". Given that you can increase the voltage by a factor of 10 or so, one would normally expect that to be accompanied by a corresponding drop in current to keep the power constant. After all, you can't just pluck increased power out of nowhere by changing voltage.

      And, of course, you can have a potential difference of millions of volts with no power flowing at all.

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    8. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Voltage is a measurement of electrical potential. Power, force, pressure - these are all different things, and none of them describe voltage.

      5th grade English does not give you insight into physics.

      Yep, electromotive force does not indeed describe a voltage.

    9. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Power? Volts? Boost? Huh???

      >but the real strangeness is the idea of boosting "300 to 400 millivolts power to 3 to 5 volts". Given that you can increase the voltage by a factor of 10 or so, one would normally expect that to be accompanied by a corresponding drop in current to keep the power constant.

      There is literally nothing strange about boosting voltage. Boost converters are a form of switch mode power supply and are very, very common.

    10. Re: Someone just failed Physics 101... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This whole word debate is silly. What I am most interested in is the current loss in the device itself. Linear Tech. Have had these devices for years. They are pretty much useless since the device itself eats up most of the little current available. It doesn't matter if you get 5V if you need to provide tens of microamps for the conversion or for the device just sitting there.

    11. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by mlts · · Score: 1

      Same with HVAC and refrigerators. There is a big difference in overall power used if a device has a 100% duty cycle than one that only comes on 10% of the time. Power supplies as well. An 800 watt power supply can actually be running at 10-20 watts fairly often.

    12. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      factor in electronic design.

      To add, especially important to any digital design or logic circuit.

      Now if we're talking mechanical applications, servos and stuff.. that's a different solution.

    13. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      Nah, we don't need amps. We just require more Vespene gas.

    14. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Power? Volts? Boost? Huh???

      These must be the same people that wonder whether a product runs on batteries or electricity.

      datasheet for up-converter
      http://www.ti.com/lit/ug/sluua...

      distributor announcement video
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      I wonder what sort of human to d.c. transducers are planned. Flexing watchbands is one thing, but the /. crowd might be more excited over wind, combustion, and fuel cell power from flatulence.

      Then there's the magnet implant paired with coils around the fingers or?
      "Could you give me a hand charging my phone?"

    15. Re:Someone just failed Physics 101... by msauve · · Score: 1

      Amps are needed.

      My amp goes to 11.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  3. Power from the human body by vlad30 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've seen this movie for humans it doesn't end well

    --
    Your'e all thinking it, I just said it for you
    1. Re:Power from the human body by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only if you're a common meatbag. For the rest of us it turns out great.

    2. Re:Power from the human body by OzPeter · · Score: 1

      I've seen this movie for humans it doesn't end well

      So were you like me, and totally avoided the sequels?

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    3. Re:Power from the human body by funkymonkjay · · Score: 1

      It ends just fine. we get free shelter, food and entertainment. it's like you never left your parent's place.

    4. Re:Power from the human body by cytg.net · · Score: 1

      What sequels?

  4. Internet of things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Because what people need most in this world is underwear and baseball hats that can be hacked by the NSA to spy on you. What is up with this massive push to make everything massively unnecessarily complex. Will I have to take my underpants to the apple store if they break down?

    1. Re:Internet of things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since we need to continually grow, this is our agreed-upon social model, we need to continually invent new things to employ people.

  5. Millivolts "power"? by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, I had to accept that Slashdot editors and submitters are not, typically, capable to distinguish between power (watt, W) and energy (watt hour, W h), but this is a... new low? Hell, I don't even know if it's new, with how things have been going, it is quite possible that there was a similarly disgraceful submission already.

    Mentally insert image of double facepalm here.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    1. Re:Millivolts "power"? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Just turn things around and it's much easier to understand. It's millihours per watt/volt.

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    2. Re:Millivolts "power"? by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 1

      I agree with the reply to a previous post -- this nit isn't worth picking. They didn't say "300 to 500 millivolts of power", which would have been unambiguously wrong. The summary said "boost 300 to 500 millivolts power to 3 to 5 volts", which is poor grammar, but not necessarily wrong -- if they'd said "300 to 500 millivolt power", it would have correctly described "power delivered at a voltage of 300 to 500 millivolts", which gets converted to "power delivered at a voltage of 3 to 5 volts" (and about one-tenth the current, minus any conversion loss).

