Self-sustained autonomous wireless sensing based on a hybridized TENG and PEG vibration mechanism

Autonomous wireless sensor nodes (WSN) for information acquisition and status monitoring, play an important role in the boom area of the internet of things (IoT) and industry 4.0. Self-sustained power supply is an important pursuit in massive practical applications but yet to be developed. Here we propose a novel hybrid piezoelectric generator (PEG) and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to form a novel self-sustainable WSN. The PEG consisting of a hinged-hinged PZT bimorph and two T shaped proof mass, has an output power of 6.5 mW excited in 25 Hz at 1.0 g. PEG also shows broadband characteristics thanks to the impact of the TENG and tunable frequency due to the axial force. 30 serial LEDs in sine vibration and 20 serial LEDs in shock vibration are lighted up with the proposed double voltage rectifier circuit by PEG, which can serve as alarming signals in vibration and drop monitoring. The triboelectric accelerometer shows good linearity with a sensitivity of 15 V/g in 0–1.5 g with an optimized gap of 1.5 mm. After low power design, Arduino nano and RF transceiver can be sustainably powered by PEG, and send the TENG acceleration signal wirelessly by Zigbee. A VR train monitoring demonstration has been conducted showing the great prospect of the self-sustainable WSN in harsh environments.