Research on a self-powered wireless ultrasonic flow sensor system

A self-powered wireless ultrasonic flow sensor system has been designed and developed from a system level approach in this paper. By using small-sized hydroelectric generator as the source of power for commercial low power microcontrollers, energy harvesting circuitry, and GPRS transmitters, the sensor is capable of detecting water flow in water pipelines network. A major feature of this sensor system is its power-management unit, able to recharge batteries with energy harvested from the small-sized hydroelectric generator installed in water pipelines. It allows the sensor to sustain operation as a general-purpose wireless acquisition device for remote sensing in large coverage areas, where the power to run the devices is always a concern. In addition to describing the overall architecture, hardware and software of the sensor, the paper also reports on the performance of the module in the water pipelines network, emphasizing the energy issues, crucial to obtain self-sustained operation. The testing was done in two stages: the first in the laboratory, to validate the management and solutions under particularly severe conditions, the second stage in a water pipelines network. The measurements about the behaviors of the sensor confirm that the hardware and software solutions proposed do indeed lead to good performance.