Towards Batteryfree and Wireless Sensing for Personalized Ultraviolet Exposure Monitoring

A personalized wireless wearable system for measuring environmental information requires small size and light weight for portability. Body energy harvesting (e.g., kinetics, heat) is a promising solution to make the system work without battery, thus increasing the portability. In this paper, a personalized wireless sensing system powered by human body heat via thermal electric energy harvesting prototype is presented. Challenges caused by dynamic voltage supply, dynamic charging rates, and low-energy supply systems are identified and addressed. The experimental results show that this system can power a microcontroller and sensors while enabling wireless transmission of data. The thermoelectric generator with a heat sink is able to provide a steady charging voltage for 30–120 min.