All-solid-state batteries | Applications and collaborations case studies
| Solving Issues in Monitoring Infrastructure Structures | ||
| Independently powered outdoor sensor systems combined with Energy Harvesting technologies |
Background
In recent years, many outdoor infrastructure structures such as bridges and tunnels that were built during the period of rapid economic growth have been in service for more than 50 years since construction and are deteriorating due to aging. In tunnels, for example, aging concrete may cause the ceiling to collapse in some cases. One of the measures to prevent such accidents is the diagnosis and monitoring of structural distortion using wireless displacement sensors. However, in many cases, grid power is not accessible around outdoor infrastructure structures, which creates difficulties for the burden on workers for replacing primary batteries (single-use type) used as power sources for wireless displacement sensors, as well as the maintenance costs. With the growing need for diagnosis and monitoring of outside infrastructure structures, a system that reduces the frequency of battery replacements for displacement sensors and thus reduces maintenance costs is desired.
Issues
(1) Limited battery life
(2) Workload and maintenance costs for battery replacement
The primary batteries mainly used in wireless displacement sensors are single-use type, which means that periodic battery replacement maintenance to avoid running out of battery power is a major burden for workers and contributes to increase maintenance costs.
Solution
By combining a wireless displacement meter with Maxell’s all-solid-state batteries with a long battery life of 20 years and Energy Harvesting technologies which collects power from sunlight, vibration, heat and so on, it becomes possible to build a system that enables diagnosis and monitoring of outdoor infrastructure structures over an extended period of time while reducing maintenance man-hours. We believe that such a system will reduce the difficulty of conducting periodic inspections of infrastructure structures and contribute to solving social issues such as accidents caused by aging structures.
Other applications
