Richard M. White (Advisor)

BPN639: Fabrication of Nonlinear Wideband MEMS Energy Harvester with Vertical Sidewall Electrets

Son Duy Nguyen
Igor Paprotny
2011

The goal of the project is to design and fabricate a wide band vibration energy harvester based on silicon MEMS fabrication technology. The project focuses on electrostatic conversion using vertical-sidewall electrets for biasing. Nonlinear springs are designed to operate the device in a wide vibration frequency range of 400 Hz – 1000 Hz at sufficiently high levels of acceleration. The fabrication of the energy harvester was performed at the Marvell Nanofabrication facility at UC Berkeley. The project is supported from the collaboration program between Vestfold University College -...

BPN646: International Research Collaboration: BSAC and IMST at Vestfold University College

Igor Paprotny
2011

The collaboration program between BSAC and Institute for Microsystem Technology (IMST) at Vestfold University College, Norway, is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, governed by the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU). The project is one of 12 four-year programs which were awarded 1.7 million NOK (500K NOK/$100K per year) over three years. The successful application was made possible by Prof. Albert Pisano from BSAC. The motivation behind this partnership program is to greatly enhance the research and educational experience...

BPN448: Integrity Assessment of Underground Power Distribution Cables

Eric Talamantez
2014

A serious worldwide infrastructure problem is the sudden, often dramatic failure of underground high- voltage AC power distribution cables. This research is aimed at finding economical ways of measuring the health of in-service cables operating at tens of kilovolts, to permit their selective replacement.

Project end date: 02/27/14

BPN562: AC Energy Scavenging for Smart Grid Sensing

Son Duy Nguyen
Richard Xu
Chris Sherman
2014

The goal of this project is to devise small, inexpensive modules for indoor or outdoor deployment that sense electrical variables on, and scavenge energy from, energized conductors such as appliance cords and the conductors on high-voltage power transmission lines and equipment. In addition to an energy scavenging element, the modules will contain sensors, their associated signal conditioning circuitry, power conditioning and storage elements, and a wireless radio and antenna. We have recently demonstrated the ability to scavenge 2mW from a nearby conductor carrying 20 Arms, which is...

BPN654: Electret-Based Voltage Sensing and Energy Harvesting from Energized Conductors

Richard Xu
2014

The goal of this project is to design and fabricate electret-based voltage sensors and energy harvesters for Smart Grid and Demand Response applications. The functions of the proposed devices are to sense the voltage variation and harvest energy from energized conductors such as appliance cords and high-voltage power transmission lines and equipment.

Project end date: 02/06/15

BPN505: Deployment of Wireless Stick-On Circuit Breaker PEM AC Sensors for the Smart Grid

Richard Xu
2014

The electric power consumption of the entire Berkeley campus ranges from 18MW to 30MW,of which Cory Hall, the Electrical Engineering building, comprises from 3% to 5%. Presently, the power entering the building is metered monthly at the primary terminals of its 12.4 kilovolt distribution step-down transformer. In order to increase energy efficiency and to experiment with, and further develop, our miniature electrical sensors, we are in the process of installing proximity sub-metering of loads accessed through a standard circuit breaker panel to which miniature proximity-based current...

RMW29: Electric Power Sensing for Demand Response

Christopher Sherman
2015

The overarching goal of this UCB project is to identify and develop technology to enable more-effective use of electric power. This phase has primarily focused on the development of small, inexpensive, low-power proximity-based sensors for voltage and current monitoring for better granularity of monitoring at multiple levels of the power grid (distribution, customer, and individual appliances). The term 'demand response' (DR) refers to the ability of electricity users to respond automatically to time- and location-dependent electric energy price and supply contingency information in...

BPN697: Natural Gas Pipeline Research

Pit Pillatsch
2015

The project goal is to develop technologies for natural gas pipelines that provide increased system awareness and reliability, lower system costs, better assessment of pipeline integrity, and provide tangible benefits for utility customers. The benefits sought are natural gas pipelines that are more reliable, efficient, and secure. The BSAC research is divided into three areas: 1. Microfabricated MEMS natural gas sensors 2. Low-power wireless sensor communication infrastructure 3. Ultrasonic diagnostic and test devices for natural gas pipelines

Project end date: ...

BPN738: Sensor Instrumentation to Improve Safety of U.S. Underground Coal Mines

Omid Mahdavipour
2016

Coal mining is recognized as a dangerous undertaking. Explosions of coal dust and gases that may exist underground (such as methane) are well-known hazards, in addition to which are unexpected structural collapses. In order to prevent the propagation of coal dust explosions, regulations require that inert rock dust is applied in underground areas of a coal mine. This project is aimed at creating real-time sensors to determine the explosibility of a coal and rock dust mixture and to communicate the results from inside the mine to safety personnel above ground.

Project...

BPN392: Mobile Airborne Particulate Matter Monitor for Cellular Deployment

Troy Cados
Omid Mahdavipour
2016

This project involves optimization of a portable MEMS-based instrument that quantifies and speciates fine airborne particulate matter concentrations of such substances as diesel engine exhaust, environmental tobacco smoke, and wood smoke. The goal of the project is integration with and interfacing of the instrument to a cellular telephone for mobile monitoring.

Project end date: 05/10/16