Battery-less piezoelectric RF remote control system

The 21st Century has seen an increased utilisation of non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels to supply up to 80% of our global energy consumption[1]. Global fossil fuel reserves are near depletion and the continual production and use of such hydrocarbon products give rise to environmental issues. As such, alternative energy sources are vital towards alleviating the energy needs of the future. Piezoelectricity is an example of a renewable, clean energy source which is readily available for harvesting. This project demonstrated that Piezoelectricity may be harvested for useful practical applications. It involved implementing a piezoelectric harvesting system which supplied the harvested power to a transmitter for remote control purposes. The system was successfully implemented and demonstrated the energy harvesting capabilities of the Piezoelectric source in supplying adequate power to the transmitter to achieve a maximum transmission range of 12 m. Analysis of the results indicated that the harvested Piezoelectric power is only in the range of several milliwatts. Furthermore, it was noted that adequately powerful Piezoelectric Generators, such as the one in implemented in this project, are currently not cost effective for deployment in mainstream consumer applications. However, there are two significant advantages that the implemented system has over conventional RC systems, namely the Piezoelectric Transmitter’s battery-less capability and superior signal penetration. Several recommendations for future developments were also provided to improve the functionality and power efficiency of the implemented system.Bachelor of Engineerin