RFID and RF harvesting wireless sensor network platform for launcher application

Following an article presented at WiSEE 2013, this paper presents a complete wireless sensor network based on UHF RFID technology, composed of an interrogator, a sensor tag and a radiofrequency energy harvesting system used to power the tag. The complete system has been designed for space launchers in vehicle wireless sensing using common sensors such as thermocouple, thermistor, strain gauge, pressure sensor... Equipped with its energy harvesting module, each sensor tag is able to acquire and transmit measurements at a distance of 5m from the interrogator without use of any kind of battery. Based on ISO/IEC 18000-63 standard, the specific interrogator benefits of a hardware design adapted to launcher environment, and a specific firmware made to boost the communication speed.