Rectennas and temperature sensors for wireless sensing applications

Lokesh Anilkumar Gupta, Purdue University

Abstract

Over the years, health monitoring of moving parts in machines has become a critical process in several applications. Health monitoring aims to measure system parameters like temperature and strain using sensors in order to take corrective action before the failure of the machine. Temperature is one of the critical parameters that have to be measured for health monitoring in applications that employ sliding surface motion. Existing temperature sensors are wired sensors. They are difficult to integrate in sliding surfaces and hence wireless sensing needs to be employed. Sensing telemeters proposed and implemented previously are powered by either batteries or inductive coupling. Battery-powered systems are constrained by their limited lifetime, while systems powered by inductive-coupling are constrained by their limited operating distance. This research discusses an approach to solve the problems posed by both battery powered systems and systems powered by inductive-coupling. In addition, this research also outlines the design of wireless temperature sensing methodology for highly polished sliding surfaces.This research focuses on the application of Rectifying Antennae (Rectenna) to remotely power telemeters over a few meters of operating distance. Two 2.4 GHz rectenna designs have been proposed and implemented to remotely harvest a min- imum of 8mW of power from a 10W transmitter over a distance of 3 meters. In addition, EM-circuit co-simulation based design procedures for rectenna have also been presented in this research. Using a novel wireless sensing method based on electromagnetic induction, temperature sensing of two highly polished sliding surfaces has been accomplished. This design, capable of temperature measurements up to 80C, was implemented using commercially available inductors and temperature sensing capacitors.

Degree

M.S.E.C.E.

Advisors

Peroulis, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Electrical engineering

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