• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.9 s.174
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• pp.107-114
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• 2005

With the recent progress in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) in industry, increasing attention has been given to Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) systems. An AGV is a self-powered unit for transporting materials between stations without needing to be controlled by an operator. Such a system has several sensors to recognize the external state, and it is designed to travel between stations automatically without external assistance. To manage each device automatically in real time it requires a distributed controller with a main computer as the host, as well as a number of micro-controllers. In this study, an AGV system with dual motor drive was constructed. A Pentium 4 personal computer was set up as the main host for the distributed control, and this communicated with other micro-controllers in the management of the motor. The speed of each motor was also controlled by a micro-controller.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.75-80
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• 2012

In this paper, a new energy harvesting technology using stray electric field of an electric power line is presented. It is found that energy can be harvested and stored in the storage capacitor that is connected to a cylindrical aluminum foil wrapped around a commercial insulated 220 V power line. The average current flowing into 47 ${\mu}F$ storage capacitor is about 4.53 ${\mu}A$ with 60 cm long cylindrical aluminum foil, and it is possible to operate wireless sensor node to transmit RF data every 42 seconds. The harvested average power is about 47 ${\mu}W$ in this case. Since the energy can be harvested without removing insulating sheath, it is believed that the proposed harvesting technology can be applied to power the sensor nodes in wireless ubiquitous sensor network and smart grid system.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.236-239
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• 2019

In this work, we performed an optical simulation study on the performance of a PMDPP3T:PCBM based on an organic photovoltaic (PV) device. The virtual PV device was developed in Lumerical, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solutions. Different layers of the PV cell have been defined through the incorporation of complex refractive index value of those layers' constituent materials. During the simulation study, the effect of the variation active layer thickness on an ideal short circuit current density ($J_{sc,ideal}$) of the PV cell has been, first, observed. Thereafter, we have investigated the impact of surface roughness of a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrode on $J_{sc,ideal}$ of the PV cells. From this simulation, it has been observed that the $J_{sc,ideal}$ value of the PV cell is strongly dependent on the thickness of its active layer and the photon absorption of the PV cell has gradually decreased with the increment of the TCO's surface roughness. As a result, the capability of the PV device has been reduced with the increment of the surface roughness of the TCO.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2024

Energy harvesting technology that converts the wasted energy resources into electrical energy is emerging as a semipermanent power source for self-powered electronics and wireless low-power sensor systems. Among the various energy conversion techniques, flexible piezoelectric energy harvesters (f-PEHs), using materials with piezoelectric effects, have attracted significant interest because they can harvest a small mechanical energy into electrical signals without constraints of time and space in various environments. In this study, we used a flexible piezoelectric composite film fabricated by dispersing BaHf_xTi_(1-x)O₃ (x = 0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1) piezoelectric powders inside a polymeric matrix to facilitate f-PEHs. The fabricated f-PEH with optimal Hf contents (x = 0.05) generated a maximum output voltage of 0.95 V and current signal of 130 nA with stable electrical/mechanical disabilities under periodically bending deformations. In addition, we demonstrated a cantilever-type f-PEH and investigated its potential as a sensor by characterizing the output performance under mechanical vibrations at various frequencies. This study provides the breakthrough for realizing self-powered energy harvesting and sensing systems by adopting the lead-free piezoelectric composites under vibrational environments.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.19-25
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• 2019

To detect the impact location of a structure, the authors' group conducted a study on piezoelectric paint sensor. The piezoelectric paint sensors are used for impact detection due to their inherent characteristics: sensitivity to high-frequency signal and impact. Additionally, the paint sensor can be applied on curved and complex structures where ceramic sensor would not be applicable. Moreover it is a self-powered sensor therefore no need for an external power source. For impact localization, mosaic pattern electrodes were coated on the specimen and the impact signal obtained from any part of the electrode where the impact occurred. If we more precise impact localization is required, the electrodes should be divided into more parts and impact data acquisition conducted in all the points of the electrode. In this paper, we developed a light, cheap and simple multi-channel data acquisition system to aid in data gathering. In total four channels data acquisition have been tested using the ARM Cortex-M3.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.295-301
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• 2023

Thermoelectric (TE) energy harvesting, which converts available thermal resources into electrical energy, is attracting significant attention, as it facilitates wireless and self-powered electronics. Recently, as demand for portable/wearable electronic devices and sensors increases, organic-inorganic TE films with polymeric matrix are being studied to realize flexible thermoelectric energy harvesters (f-TEHs). Here, we developed flexible organic-inorganic TE films with p-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ powder and polymeric matrices such as poly(3,4-eethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). The fabricated TE films with a PEDOT:PSS matrix and 1 wt% of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exhibited a power factor value of 3.96 µW·m^-1·K^-2 which is about 2.8 times higher than that of PVDF-based TE film. We also fabricated f-TEHs using both types of TE films and investigated the TE output performance. The f-TEH made of PEDOT:PSS-based TE films harvested the maximum load voltage of 3.4 mV, with a load current of 17.4 µA, and output power of 15.7 nW at a temperature difference of 25 K, whereas the f-TEH with PVDF-based TE films generated values of 0.6 mV, 3.3 µA, and 0.54 nW. This study will broaden the fields of the research on methods to improve TE efficiency and the development of flexible organic-inorganic TE films and f-TEH.