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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/M35086/01
Title: SELF-POWERED MICROSYSTEMS
Principal Investigator: White, Professor NM
Other Investigators:
Brown, Professor AD Hill, Professor M Ross, Dr JN
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Morgan Matroc
Department: Electronics and Computer Science
Organisation: University of Southampton
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 March 1999 Ends: 30 September 2002 Value (£): 203,559
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Instrumentation Eng. & Dev.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine Construction
Electronics Transport Systems and Vehicles
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
The proposed programme of work aims to produce a micro-engineered sensor structure that is capable of producing an output signal without the need for external physical connections to a remote energy source. We propose that the device will be limited to sensing mechanical signals (with a frequency typically less than 1kHz) as this will be the method by which the sensor is powered. For this project we will exploit recent research at the University of Southampton that has produced combined silicon micromachined structures with screen printed thick-film piezoelectric elements. Various designs of micro-engineered piezoelectric generator will be modelled and fabricated. The second major phase of the work will be to investigate methods for storing the electrical energy generated. A variety of methods involving capacitors, battery technology etc, will be studied and developed. Signal extraction is particularly important for a self-powered sensor and we will investigate optical, magnetic and rf techniques. Finally, an integrated prototype self-powered microsystem will be fabricated and evaluated.
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Organisation Website: http://www.soton.ac.uk