This Tiny Computer Doesn’t Require a Battery

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This Tiny Computer Doesn’t Require a Battery
University of Washington has created quarter-sized computer that pulls power from the air

University of Washington has created quarter-sized computer that pulls power from the air

Even with all our gadgets and gizmos, we still rely on the battery power of our devices to get us through the day. As much as we can connect on wireless levels, we still need to plug our devices in at the end of the day. A team from the University of Washington‘s Sensor Systems Laboratory is changing that thanks to a computer that runs without the need for a battery. According to Co.Design, the WISP (Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform) uses radio waves to power its processes.

It can complete important tasks such as tracking data.

As the team explains on the Sensor Systems Laboratory page, the WISP is made up of a group of sensors read by UHF RFID readers. Its programmability and accessibility separates its from other similar systems:

“The WISP is an open source, open architecture EPC Class 1 Generation 2 RFID tag that includes a fully programmable 16 bit microcontroller, as well as arbitrary sensors. Unlike the WISP, conventional RFID tags are black boxes that cannot execute arbitrary computer programs, and do not support sensors.”

The team recently collaborated with Delft University of Technology to create Wisent, which allows for wireless programming of the WISP. This is the next step in making usability even more convenient and easy.

The team notes that so far different users have been able to put the WISP to a variety of uses, including tasks related to “cryptography and security.” With its main infrastructure being no bigger than a quarter, the WISP speaks to the possibility of housing a significant amount of power and usability within a small range of space.

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