Artificial Intelligence at the Edge 🤖
Water, light, artificial intelligence, agriculture 4.0 and much more in this august edition of The Harvesting Revolution.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the latest edition of our Newsletter: "The Harvesting Revolution".
In the pages of this August release, our focus is dedicated to the ingenious reclamation and treatment of water resources, along with the most recent strides taken in the domain of photovoltaics.
Furthermore, we'll explore the emerging possibilities that beckon our attention, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence and its far-reaching influence on our day-to-day existence. An intriguing recent study has directed our gaze to Agriculture 4.0, or what's known as smart farming, a realm where process optimization takes center stage.
Together, we're on a mission to kindle inspiration and bestow the tools for change, propelling us toward a future that's not only environmentally conscious but also exceptionally efficient.
Dracula Technologies will have a special place at The Things Network trade show, to be held in Amsterdam on September 21 and 22. Our Business Developer, Roelof Koopmans will be presenting a workshop: How does OPV energy harvesting work, and how to integrate into IoT sensors? He will also host a Keynote: Billions of IoT devices on batteries are not sustainable: energy harvesting is the answer!
Best regards,
The Dracula Team
📚 Great reads - Scientific articles
Climate change indicators over the last few decades reveal that Arctic ecosystems are changing at an increasing rate and into an unprecedented state. Warming in the Arctic is occurring at a rate nearly 4 times faster than the global average leading to accelerating declines in average annual sea ice concentration, extent, and thickness. Increased air temperatures and reduced sea ice are influencing other environmental factors, including sea surface temperature and primary productivity that are leading to alterations in Arctic marine food webs and animal ranges shifting northward. Read more…
Achieving universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all is fundamental for human well-being and sustainable development, as set out by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—specifically SDG 6.1. Although international surveying of drinking water and sanitation access goes back decades, the monitoring of SDG targets is becoming an essential input in the design and assessment of infrastructure development plans, as well as policy on water access and other infrastructure services. Read more…
A rare case of brominated small molecule acceptors for high-efficiency organic solar cells
In view of the deeper understanding of molecule design, device engineering, and charge transfer/transport mechanism, organic solar cells (OSCs) have undergone a blowout growth in the past few decades, leading to power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of single-junction OSCs surpassing 19% and tandem OSCs over 20%, respectively. At present, the continuous exploration of small molecule acceptors (SMAs) with a distinctive “acceptor-donor-acceptor” (A-D-A) architecture is still the most concerned issue if more efficient OSCs are further expected. Note that the desirable three-dimensional (3D) intermolecular packing network, which will be in favor of superior charge generation/transport/recombination dynamics, is highly desired for well-established SMAs. Read more…
Photocatalytically reactive surfaces for simultaneous water harvesting and treatment
Most of the global population is living under conditions where freshwater consumption exceeds replenishment during at least one month of the year. Currently, there is enough fresh water available globally to meet demand; however, scarcity arises due to uneven distribution and contamination. To address this challenge, the focus of research over the past few decades has been on the atmospheric water harvesting of sources such as rain, fog, dew, and vapour as well as reducing freshwater use and treating contaminated water sources. Read more…
As a natural polymer, cellulose is abundant, low-cost, robust, and biodegradable and can be chemically modified. This work explores the enhancement of mechanical, thermal, and flexoelectric properties of three-dimensional (3D)-printed carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) due to the addition of mechanically exfoliated hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). hBN was observed to act as a rheology modifier, and CMC reinforced with 2% hBN exhibited the maximum apparent viscosity of 12.24 Pa·s at a shear rate of 100 s–1. The 0.5% hBN/CMC film exhibited the highest mechanical and thermal stability. Read more…
Exploring the Limitations of Electric Field Energy Harvesting
Today, wireless sensors are being used to monitor low- and high-voltage utility assets and power lines. Because these sensors operate autonomously without a grid connection, most are powered by electrochemical batteries, which are costly and often difficult and impractical to replace. Therefore, there is a need for self-powered, wireless sensor nodes that are more environmentally friendly and minimize the costs associated with periodic maintenance. Energy harvesting (EH) offers a potential solution to this problem, as this technology enables the conversion of ambient energy into electrical energy. Read more…
📚 Great reads: Energy Harvesting and IoT Market opportunities
Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2024-2034: Trends, Markets, Applications
Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals in the range of 2-10 nanometers (10-50 atoms) with size-tunable features. They exhibit quantum confinement effects due to their nanoscale dimensions, leading to remarkable optical and electrical characteristics. The quantum dot features can be adjusted by particle size, material, and compositions. QD materials such as Cd-based, In-based, PbS, perovskites, as well as emerging CuInS2, InAs, ZnTeSe QDs have varied bandgap and thus absorption and emission spectra. This fine-tuning ability has resulted in quantum dots having significant application potential, notably in display, image sensor, photovoltaic, lighting, and various other use cases. Read more…
AI Chips for Edge Applications 2024-2034: Artificial Intelligence at the Edge
The global AI chips market for edge devices will grow to US$22.0 billion by 2034, with the three largest industry verticals at that time being Consumer Electronics, Industrial, and Automotive. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already displaying significant transformative potential across several different applications, from fraud detection in high-frequency trading to the use of generative AI (such as the likes of ChatGPT) as a significant time-saver for the preparation of written documentation, as well as a creative prompt. Read more…
AGRICULTURE 4.0 AND THE RISE OF SMART FARMING
Farms rely on large equipment for most of their operations, including cultivation, irrigation, and harvesting. This equipment includes tractors, harvesters, pumping units, sprinklers, plows, conveyors, and more. Much of a farmer’s time is spent manning this equipment out in the field – often for more than 12 hours a day, but new connected solutions are beginning to change that. Heavy equipment for agriculture is now being constructed with sensors built in and connectivity on board, allowing the farmer to optimize and troubleshoot machinery remotely while receiving real-time data inputs on the health of their equipment and crops. Autonomous equipment gives farmers even more freedom. Read more…
The 10 most promising emerging applications for seaweed
With research led by Karlotta Rieve, who was also the main author of the Seaweed Insights website, and the Hatch Innovation Services team, the Global Seaweed New and Emerging Markets Report 2023 analyses those areas – outside of the traditional seaweed markets such as hydrocolloids – where seaweed producers are likely to have the greatest opportunities in the years ahead. Read more…
💡 Learning Content
How does OPV energy harvesting work, and how to integrate into IoT sensors?
