All-Digital Plug and Play Passive RFID Sensors for …...All-Digital Plug and Play Passive RFID Sensors for Energy Efficient Building Control presentation, from the 2016 BENEFIT Funding

Clemson UniversityHai Xiao, Bell Distinguished Professor

All-Digital Plug and Play Passive RFID Sensors for Energy Efficient Building Control

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Team• PI: Prof. Hai Xiao, Electrical Engineering,

Clemson, Sensors and instrumentation

• Co-PI: Prof. Marek Urban, Materials Engineering, Clemson, Sensor materials

• Co-PI: Prof. Jane Zhao, Mechanical Engineering, Clemson, Modeling and sensor structure design

• Co-PI: Dr. Jiangdong Deng, Nanofabrication and Characterization, Harvard University, Sensor device fabrication

• Co-PI: Mr. Richard Pollack, CTO, Phase IV Engineering Inc., Boulder, Colorado; RFID interrogator

• Co-PI: Mr. Roy White, Director Products and Business Development, Phase IV Engineering Inc., Boulder, Colorado; Technology transfer and commercialization

• Co-PI: Dr. Xiaohui Zhou, building expert, Iowa Energy Center, Technology validation towards building control

Polymer material

development and

characterization

M. Urban (Clemson)

Sensor design, signal processing,

calibration & instrumentation

H. Xiao and H. Zhao (Clemson)

RFID circuitry,

interrogation electronics,

and commercialization

R. Pollack and Roy White

(Phase IV)

Sensor node fabrication and

assembly

J. Deng (Harvard) and H.

Xiao (Clemson)

Sensor test, & technology

demonstration

H. Xiao (Clemson) & X.

Zhou (Iowa Energy

Center)

Material

requirements

Material

improvement

RFID tag circuitry

and PCB boards

Design

improvement

RFID circuitry

and sensor

interrogator

requirements

All-digital RFID

sensor nodesPolymers for

fabrication of the

sensor housing and

sensing coil

Process

optimization

Calibration

model

Circuitry and

firmware

improvement

Sensor

interrogator

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• Objective: Plug & play, battery-free, low-cost (<$10 per node) wireless temperature and humidity sensor technology for energy efficient building controls and operations. – Buildings are responsible for about 40% of total energy consumption

in the U.S. – A great potential for energy saving.

– Sensors are preferred to be small in size, non-intrusive, wireless and low power, easy to install, long lifespan, and convenient for the retrofit of the old buildings.

– Existing wireless sensors are costly (~ $100/node), the battery lifetimes are still short, and their integrations into the Building Management System (BMS) are still difficult.

– Low cost (<$10/node), multi-functions, long lifetime (10 years), and easy integration (e.g., plug & play) into the BMS network could save an average of 3% (0.3 Quads) and up to 8% in overall building energy consumption.

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Technology Solution

• All digital

• Plug & play

• Passive RFID sensors


Or

Over IP

VOLTTRON

RFID Reader and signal

recorder/processor

Antenna #1

Zone #1

Antenna #2

Zone #2

Zone #1 sensor nodes Zone #2 sensor nodes Zone #N sensor nodes

Antenna #N

Zone

#N

RFID Multiplexer

(1N)

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Advantage, Differentiation, and Impact

• All digital – No signal processing on the sensor node (low cost)

• Passive – No on-board battery (long lifetime and low cost)

• RFID – Wireless interrogation and plug & play (low cost, many sensors and easy registration/reconfiguration into the BMS)

• Key approaches– Technology development: design, fabrication, material optimization,

interrogation electronics, interface development and laboratory tests

– Technology demonstration: validation and demonstration of the novel sensor nodes for building applications at the Iowa Energy Center

– Tech to market: partner with a small business company (Phase IV Engineering Inc., very successful experts and entrepreneurship) for tech transfer and commercialization


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Thank YouClemson University, Harvard University, Phase IV Engineering Inc., Iowa Energy Center

• PI: Dr. Hai Xiao, Bell Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Eng., Clemson University

• Co-PI: Dr. Marek Urban, J.E. Sirrine Foundation Endowed Chair and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University

• Co-PI: Huijuan (Jane) Zhao, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University• Co-PI: Dr. Jiangdong Deng, Manager and Principal Scientist - Nanofabrication Facility, Center

for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University• Co-PI: Mr. Richard Pollack, Founder and CTO, Phase IV Engineering Inc. • Co-PI: Mr. Roy White, Director Products and Business Development, Phase IV Engineering Inc.• Co-PI: Dr. Xiaohui Zhou, Energy Efficiency Program Manager, Iowa Energy Center


Documents

All-Digital Plug and Play Passive RFID Sensors for …...All-Digital Plug and Play Passive RFID Sensors for Energy Efficient Building Control presentation, from the 2016 BENEFIT Funding