Abstract: Technologies for multifunction sensor devices include a multifunction sensor having a pair of electrodes separated by a thin film polymer. The multifunction sensor is coupled to a nano-amplifier that receives a sensor signal and amplifies the sensor signal to generate an amplified sensor signal. A controller coupled to the nano-amplifier processes the amplified sensor signal based on the type of the multifunction sensor device to generate sensor data. The type of the multifunction sensor device may be a static charge sensor, a high-energy particle sensor, a microwave sensor, or an ultraviolet/X-ray sensor. The sensor data may be output, for example, to an external computing device via a serial link.

Abstract: Technologies for multifunction sensor devices include a multifunction sensor having a pair of electrodes separated by a thin film polymer. The multifunction sensor is coupled to a nano-amplifier that receives a sensor signal and amplifies the sensor signal to generate an amplified sensor signal. A controller coupled to the nano-amplifier processes the amplified sensor signal based on the type of the multifunction sensor device to generate sensor data. The type of the multifunction sensor device may be a static charge sensor, a high-energy particle sensor, a microwave sensor, or an ultraviolet/X-ray sensor. The sensor data may be output, for example, to an external computing device via a serial link.

Abstract: A system for enhancing overall energy production of CSPs through amplification of solar heat collection. In one embodiment, the system comprises a linear solar-thermal concentrator for concentrating solar light comprising a curved surface, two side walls, and an opening; a fluid conduit disposed within the linear solar-thermal concentrator that carries a working fluid through the linear solar-thermal concentrator; and a convection cover disposed over the opening of the linear thermal concentrator that traps heat convection energy within the linear solar-thermal concentrator.

Abstract: Disclosed is a voltage regulator for an integrated circuit. The voltage regulator can be configured to regulate a supply voltage provided to the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit can operate a near threshold value irrespective of a magnitude of the supply voltage. The voltage regulator can include a single Field Effect Transistor (FET) based circuit. The single FET based circuit can be configured to regulate the supply voltage.

Abstract: A novel design for programmable emulation of sensing and harvesting materials for cyclic energy conversion has been successfully implemented producing similar electrical characteristics over a wide-range of such materials. An in-depth study on this research had been done to construe those electrical properties of such materials including the voltage, current and signal frequencies before implementing the final emulator system. Parametric variations are fully programmable and user-friendly along with wide range of emulations made possible. The system is designed and implemented to be portable and ensured low power usage. Equivalent circuit was first designed and simulated to ensure proper functioning of the design. The equivalent circuit was then successfully implemented including the program codes embedded microcontroller.

Abstract: Disclosed is a voltage regulator for an integrated circuit. The voltage regulator can be configured to regulate a supply voltage provided to the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit can operate a near threshold value irrespective of a magnitude of the supply voltage. The voltage regulator can include a single Field Effect Transistor (FET) based circuit. The single FET based circuit can be configured to regulate the supply voltage.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a device, system, and method for a trickle charging system of non-inductive voltage boost (NVB) converter with built-in auto-dummy-load (ADL) for wide-range of charge storage devices i.e. small button-cell type batteries and super-caps using micro power pyro-electricity at Si-MOS sub-threshold voltage. A VLSI configuration of the system is also disclosed in embodiments. The system converts the pyro-electric material at MOS sub-threshold 0.37V for optimizing to the battery charging level at 1.45V. This system was proven at hardware level and found to be 98.8% power efficient. The designed IC can charge independently without any external components for up to 1 uW max, but able to charge up to 20 uA with external components. Thus it is considered to be a very versatile design.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a non-Inductive voltage boost-converter (NVBC) for micro-power energy harvesting systems for energy storage and delivery applications. Current devices deliver a wide-range of micro-power having only up to 0.8V peak-voltage, but nominally 0.45V in lab test conditions. This voltage is not adequate in charging storage cells such as rechargeable batteries and also driving electronic circuits. Technology is in demand where a boost-converter must operate at MOS sub-threshold voltage (Sub-VTH) limits. Disclosed herein is a novel NVBC device that has eliminated the need of an inductor coil and associated high-speed switching circuits; thus achieving higher efficiency. The disclosed invention applies a simple self-synchronizing technique to adapt the NVBC automatically to the low-frequency energy signal of a pyroelectric device. A novel NVBC is presented for stabilized output of NVBC (S-NVBC). In an embodiment, the S-NVBC achieves an efficiency of 86%.

Abstract: A pyroelectric reference device comprising an equivalent electronic circuit that produces the similar electrical characteristics of a pyroelectric material sample device, under discrete thermal conditions in laser energy lab setup, is disclosed herein. The device presented here facilitates running experiments without the need of special equipment and/or setups using the real pyroelectric device in thermal radiation environments for harvesting micro power energy.

Abstract: Health of plants depends on amount and quality of minerals in soil, sunlight, water moisture in soil etc. A novel technique is applied and results found to be very accurate. Months of various experimentations posed no harm to the sample plants of different species. An electronic system is successfully designed and tested to monitor the health status of plants that incorporating to plant's internal fluid's condition. Plants have their own characteristics that can indicate status of their health; herein, experiments also included samples of Epipremnum pinnatum cv. aureum (i.e. a commonly called ‘Money plant’), used by detecting the activities of its internal stem sap. The system's functional flow chart and results are explained here. Extensive study is completed to determine a relationship of signals from a plant about its health status and translate it into a heartbeat-like signal, called as “Healthbeat”. A relationship of temperature and relative moisture of soil is established.