ViPSN-button: A Motion-powered Wireless Pushbutton with Instant Feedback

With the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless pushbuttons are being increasingly used to control devices such as lights, fans, and air conditioners in smart homes and offices. In contrast to conventional systems, self-powered pushbuttons eliminate the inconvenience of cable arrangement and the cost of battery replacement. However, existing self-powered wireless pushbuttons can only send commands unidirectionally and lack an instant feedback mechanism. This limitation reduces system reliability and impairs the user experience. To tackle this issue, we propose ViPSN-button, a motion-powered wireless pushbutton that offers instant feedback. When the ViPSN-button is pressed, it can deliver instant feedback to the user. This feedback mechanism enables the user to confirm whether the host unit has successfully acknowledged their command. ViPSN-button is powered by a quasi-static-toggling energy harvester (QST harvester). The entire communication process of the ViPSN-button includes three steps: sending commands, receiving acknowledgments (ACK), and displaying an indication. All of these actions are carried out solely by utilizing the energy generated from a single press action. Experiments demonstrate that the ViPSN-button can achieve low-power, fast, private, and reliable bidirectional communication under the Enhanced ShockBurst (ESB) communication protocol. Field tests have been conducted, showing that the ViPSN-button can achieve reliable communication at a distance of 50 meters. ViPSN-button offers an innovative design concept for self-powered sensing nodes, facilitating bidirectional communication between host units and sensing nodes. This feature renders it highly suitable for a wide range of applications, including smart homes, smart offices, smart cities, and industrial IoT.