Great shakes with sensors

An ANU Researcher has been named one of the world's top 100 young innovators by an American technical magazine.

Dr Shad Roundy from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology was the only Australia-based researcher named on the list of the world's best engineering brains under 35, which was announced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr Roundy's research in mechatronics, a combination of mechanics and electronics, is developing power sources for wireless sensors. The tiny generators 'scavenge' energy from vibrations to make enough electricity to run the sensors and transmit their information.

Without the need to install wires or change batteries the sensors can go where conventional sensors cannot, with applications ranging from vehicle safety to 'intelligent' buildings.

For example, a sensor on the inside of a car tyre could be powered by vibrations from the road and send back vital information on the tyre's pressure to the car's onboard computer.

In aircraft, vibrations from the wings could be made into electricity, which then powers a sensor gathering data about the condition of the fuselage.

The energy efficiency of a building could be increased with more data on temperature, humidity and air velocity. In factories, sensors along a production line could be used to monitor the performance of machinery.