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Electronic Systems and Energy Harvesting Methods for Automation, Mechatronics and Automotive

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G1: Smart Cities and Urban Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2021) | Viewed by 21387

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Departament of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: design and testing of IoT-based electronic systems; smart remote control of facilities; electronic systems for automation and automotive; energy harvesting systems for sensors nodes; wearable devices for health monitoring; new materials and advanced sensors
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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, University Campus, Street for Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: mechatronics; automation; control of mechanical systems; design and testing of sensors systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Smart and connected vehicles are becoming the “ultimate electronic devices”, and electronic technologies are the new trend in the automotive industry, with the prediction that automotive electronics will represent nearly a third of the total cost of the entire car. The increasing number and improved performance of on-board sensors and electronic devices have led to new advanced functionalities in vehicles, including adaptive cruise control, park assistance, lane-keep assistance, pedestrian detection, facial or voice recognition systems for passenger safety, and traffic-sign recognition.

Electronics systems for industrial and home/building automation are attracting more and more the attention from academia, industry and standards development organizations. in this context, the design of smart and centralized energy monitoring and management systems as well as of new sensors and wireless devices for active safety and control are crucial.

The research into new energy harvesting techniques and miniaturized transducers for automotive and mechatronics, as well as the development of new electronics solutions and wireless sensor networks fed by energy harvesters is of great interest among researchers and companies.

Summing up, this Special Issue “Electronic Systems and Energy Harvesting Methods for Automation, Mechatronics and Automotive” is focused on bringing together innovative developments and synergies on the following reported topics, including but not limited to:

  • Intelligent Monitoring and Control Systems in Automation and Automotive;
  • Home and Building Automation;
  • Industrial Internet of Things and Control Applications;
  • Development and Engineering of Automation and Mechatronic Systems;
  • Novel Components, Advanced Sensors, Devices and Architectures for Automation, Mechatronics and Automotive;
  • Modeling, Simulation, Measurements and Analysis of Sensor Networks Applied to Automation and Automotive Fields;
  • Electronic Systems Applied to Different Application Areas: Factory and Process Automation, Automotive Applications, Avionics, Robotics, Transportation Systems, Urban Automation and Systems, Energy Systems, Health Systems;
  • Smart Buildings and Energy Management Systems;
  • Micro and Nano Electronics in Automotive;
  • Intelligent Embedded Systems in Automotive and Mechatronics;
  • Smart Sensors for Active Safety in Industrial Automation and Automotive;
  • Energy Harvesting in Sensor Networks;
  • Energy Harvesting Methods and Devices for Automation and Automotive Fields;
  • Modeling and Control of Electro-Mechanical Systems in Automotive;
  • Electronic Solutions for Security in Automation and Automotive Fields;
  • Power Electronics for Industrial and Automotive Applications;
  • Electronics Systems for Energy Monitoring and Consumption Optimization in the Industrial Field and Buildings.

Prof. Dr. Paolo Visconti
Prof. Dr. Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro
Guest Editors

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 201 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue on Electronic Systems and Energy Harvesting Methods for Automation, Mechatronics and Automotive
by Paolo Visconti, Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro and Roberto de Fazio
Energies 2021, 14(23), 8050; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14238050 - 1 Dec 2021
Viewed by 1471
Abstract
Electronic apparatus have become essential components of civil and industrial systems, including the automotive, home and building automation, Industrial IoT (Internet of Things) and control applications, and playing an essential role in improving security, efficiency, manageability, and rapid feedback [...] Full article

