The Canadian startup, AquaSensing has developed a battery-free sensor that employs water droplets to power Bluetooth radio. The design leverages AquaSensing’s energy harvesting technology as a self-powering sensor while utilizing InPlay’s pioneering programming-free low-power Bluetooth beacon technology to provide users with a true maintenance-free leak detection system platform. The combination of the two companies’ technologies creates a true high-performance, real-time, long-range and maintenance-free wireless sensor platform solution that perfectly addresses the challenges inherent in today’s battery-powered IoT devices.
Aquasensing Leak Sensor 2.0 efficiently utilizes the energy harvested during sensing any fluid ingress to power the InPlay SoC-based Bluetooth beacon that enables Bluetooth long range wireless connectivity to a Cloud-connected gateway that facilitates sending alerts to the end-users. Through the companion app users and property managers can also control and configure the Leak Sensor 2.0 device, pause notifications or mark them as resolved, and share the leak details with third parties to act upon the alert.
Leak Sensor 2.0’s small form factor makes it easy to install in any remote location. The developed inert energy harvesting materials allow Leak Sensor 2.0 to remain operational for 20+ years, meaning the device can be easily hidden behind walls and in areas that are difficult to access during construction and manufacturing. The solution is scalable to cover large areas of complex buildings and structures.
“Employing the InPlay chipsets in our Aquasensing Leak Sensor 2.0 allowed us to achieve price and performance targets unrealizable with any alternate Bluetooth SoC,” says Prof. Norman Zhou, co-founder & CEO at AquaSensing.
“We are pleased to work with AquaSensing to develop their next generation battery-free water leak detection wireless sensor system, AquaSensing’s technology can be used as an energy harvesting sensor for water leak detection, which greatly simplifies the sensor system design. Our NanoBeacon Bluetooth beacon chip technology supports ultra-wide range of voltage supply and fast cold start advertising features, with AquaSensing’s energy harvesting technology, can be perfect for low-power and low-cost water leakage detection applications, I look forward to the collaborations between the two companies can bring a lot of new product ideas and applications for the future wireless sensor market!” said Jason Wu, co-founder and CEO of InPlay.
