Kristofer S.J. Pister (Advisor)

Research Advised by Professor Kristofer S.J. Pister

Pister Group:  List of Projects | List of Researchers

QuickCal: Assisted Calibration for Crystal-Free Micro-Motes

Tengfei Chang
Thomas Watteyne
Filip Maksimovic
Brad Wheeler
David C. Burnett
Titan Yuan
Xavier Vilajosana
Kristofer S.J. Pister
2020

The Single Chip Micro Mote (SCµM) is a crystal-free single-chip mote that brings us one step closer to the Smart Dust vision, in particular as it can communicate with off-the-shelf IEEE802.15.4 and Bluetooth Low Energy devices. However, before it can be part of such networks, the crystal-free SCµM chip needs to be able to accurately tune its communication frequency to synchronize to the network. This is a challenge since its on-board RC and LC-based resonating circuits have a drift rate that can be 3 orders of magnitude worse than crystal based oscillators typically used in today’s radios...

Stencil-Printed Lithium-Ion Micro Batteries for IoT Applications

Anju Toor
Albert Wen
Filip Maksimovic
Abhinav M. Gaikwad
Kristofer S.J. Pister
Ana C. Arias
2020

A battery design and fabrication process is demonstrated to make Lithium-ion (Li-ion) microbatteries with high capacity to power IoT devices. The battery consists of printed anode and cathode layers based on graphite and lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) respectively. The active area of the electrodes is scaled down to 1 mm2 and the resulting electrochemical performance is evaluated. These miniature batteries demonstrate a significantly higher discharge capacity (6.4 mAh/cm2) and energy density (23.6 mWh/cm2) than thin-film and thick-film, and 3D microbatteries. This work shows a miniaturized Li-...

Actuation and Localization of Resource-Constrained Autonomous Microrobotic Systems

Brian Kilberg
2021

With recent advances in miniaturized wireless system-on-chips, microactuators, sensors, and power supplies, autonomous microrobotic systems that can independently explore spaces and process information are approaching fruition. These systems, which can be smaller than1 cubic centimeter, require actuation and localization modalities that are compatible with these strict payload and size requirements. The first part of this dissertation focuses on the development of millimeter-scale aerodynamic control surfaces actuated by electrostatic inchworm motors, intended for controlling pencil-size...

Monolithic Wireless Transceiver Design

Filip Maksimovic
Kristofer S.J. Pister
2020

Recently, there has been an increasing push to make everything wireless. In contrast to high-performance cellular communication, where the demand for enormous quantities of data is skyrocketing, these small wireless sensor and actuator nodes require low power, low cost, and a high degree of system integration. A typical CMOS system-on-chip requires a number of off-chip components for proper operation, namely, a crystal oscillator to act as an accurate frequency reference, and an antenna. The primary goal of this thesis is to address the hurdles associated with operating without these...

BPN858: Zero Insertion Force MEMS Socket for Microrobotics Assembly

Hani Gomez
2020

To help resolve the control and power challenges present in developing microrobots, the research focus of this project is the design and development of a zero insertion force (ZIF) MEMS socket. The ultimate goal is to achieve an electrical connection between a 65nm single-chip mote, a solar cell chip, and a multi-legged silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microrobot. As proof-of-concept, the most recent socket prototype has demonstrated a successful connection to a MEMS robotic leg chiplet, which is orthogonal to the socket. Both chiplets were fabricated using a two-mask SOI process. The...

Design, Fabrication, and Assembly of Multi-chip Walking Silicon Microrobots

Hani Gomez
2020

Microrobots can someday be used as a tool to further expand investigative capabilities– for example, archeologists could use them to research buried cities such as the one in Tiwanaku, Bolivia, or emergency response workers could send robots ahead in search-and- rescue operations. The anatomy of a microrobot can be broken down into its body, brain and power. Typically, each subsystem is fabricated using a different process, creating the need for multi-chip assembly. Microrobots in the literature are often assembled post-process using methods such as wire bonding, silver epoxy, and flip-...

Wei Li

Alumni
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Professor Kristofer S.J. Pister (Advisor)
PostDoc 2020

Craig Schindler

Alumni
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Professor Kristofer S.J. Pister (Advisor)
Ph.D. 2020

Crystal-Free Wireless Communication with Relaxation Oscillators and its Applications

David Burnett
2019

For the last decade, the size of complete 2.4GHz wireless modules containing everything but power have stagnated at ~1cm x 1cm. This is despite continued advances in semiconductor processes due to components needed by the core communication IC. Breaking this size barrier (which also sets a power and cost barrier) by eliminating all off-chip components is the goal of the Single-Chip Mote project, of which this dissertation is a part. The major components to be eliminated are antenna, battery, and crystal oscillator. Without these components, a complete wireless module could be the size of...