黑料视频

December 24, 2024
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Binghamton researcher’s self-powered switch could help save lives

$429,134 awarded to Binghamton researcher from the National Science Foundation for three-year project

Shahrzad Shahrzad
Shahrzad "Sherry" Towfighian, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, has combined two ideas for a unique switch that could save lives. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen / 黑料视频.

What if one tiny device could deploy a vehicle鈥檚 airbags at a more optimal time during a crash?

Or if it could measure which parts of a football player鈥檚 brain get the most punishment during a game, leading to the design of a safer helmet?

Those are just two of the many applications possible for Shahrzad 鈥淪herry鈥 Towfighian鈥檚 current research at 黑料视频.

Towfighian, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, recently received a $429,134 grant from the National Science Foundation for a three-year study at Binghamton鈥檚 MEMS and Energy Harvesting Laboratory. Towfighian is the sole principal investigator on this grant.

MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) is the technology of microscopic devices with moving parts, often produced in the same way that electronics are. They are used in a variety of everyday devices such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors and switches.

Towfighian鈥檚 project, though, goes one step further to make MEMS self-powered through the use of triboelectricty. The energy collected from friction between two microsurfaces can trigger the switch at a predetermined voltage that is optimal for the device鈥檚 purpose. Think about scuffing your feet across the carpet and then getting zapped when you touch a doorknob, and you get the idea of how small amounts of power can be generated.

For this research grant, Towfighian 鈥 who is in her sixth year at Binghamton 鈥 builds on her previous research supported by the National Institutes of Health for powered by patients鈥 walking.

鈥淏y combining my two research areas of MEMS and energy harvesting, I am designing air bag switches to be immediate, so they respond faster. The combination has a unique property that does not need any processing between the time of impact and the moment the switch opens,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t also will be more reliable because then there is no danger of failure for software or hardware. It鈥檚 totally self-powered. If there鈥檚 damage in the car, if the connections are gone in a crash, this system makes airbags more reliable.鈥

Unlike similar switches now in use, Towfighian鈥檚 device will activate at a preset voltage proportional to the amount of force it receives, giving designers more control over its use.

鈥淔or all other switches, if you have two electrodes and the voltage is going beyond a certain amount, it always closes,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 recognize how much voltage there is. But the new switch has a property that it can start from closed and if there鈥檚 a proper voltage, it can separate and activate. That鈥檚 something no other switches have.鈥

In addition to funding the prototype microdevices 鈥 which can cost $10,000 to $30,000 per year 鈥 the NSF grant also will allow Towfighian to hire three PhD students to help with her research.

鈥淓ach one of them will focus on a different aspect of the project,鈥 she said. 鈥淥ne of them will look at the switch, one of them [will work] on the generator, and one of them on the fabrication of the whole device.鈥

One of the anonymous reviewers of the NSF proposal said that 鈥渢he proposed research has the potential of leading to the next generation of self-operated microswitches that can play an important role in safety and healthcare application (e.g. sensors in automotive, earthquake monitoring, personal healthcare monitoring) and has a great potential of impacting the MEMS sensor industry.鈥

The end goal for Towfighian鈥檚 research when it wraps up in 2022 will be to fabricate these devices cheaply and use them in ways currently conceived and not yet considered. Ultimately, when someone鈥檚 life is on the line and a split-second decision is needed, one of these switches could save a life.