Workshop by Roelof Koopmans, Business Developer at Dracula Technologies
In this workshop, we will show how Dracula Technologies' Organic Photo Voltaic (OPV) is working, how much energy can be created under different indoor light conditions, and how these harvester modules can be integrated into IoT sensors or trackers. And what benefits does OPV energy harvesting provide versus battery-based devices? Since Dracula's OPV works best in indoor environments, the typical use cases for such OPV-IoT integration are sensors for air quality, air temperature and humidity, movement detection, and e-ink displays. Technical design insights will be provided into how Dracula Technologies OPV LAYER can be best leveraged in combination with LPWAN technologies like LoRa, Power Management IC's (PMIC's), and storage elements. Read More…
Billions of IoT devices on batteries are not sustainable: energy harvesting is the answer!
Keynote by Roelof Koopmans, Business Developer at Dracula Technologies
Energy harvesting will be a key factor in driving the success of large-scale IoT adoption. Several energy harvesting technologies are emerging with the potential to replace batteries in IoT devices and make them autonomous, reduce the Total Cost of Ownership for customers, and make IoT solutions more sustainable. Dracula Technologies is a French company that has created a unique way of harvesting energy from low-intensity indoor light based on Organic Photo Voltaic (OPV). The products can be designed in any shape or form, and Dracula Technologies developed a production process based on ink-jet printing the OPV LAYER on flexible substrates. These can be easily integrated into sensors, smart meters, remote controls, and other electrical devices. Roelof will show how this great innovation can help IoT device manufacturers make their products more sustainable and at a lower cost for customers. Read More…
Battery-free IoT devices: Enabled by Infineon’s errNFC Energy-Harvesting -- Infineon and Mouser
Energy harvesting has become more popular than ever before for a wide range of IoT devices. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton chats with Stathis Zafiriadis from Infineon about the details of Infineon’s NFC energy harvesting technology and how you can get started using this technology in your next IoT design.
They discuss the connectivity and sensing capabilities of Infineon’s NAC1080 and NGC1081 NFC actuation controllers and the applications that would be a great fit for these innovative solutions.
Inside of RF energy Harvesting/Scavenging Circuit Rectenna
📅 Events to consider this month
Events to attend this month: list of exciting events, webinars, and videos for you to explore this month.
August, 31: Electric Boats & Ships: Markets, Players, Opportunities
Electric propulsion systems for boats and ships have enjoyed steady uptake in recreational, ferry, short-sea, and inland segments due to relatively small vessel sizes or well-defined operational profiles. However, some early entry points are now reaching saturation, and the industry is turning to growth from hybrid deep-sea ships, driven by unprecedented global emissions regulations from the IMO and EU. The pressure is on as China joins the fray with competitively priced LFP battery systems, helping drive the next level of growth for the industry.
September, 14: Webinar - Unveiling the Brilliant Potential of Quantum Dots
This webinar will introduce QDs and discuss their potential uses in various areas, focusing on display and image sensor applications.
Introduction to quantum dots and wavelength tuning approaches
Material options
QD modes of operation
QDs for display applications: unique features, various adoption approaches, introduction, manufacturing techniques, current status and trends
QDs for image sensor applications: Introduction, types, value propositions, and trends
Market Landscape
September 20-21: Showroom - SIDO
Europe's largest showroom for IoT, AI, Robotics, and XR solutions and technologies
September,21: Conference - International Conference on Energy Harvesting and Power Engineering
In this webinar, Dr. Yu-Han Chang will present the latest research from IDTechEx's new report "Materials and Processing for Advanced Semiconductor Packaging 2024-2034", and will discuss:
An overview of advanced semiconductor packaging technology: Landscape and development
Manufacturing methods and dielectric materials choice for 2.5D packaging
A review of 3D Cu-Cu bonding packaging technology: materials and manufacturing processes barriers and future trend
September, 21-22: Conference - The Things Conference
Welcome to the flagship event about LoRaWAN® and Low Power Internet of Things. Join 1500+ top IoT professionals, and 70+ leading industry players, learn from 90+ curated keynotes and 20+ workshops, learn about the latest developments in the LPWAN market, and become a LoRaWAN expert.
Dracula Technologies will have a stand at the event where we'll be presenting our new Co2 sensor, which will also be featured on the Wall of Fame. Jérôme Vernet (VP Sales), Brice Cruchon (CEO) and Roelof Koopmans (Business Developer) at Dracula Technologies will be on hand to talk about Energy Harvesting for IoT power.
Thank you for your continued support and interest.
We value your readership and encourage you to share your feedback or suggestions. Together, let us shape a sustainable future powered by innovation.
To contact us: contact@dracula-technologies.com
The Dracula Team.