PFI-RP: Zero-power Wireless Flame Detector for Ubiquitous Fire Monitoring

Northeastern University, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project is to advance the development of a disruptive fire monitoring sensor technology that could save thousands of lives and prevent billions of assets loss annually. Currently large-scale wireless fire sensor networks suffer from prohibitive cost associated with ownership, installation and maintenance. Commercially available sensors rely on active electronics to detect and discriminate signal of interest. Therefore, they consume power continuously to monitor the environment even when there is no relevant data to be detected, which results in a short battery lifetime limited to very few months. The proposed wireless flame detectors can be deployed virtually anywhere by dramatically reducing the cost associated with sensor hardware, installation, and maintenance. The completely passive sensing mechanism and wireless connectivity of the proposed technology offer fire protection in environmental conditions considered harsh for conventional electronics (e.g., extreme temperature and limited access to power sources). The project will advance the technology to address the constricted spaces of an aircraft (i.e., the engine or the cargo compartments) where the propagation of fire is significantly hampered, hence restricting the use of the conventional fire detectors. The proposed project aims to develop a novel micromechanical flame detector consuming near-zero power in standby until awakened by the specific infrared signature emitted by a flame. The fundamental technical challenge lies in the continuous power consumption of state-of-the-art sensor technologies. The proposed device advances recently developed zero-power digitizing infrared sensors that can selectively harvest the energy from the specific infrared signature emitted from a warm object to operate without using any electrical power. The rigorous fire detector standards require a high level of system robustness and stability against environmental variabilities such as temperature extremes, vibration, and extraneous transients. The proposed project will demonstrate a prototype meeting the national flame detector standards. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.