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Due to the continuous increase of expressways and toll stations, there is a high potential for energy harvesting for sideway electronic devices. This article proposes a novel road energy harvester (REH) based on a crank‐shaft mechanism using bidirectional to unidirectional phenomenon to be installed on expressway toll stations. The REH contains four main components: the oscillation input from the suspension, the transfer unit, the generator unit, and the energy storage unit. The REH uses a crank‐shaft with spur gears as a mechanical motion rectifier and one‐way bearings, which can convert the oscillatory vibration into unidirectional generator rotation. In the energy storage module, electrical energy is being stored in supercapacitors. This study covers the design, modeling, and simulation of a crank‐shaft‐based energy harvester for harvesting suspension vibration energy. The energy harvester's dynamic modeling is used to assess the damping features. Simulated tests are conducted to demonstrate the proposed energy harvester's efficacy. Experiments are conducted, and the highest output voltage of 6.9 V peak is recorded for 5 mm/s with an efficiency of 53.66% which is enough for self‐powered applications at expressway toll booths such as traffic lights, caution lights, LED displays, sensors, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoTs), numerous distributed wide‐area low‐power electronic devices have been utilized in various fields, such as wireless monitoring sensors and wearable electronics. Due to the dispersion and mobility of microelectronic devices, their energy supply faces serious challenges. The inconvenience and non‐environmental friendliness of using traditional centralized low entropy energy and chemical batteries to power distributed microelectronic devices are becoming increasingly prominent. Environmental energy harvesting technology with high entropy characteristics is considered an effective solution for low‐power electronic devices. This paper comprehensively reviews the recent progress in microelectronic technologies based on energy harvesting and signal sensing. First, state‐of‐the‐art micro‐power electronic devices in humans, animals, and the environment are introduced. Secondly, the available micro‐energy sources in the environmentare elaborated and summarized. Then, the principles and characteristics of ambient microenergy harvesting technologies based on different mechanisms are classified, summarized, and analyzed. In addition, this work comprehensively summarizes the applications of self‐powered micro‐electronics technology in 11 different fields, including human, animal, and environment. Finally, research challenges, technical difficulties, and research gaps in self‐powered microelectronics based on micro‐energy harvesting technology are discussed and summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the age of the artificial intelligence of things (AIoT), wearable devices have been extensively developed for smart healthcare. This paper proposes a self‐powered and self‐sensing lower‐limb system (SS‐LS) with negative energy harvesting and motion capture for smart healthcare. The SS‐LS achieves self‐sustainability via a half‐wave electromagnetic generator (HW‐EMG) that recovers negative work from walking with a low cost of harvesting. Additionally, the motion capture function of the system is achieved by the three‐channel triboelectric nanogenerator (TC‐TENG) based on binary code, which can accurately detect the angle and direction of the knee joint rotation. The bench test experiment indicates that the HW‐EMG has an average output power of 11.2 mW, sufficient to power a wireless sensor. The three‐channel voltage signal of TC‐TENG fits well with the binary signal, which can precisely detect the angle and direction of rotation. Furthermore, the SS‐LS demonstrates an identification accuracy of 99.68% and a motion detection accuracy of 99.96% based on an LSTM deep learning model. Demonstrations of Parkinson's disease and fall detection and monitoring of three training modes (sit‐and‐stand, balance, and walking training) are also performed, which exhibit outstanding sensing capabilities. The SS‐LS is highly promising in sports rehabilitation medicine and can contribute to the development of smart healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the demands of power supply for applications along the railway in treacherous terrain, this article proposes a portable photovoltaic power generation system (PVPGS) based on a foldable mechanism for applications along the railway. First, the designed system mainly consists of a foldable solar energy collector (FSEC) and an energy conduit. Dust deposited on the photovoltaic panels is reduced while the FSEC is being folded or unfolded. Moreover, the characteristics of dust particles, effects of natural dust on photovoltaic glass transmittance, and power of portable PVPGS are investigated. In addition, the mechanism on improving the power generation efficiency of PVPGS is analyzed. The results demonstrate that the designed foldable mechanism can contain the dust deposition on photovoltaic power loss within 4%. Finally, Chengdu city and Sichuan–Tibet Railway are selected for an application prospect, and the results show that the average annual power generation of one portable PVPGS can reach up to 16.7 kWh, which is enough to power sensors and other applications along the railway. Simulations, theoretical analyses, and experiments confirm the feasibility of using the proposed portable PVPGS to power applications along the railway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of the information age, the Internet of Things (IoTs) technology has been favored by many industries and became another in-depth revolution of information technology industry. Under such an era, the application of the IoTs technology to the construction of intelligent buildings can broaden the practicality of intelligent systems, optimize resource allocation, and enhance the management and service capabilities of intelligent buildings, thereby improving people's quality of life. On the basis of summarizing and analyzing previous research works, this paper elaborates the development status and future challenges of the IoTs technology, analyzes the impact of IoTs technology on intelligent buildings and intelligent manufacturing, and expounds the integrated system framework of intelligent building and building information model (BIM) technology, and proposes the system design of intelligent building and the architecture model of intelligent manufacturing based on the IoTs technology. The model verification results show that the intelligent manufacturing model of construction industry can realize the integration of human society and physical system and achieve the purpose of real-time management and control of personnel, machines, equipment, and infrastructure within the whole network. The study results of this paper provide a reference for the further research on the intelligent manufacturing model of construction industry based on the IoTs technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]