• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Power Electronic Tips

Power Electronic News, Editorial, Video and Resources

  • Products
    • Power Supplies
    • AC-DC
    • DC-DC
    • MOSFETS
    • Power Management
    • Battery Management
    • RF Power
    • Resistors
    • Capacitors
    • Magnetics
    • Transformers
  • Applications
    • LED Lighting
    • Rack Mount
    • Wireless
  • EE Forums
    • EDABoard.com
    • Electro-Tech-Online.com
  • EE Learning Center
  • Video
    • EE Videos
    • TI Power Videos
    • Teardown Videos
  • Resources
    • Design Fast
    • eBooks / Tech Tips
    • FAQ
    • LEAP Awards
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • White Papers

Powering battery-free low-power sensors, embedded circuits, wireless devices

April 27, 2018 By Aimee Kalnoskas Leave a Comment

Smart suitcases can be wirelessly tracked, they can weigh themselves, and their locks can be opened and closed by remote control. But all such luggage now depends on batteries, which run down and can also, in some cases, explode. The Face Companies of Norfolk, Virginia, announced today that they’ve solved the problem that’s been inhibiting the deployment of “smart suitcases” and they’re planning to bring this solution to market as EverTrack.

battery-free

Face’s patented Evercell power cell is a lightweight, thin, permanent energy source that will allow smart suitcases to operate without batteries, in virtually any temperature environment above absolute zero (minus 460°F). Face will be bringing the power cell to market for this application through its EverTrack Luggage Technologies, LLC spinoff.

Evercell power cells are passive-structure, semiconductor-based thermal energy harvesters that exploit principles of quantum physics to produce a small, continuous flow of electric power in virtually any setting. They consume no fuel, have no moving parts, contain no toxic materials, and require no exposure to other stimuli, including motion, pressure, RF or electromagnetic energy.

They will eliminate the need for batteries in a broad array of low-power sensors, embedded circuits and wireless communicating devices, as was recognized at last month’s APEC Conference and Exposition.

One of the most exciting near-term applications of Evercell is the smart suitcase – which had been a rapidly expanding product line within the $30 billion luggage industry. In a report originally published last year, smart suitcase sales were expected to increase at an annual rate of more than 25% for the next five years.

But that was before airlines began banning the lithium batteries used by the industry, initially refusing to permit them in checked luggage and more recently in carry-on bags. A lithium battery recently exploded in the cargo hold of a Delta Airlines plane. Throughout their limited lives, all batteries derive their power through the reaction of often toxic chemicals and, in some cases, potentially explosive materials.

Using conventional batteries is not a satisfactory solution since their lifetime and performance are significantly reduced when they operate outside room temperature. So, the cold of an airliner’s cargo compartment – or a baggage cart on the tarmac in Detroit in January – is a problem. As is the heat at the Phoenix airport more than a hundred days per year, when tarmac temperatures exceed 100ºF in the shade.

Since the power cells are non-toxic and non-explosive and operate nonstop, they never need to be removed or changed. They can be integrated into a smart suitcase or other product at its manufacture and remain there for the lifetime of the tracked article.

“Beyond the troublesome safety issue, the baggage handling industry recognizes that even the highest technology standards now broadly employed – such as barcodes and RFIDs – are not a satisfactory solution for handling the billions of bags checked every year,” says Brad Face, CEO of The Face Companies. “The industry wants to employ more efficient tracking technology across all handled baggage – not just the high-end smart suitcases.”

“Only Evercell can support a battery-free wireless tracking system that does not require the scanning of each individual piece of baggage,” Mr. Face notes. “We call this Evercell-based tracking system EverTrack. We’ll use our trademark Lightning Bug™ in reference to discrete tracking devices that use EverTrack.”

First-generation Evercell™ power cells are expected to be on the market by late 2019 or 2020.

You may also like:

  • psma
    APEC 2018 Industry Session to cover energy harvesting
  • energy sources
    What is the difference between energy harvesting and energy scavenging?

  • Harvester captures energy from spinning devices.

Filed Under: ac power sources/frequency converters, Power Management, Wireless Tagged With: thefacecompanies

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

DesignFast

Component Selection Made Simple.

Try it Today
design fast globle

Subscribe to our Newsletter

The Power Electronic eNewsletter delivers breaking electronic and power component news, resources, product innovations and more.

Subscribe today

Test & Measurement Handbook


EE TRAINING CENTER CLASSROOMS

EE Classrooms

RSS Current EDABoard.com discussions

  • Hotplugging UART
  • Can I use 5000uF 50V instead of 4700uF 50V in Inverter 700VA output rating board ?
  • Control panel 3 phase sequence indicators
  • Diagnosing a fault on a 18volt lithium Ion charger
  • Buck Regulator (5V, how to select, automotive application)

RSS Current Electro-Tech-Online.com Discussions

  • ASM - Enhanced 16F and long calls - how?
  • Passthrough charging-simple but impossible to achieve?
  • I need a music/LED fasher IC (only die)
  • I need a PROM CPU
  • software PWM

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by PowerElectrTips

Footer

EE World Online Network

  • DesignFast
  • EE World Online
  • EDA Board Forums
  • Electro Tech Online Forums
  • Connector Tips
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Analog IC Tips
  • Sensor Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips
  • Wire and Cable Tips
  • 5G Technology World

Power Electronic Tips

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
  • About us
Follow us on TwitterAdd us on FacebookFollow us on YouTube Follow us on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy