An Ultra-Lightweight Multi-Source Power Harvesting System for Insect Cyborg Sentinels

The overall purpose of this study was to analyze multi-source energy harvesters for creation of a rechargeable onboard power system, capable of supplying 5–50mW of intermittent power at a system mass of less than one gram, to be placed on a cyborg MAV (CMAV). To recharge the system, three sources of available ambient energy with respect to the application were explored, solar, thermal, and kinetic. Evaluations were performed based on magnitudes of available energy from each source, mass, dimension, and biocompatible constraints for each of the transducers, and specific power output of each energy harvester. Conclusions of this research show the magnitudes of the performance for photo-voltaic, thermoelectric, piezoelectric, and electromagnetic transducers weighing less than one gram. In addition, issues related to combining these multi-sourced energy harvesters into a collective power system are discussed.