A self-powered 3D activity inertial sensor using hybrid sensing mechanisms

A self-powered 3D activity inertial sensor (3DAIS) is proposed for multi-axis acceleration and rotation inertial sensing. The 3DAIS consists of magnetic buckyballs encapsulated inside a 3D-printed spherical shell, with multilayers of PTFE, PVDF and Al films fabricated on the inner walls of the shell and wire coils winded on the outside. The device demonstrated good performance in hand motion recognition and human activity state monitoring application. When operating as a 6-axis inertial sensor, the 3DAIS is able to sense X, Y and Z-acceleration during linear motion as well as detect roll, pitch and yaw angular velocity during rotational motion. The device possesses self-powering ability as well and is able to harvest energy through hybrid mechanisms of piezoelectric, electromagnetic and triboelectric from various energy sources such as 3D vibration, rotation and human motion, etc. The proposed 3DAIS can potentially pave the way to an advance motion sensing system with self-powering capability for wearables and healthcare telemedicine applications.