Image credit – Bart van Overbeeke/Eindhoven University of Technology
Being able to network your entire home with sensors and gadgets to remotely control your lights, thermostat, coffee maker, and etc. sounds good, but they all require power meaning in some cases when the battery is dead, it can prove to be rather inconvenient. However over in the Netherlands, Dutch researchers might have the answer.
The researchers have recently developed a wireless temperature sensor that measures 2 square millimeters, and while the size alone is pretty impressive (see above), what makes it even more impressive is the fact that it will not require any battery to keep it powered. How does this work? Through radio waves.
Basically the sensor will rely on the radio waves given out from your home’s wireless network. As long as you have a wireless router at home, it should be good enough to keep it powered. Some potential uses of the sensor includes it being painted onto walls as it will still function even under a coat of paint. This could allow buildings to better detect the temperature and adjust its heating/cooling system more efficiently.
The idea of using radio waves to keep devices wirelessly charged isn’t new, but to see it applied to IoT and connected objects will be an interesting development. However right now there are some shortcomings with the project, and that is the range is too short as it needs to be an inch from the power source. However the team has expressed hope that they will be able to extend its range to maybe 10 feet within the year, or even further up to 16 feet in the future.
Filed in . Read more about Connected Objects and IoT (Internet of Things).