Fireproof Self-Powered Sensor Tracks Firefighters, Miners, Oil Workers
A team of researchers from McMaster University has developed a sensor that can track the movements and location of a person in a burning building or another hazardous environment.
The motion-powered, fireproof sensor can track the movements of firefighters, steelworkers, miners and others who work in high-risk environments where they cannot always be seen.
The low-cost sensor is about the size of a button-cell watch battery and can easily be incorporated into the sole of a boot or under the arm of a jacket – wherever motion creates a pattern of constant contact and release to generate the power the sensor needs to operate.
The sensor uses triboelectric, or friction-generated, charging, harvesting electricity from movement in much the same way that a person in socks picks up static electricity walking across a carpet.
The key material in the sensor, a new carbon aerogel nanocomposite, is fireproof, and the device never needs charging from a power source.
“If somebody is unconscious and you are unable to find them, this could be very useful,” says Ravi Selvaganapathy, a professor of mechanical engineering who oversaw the project. “The nice thing is that because it is self-powered, you don’t have to do anything. It scavenges power from the environment.”
According to the team, previously developed self-powered sensors have allowed similar tracking, but their materials break down at high temperatures, rendering them useless.
A self-powered sensor is necessary for extreme heat because most batteries also break down in high temperatures. The researchers have successfully tested the new technology at temperatures up to 300C – the temperature where most types of wood start to burn – without any loss of function.
“It’s exciting to develop something that could save someone’s life in the future,” said co-author Islam Hassan, a McMaster PhD student in mechanical engineering. If firefighters use our technology and we can save someone’s life, that would be great.”
The researchers hope to work with a commercial partner to get the technology to market.
