A self-powered smart safety belt enabled by triboelectric nanogenerators for driving status monitoring. (August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Feng, Yuanxiao; Huang, Xin; Liu, Shaoyu; Guo, Wei; Li, Yangyang; Wu, Hao
• Is Part Of: Nano energy. Volume 62(2019)
• Page Start: 197
• Page End: 204
• Publication Date: 2019-08
• Subjects: Triboelectric nanogenerators -- Self-powered sensors -- Driving status monitoring -- Wearable sensors; Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanostructured materials -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Nanoscience; Nanostructured materials; Nanotechnology; Power resources -- Technological innovations; Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.05.043
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2211-2855

Abstract

Abstract: Driving status monitoring is highly desirable to ensure safety and prevent traffic accidents. Unsafe and inappropriate driving behaviors can be identified through the monitoring of the driver's body motion. A self-powered smart safety belt composed of two types of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is developed to monitor the forward position and turning actions of the driver. An auxetic Polyurethane (APU) –TENG integrated in the horizontal strip of the safety belt achieves high sensitivity (0.89 V / c m 2 ) for strain measurements in the large strain domain (40%–100%), enabling the long range monitoring of the forward position of the driver, which correlates to abrupt and aggressive deceleration. Two sensor arrays of arch-shaped TENGs (AS-TENGs) attached to shoulder and waist location of the diagonal strip in the safety belt can measure the turning directions and angles of the driver, respectively. The AS-TENGs are designed through the integration of two TENGs in the top and bottom arch, respectively, to ensure stable and gradually increased contact between the triboelectric layers in both arches, which leads to a high displacement measurement sensitivity of 47.2 V / c m 3 with high linearity. This work demonstrates an effctive approach to integrate self-powered TENGs sensors seamlessly into existing driving environment for driving status monitoring, expanding the applictions of TENGs in wearable electronics. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: A self-powered smart safety belt composed of two types of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), namely auxetic Polyurethane –TENG (APU-TENG) and arch-shaped TENG (AS-TENG), is developed to monitor the forward position and turning actions of the driver. The APU–TENG achieves high sensitivity for strain measurements in the large strain domain (40%–100%), which enables detection of abrupt and aggressive deceleration. Two sensor arrays of AS-TENGs attached to the diagonal strip in the safety belt can measure the turning directions and the angles of the driver.