      I don't think this is nearly as bad as watts vs watt-hours, which does seem to engender harmful confusion.

    3. Re:Millivolts "power"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately, I had to accept that Slashdot editors and submitters are not, typically, capable to distinguish between power (watt, W) and energy (watt hour, W h), but this is a... new low? Hell, I don't even know if it's new, with how things have been going, it is quite possible that there was a similarly disgraceful submission already.

      Mentally insert image of double facepalm here.

      The summary is saying that the input is a power source with a 400 millivolt potential, not that 400 millivolts is a power measurement. I think the summary is sufficiently clear.

      Millivolts isn't a measurement of power, but it is a spec on how power is supplied.

      You're completely off base.

    4. Re:Millivolts "power"? by istartedi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      When you see "Internet of Things" you know everything that comes after is usually pure idiocy anyway.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    5. Re:Millivolts "power"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is a lot simpler is you use the unit for energy: J(oule)

      For electric currents:
      Watt = J/s
      Wh = (3600s*J)/s = 3600J

      For static electricity:
      J=C*V

      For pressure:
      J=Pa*m^3

      Moving object:
      J=(kg*m^2)/s^2

      Torque:
      J=N*m

      C: Coulomb
      kg: mass in kilogram
      m: meter
      N: Newtown (force)
      Pa: Pascal (pressure)
      s: second

  6. No better time by fleabay · · Score: 0

    There is no better time to join the Radio Shack Battery Club!

    --
    PlanetVulkan.com
  7. I can hear it now.... by LeadSongDog · · Score: 1

    "Genius, my ass."

    --
    Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were referring to me, Mr. Wensleydale.
  8. Re-inventing the wheel by Khyber · · Score: 2

    So, TI is basically saying they made a joule thief. *YAWN*

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  9. (( Volts x Amps ) = Power) x Time = Energy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While "volts" isn't "power", it's difficult to build circuits today that run at 300~400 mV, so kudos to TI. My guess -- the announcement is targeted towards stockholders, not EE's.

  10. As long as it doesnt SUCK. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Their MSP430 is great tech but their libraries suck horribly. They need to embrace the public community and less of their in house engineers on making libraries that are worth using AND stop using a compile/IDE that is complete crap and crippled.

    the GCC toolchain is decent but still clunky as all hell.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:As long as it doesnt SUCK. by chuckymonkey · · Score: 1

      I have a CC3200 and it works pretty well. I'm using it with the Energia IDE and for the most part it's not too bad. I agree that they should do more to embrace the community, but at the moment I don't find developing for these boards that much more onerous than Arduino.

      --
      "Some books contain the machinery required to create and sustain universes."-Tycho
    2. Re:As long as it doesnt SUCK. by itzly · · Score: 1

      I've used their CC3000, or at least tried to use it, but it's the most horrible product I've ever used. There isn't even real documentation for it. Just a half finished wiki page that has question marks in some places where they don't even know themselves what the proper parameters are.

  11. So this is the beginning? by redwraith94 · · Score: 1

    No Neo! Don't do it! Put the watch down!!!

    --
    I art more snarky, and terse than thou. I art Slashdot!
    1. Re:So this is the beginning? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please shut up.

    2. Re:So this is the beginning? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No Neo! Don't do it! Put the watch down!!!

      Why didn't the machines just use (insert farm animal here) instead of people, or burn the livestock food for energy? Manual dexterity might have been a slightly better use case, as machines were too good to be slaves, maybe.

  12. Did I read that right? by vm146j2 · · Score: 2

    The internet will be powered by " . . .collections of vibrators" ?

    But then what powers the . . .

    --
    "Lost time is not found again."
  13. Human batteries? by MagickalMyst · · Score: 1

    The Freemason that I used to work for told me that the movie "The Matrix" is very real and that most people don't realize it.

    > "To power wearables, the company says it has demonstrated drawing energy from the human body..."

    How do they know?

    // end sarcasm

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
  14. I can't wait by cjonslashdot · · Score: 1

    I can't wait: software-driven gadgets everywhere - and all buggy, hackable, and requiring constant updates just when you need them. What a wonderful world it will be!

  15. Methane harvesting fuel cell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Underwear, would make a very efficient energy harvester, otherwise wasted.
    Look my phone battery is low, allow me to recharge it a bit, *********.