*They got a conference coming up, so they're beating the ol' drum here.
*Still: energy-harvesting wireless sensors would be... well, let's not use the old cliche' "gamechanger," so let's just say it would be a lot like having your city infested with hordes of electronic crickets.
"Energy harvesting is the conversion of ambient energy into electricity to drive small or mobile electronic and electrical devices. Wireless sensors are particularly in need of energy harvesting because they are increasingly deployed in numbers and locations where hard wiring or battery changing are impracticable.
"We are at an exciting stage with both because harvesting is becoming better and electronics is demanding less power -so they meet in the middle.
"Tipping point
"The sectors that are at the tipping point in adopting these technologies are Aerospace & Military, Industrial, Automotive & Urban, Buildings, Healthcare and Logistics. For example,
NASA, United Technologies, Rockwell Collins and Microstrain have trials and rollouts of a rich variety of wireless sensors rendered more reliable and long lived by energy harvesting. They variously harvest heat, vibration, strain, solar and other ambient energy, increasingly employing several modes in one device to reduce or eliminate battery use...."
(((Nice web-semantic glossary of the appropriate energy-harvesting jargon here:)))