Research

Jump to: Editorial

15 pages, 2611 KiB  
Article
Available Energy in Cars’ Exhaust System for IoT Remote Exhaust Gas Sensor and Piezoelectric Harvesting
by Francesco Madaro, Iman Mehdipour, Antonio Caricato, Francesco Guido, Francesco Rizzi, Antonio Paolo Carlucci and Massimo De Vittorio
Energies 2020, 13(16), 4169; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13164169 - 12 Aug 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3144
Abstract
The exhaust system of the light-duty diesel engine has been evaluated as a potential environment for a mechanical energy recovery system for powering an IoT (Internet of Things) remote sensor. Temperature, pressure, gas speed, mass flow rate have been measured in order to [...] Read more.
The exhaust system of the light-duty diesel engine has been evaluated as a potential environment for a mechanical energy recovery system for powering an IoT (Internet of Things) remote sensor. Temperature, pressure, gas speed, mass flow rate have been measured in order to characterize the exhaust gas. At any engine point explored, thermal energy is by far the most dominant portion of the exhaust energy, followed by the pressure energy and lastly kinetic energy is the smallest fraction of the exhaust energy. A piezoelectric flexible device has been tested as a possible candidate as an energy harvester converting the kinetic energy of the exhaust gas flow, with a promising amount of electrical energy generated in the order of microjoules for an urban or extra-urban circuit. Full article
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31 pages, 6902 KiB  
Article
An Energy Model Using Sleeping Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks under Proactive and Reactive Protocols: A Performance Evaluation
by Carolina Del-Valle-Soto, Ramiro Velázquez, Leonardo J. Valdivia, Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro and Paolo Visconti
Energies 2020, 13(11), 3024; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13113024 - 11 Jun 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3557
Abstract
The continuous evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) makes it possible to connect everyday objects to networks in order to monitor physical and environmental conditions, which is made possible due to wireless sensor networks (WSN) that enable the transfer of data. However, [...] Read more.
The continuous evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) makes it possible to connect everyday objects to networks in order to monitor physical and environmental conditions, which is made possible due to wireless sensor networks (WSN) that enable the transfer of data. However, it has also brought about many challenges that need to be addressed, such as excess energy consumption. Accordingly, this paper presents and analyzes wireless network energy models using five different communication protocols: Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), Multi-Parent Hierarchical (MPH), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) and Zigbee Tree Routing (ZTR). First, a series of metrics are defined to establish a comparison and determine which protocol exhibits the best energy consumption performance. Then, simulations are performed and the results are compared with real scenarios. The energy analysis is conducted with three proposed sleeping algorithms: Modified Sleeping Crown (MSC), Timer Sleeping Algorithm (TSA), and Local Energy Information (LEI). Thereafter, the proposed algorithms are compared by virtue of two widely used wireless technologies, namely Zigbee and WiFi. Indeed, the results suggest that Zigbee has a better energy performance than WiFi, but less redundancy in the topology links, and this study favors the analysis with the simulation of protocols with different nature. The tested scenario is implemented into a university campus to show a real network running. Full article
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18 pages, 2959 KiB  
Article
Limitations and Characterization of Energy Storage Devices for Harvesting Applications
by Roberto de Fazio, Donato Cafagna, Giorgio Marcuccio and Paolo Visconti
Energies 2020, 13(4), 783; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13040783 - 11 Feb 2020
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4433
Abstract
This paper aims to study the limitations and performances of the main energy storage devices commonly used in energy harvesting applications, namely super-capacitors (SC) and lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries. The self-discharge phenomenon is the main limitation to the employment of SCs to store [...] Read more.
This paper aims to study the limitations and performances of the main energy storage devices commonly used in energy harvesting applications, namely super-capacitors (SC) and lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries. The self-discharge phenomenon is the main limitation to the employment of SCs to store energy for a long time, thus reducing efficiency and autonomy of the energy harvesting system. Therefore, the analysis of self-discharge trends was carried out for three different models of commercial SCs, describing the phenomenon in terms of self-discharge rate and internal resistance. In addition, physical interpretations concerning the self-discharge mechanism based on the experimental data are provided, thus explaining the two super-imposed phenomena featured by distinct time constants. Afterwards, the dependence of self-discharge phenomenon from the charging time duration (namely, SCs charged at 5 V and then kept under charge for one or five hours) was analyzed; by comparing the voltage drop during the self-discharge process, a self-discharge reduction for longer charging durations was obtained and the physical interpretation provided (at best −6.8% after 24 h and −13.4% after 120 h). Finally, self-discharge trends of two commercial 380 mAh LiPo batteries (model LW 752035) were acquired and analyzed; the obtained results show an open circuit voltage reduction of only 0.59% in the first 24 h and just 1.43% after 124 h. Full article
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19 pages, 9833 KiB  
Article
Design and Potential Power Recovery of Two Types of Energy Harvesting Shock Absorbers
by Lincoln Bowen, Jordi Vinolas and José Luis Olazagoitia
Energies 2019, 12(24), 4710; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12244710 - 10 Dec 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4784
Abstract
Numerous authors have studied Energy Harvesting Shock Absorbers (EHSA) over the last decade, proposing different designs with diverse geometries, parameters, and components. This article analyzes the energy recovery potential of two types of rotational EHSA, those that use ball-screw and those based on [...] Read more.
Numerous authors have studied Energy Harvesting Shock Absorbers (EHSA) over the last decade, proposing different designs with diverse geometries, parameters, and components. This article analyzes the energy recovery potential of two types of rotational EHSA, those that use ball-screw and those based on cable transmission. This paper presents the design, manufacturing and mathematical modeling of both options as well as the estimation of the potential power recovery with both technologies. Two types of vehicles are used as references, each one with the characteristic curves of their shock absorbers. Results are presented for different vehicle speeds and road types. Finally, some qualitative characteristics of both EHSAs are detailed to be taken into consideration for their possible use in vehicle suspension. Full article
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23 pages, 10914 KiB  
Article
Research on Switching Interconnection Modes and Game Control of Interconnected Air Suspension
by Liqin Sun, Yong Lin, Guoqing Geng, Zhongxing Li and Haobin Jiang
Energies 2019, 12(17), 3218; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12173218 - 21 Aug 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2759
Abstract
To solve the contradiction between handling stability and ride comfort of vehicles with interconnected air suspension system (IASS) and reduce the energy consumption of air suspension with adjustable spring stiffness, a coordinated control for dynamic performance was designed based on the logic of [...] Read more.
To solve the contradiction between handling stability and ride comfort of vehicles with interconnected air suspension system (IASS) and reduce the energy consumption of air suspension with adjustable spring stiffness, a coordinated control for dynamic performance was designed based on the logic of switching interconnection modes and game control for the damper. The control system consists of a switching controller for air suspension interconnection modes and a distribution controller for the damping force. The switching controller determines the optimal air suspension interconnection mode by calculating the vehicle dynamic performance index in real-time. The distribution controller achieves a distribution for optimal damping force based on an infinite time differential game. veDYNA software that is a vehicle dynamics analysis software based on MATLAB/Simulink was used to verify the algorithm, and the accuracy was verified by a bench test. Finally, the results show this coordinated system can significantly improve the ride comfort and restrain the pitching motion. Compared with traditional suspension, the vertical acceleration decreases by 18.32% and the dynamic stroke decreases by more than 10% under the straight condition; the vertical acceleration decreases by 12.24% and the roll angle decreases by 1.26% under the steering condition. Full article
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