MEMS based vibration harvesting: Facing the ugly facts

Micro-system technology has enabled the development of energy harvesting at the micro-scale. However, in their approximate 15 years of existence, they have generated more attention than power. One of the reasons is the hype that is linked to this technology, leading to common misconceptions. After discussing these, we will present real facts and figures of micro-scale energy harvesting and some of the envisioned applications. We will focus on autonomous TPMS (tire pressure monitoring systems), enabled by vibration energy harvesting. We will discuss Electrostatic and Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters, and present some of the issues related to their fabrication and implementation. In case of a successful introduction, this application will pave the road to a whole range of devices powered by energy harvesting.