{"599890":{"#nid":"599890","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Piezoelectric Tiles Light the Way for Kennedy Space Center Visitors","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew technology that could be used in self-powered smart cities of the future will soon be demonstrated at the NASA Kennedy Space Center\u0026rsquo;s Visitor Complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Ilan Stern, a senior research scientist with the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, and colleagues, are collaborating on a $2 million project supported by NASA contractor Delaware North Corporation to build a 40,000-square-foot lighted outdoor footpath demonstrating applications of piezoelectricity for renewable energy.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA small electrical charge is generated when a piezoelectric material is compressed, flexed, or vibrated. Harnessing this technology at the visitor complex, the researchers are using a thin, ceramic disk of lead zirconate titanate, which has the strongest piezoelectric response of any known material. \u0026ldquo;Just as a sponge squeezes out water,\u0026rdquo; said Stern, \u0026ldquo;the piezo element under pressure squeezes out electricity that can be harvested and stored.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor this unique project, the researchers designed floor cavities of very thin, ultra-high- performance concrete. To fit into each cavity, the Georgia Tech engineers designed a novel system of custom electronics: circuit boards, six mini solar panels, a battery, LEDs, a Bluetooth transmitter, a Wi-Fi transmitter, micro controllers, and the piezoelectric element\u0026mdash;all of which are covered by a loadbearing glass tile top.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe tiles operate on three power sources: piezoelectricity, solar panels, and a small rechargeable lithium battery for energy storage and use at night. The self-powered system, when triggered by a human footstep, produces a wireless signal that informs visitors about NASA space missions, piezoelectric technology as well as the STEM cooperation between NASA and Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;No one has made anything like this\u0026mdash;an outdoor tile system using a piezoelectric element to trigger customized and off-the-shelf electronics and coupling them for human interactions,\u0026rdquo; said Stern. \u0026ldquo;When you step on the load-bearing glass tile, it compresses the piezoelectric element, creating an electrical charge that lights up the cavity\u0026rsquo;s 125 LEDs.\u0026rdquo; In the entire footpath, about one thousand glass tiles light up in various colors. Each glass tile is a pixel in the pathway\u0026rsquo;s mosaic imagery of Earth, Mars, the moon, and the International Space Station.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The piezoelectric element also powers a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signal to visitors\u0026rsquo; smartphones, which can play audio, providing information about their geolocation and for potential wayfinding,\u0026rdquo; said Stern. \u0026ldquo;The audio provides information such as how much energy is being generated throughout the park during the day.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough a small amount of energy is produced per piezo element, per step, the aggregation of such systems in heavily trafficked areas can produce a significant amount of electricity to be stored for local onsite powering of street signs, lights, and other facilities. \u0026ldquo;The piezo element has a very long lifetime, but these are modular systems that could be easily updated over time,\u0026rdquo; he said. The glass lid can be removed so the piezo element and electronics system can be updated with newer technologies.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany of the site\u0026rsquo;s engineering applications are based on fundamental research by the lab of Alper Erturk, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. Erturk, Stern, and their graduate students, for instance, have utilized a method of vibrating a piezo element\u0026rsquo;s edge, called plucking, allowing for the coupling of the piezoelectric material\u0026rsquo;s inherently high resonant frequency, to the low frequency of human scale motion. This has various applications intended for biomechanical energy harvesting.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn future smart cities applications, lattices of pressure-sensitive sensors underneath roadways could produce wireless, real-time signals distributing information about roadway conditions, temperature, or traffic. Roadway sensors and autonomous vehicles could share information, and vehicles could communicate with each other through the roadway\u0026rsquo;s wireless system. Indoor flooring systems powered by piezoelectricity could provide safety monitoring and sensing capabilities without being plugged into to the grid.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We need a more flexible use of the electric grid,\u0026rdquo; Stern said. \u0026ldquo;Our goal is to develop more self-powered, self-generating systems with added storage that will give us more choices in energy usage and minimize waste. As much as possible, we should convert wasted mechanical energy\u0026mdash;human and vehicle movement\u0026mdash;into usable energy generation and storage.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Tibbetts\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew technology that could be used in self-powered smart cities of the future will soon be demonstrated at the NASA Kennedy Space Center\u0026rsquo;s Visitor Complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A lighted footpath powered partially by piezoelectric tiles will soon be operational at the Kennedy Space Center."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-12-13 21:56:40","changed_gmt":"2017-12-13 21:57:46","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"599886":{"id":"599886","type":"image","title":"Placing piezoelectric tiles","body":null,"created":"1513201409","gmt_created":"2017-12-13 21:43:29","changed":"1513201409","gmt_changed":"2017-12-13 21:43:29","alt":"Ilan Stern and piezoelectric 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footpath","file":{"fid":"228700","name":"Earth-sm.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Earth-sm.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Earth-sm.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1156618,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Earth-sm.jpg?itok=KkdP32-L"}}},"media_ids":["599886","599887","599888","599889"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7699","name":"piezoelectric"},{"id":"3163","name":"renewable energy"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"169401","name":"self-powered"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"14016","name":"Kennedy Space Center"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy 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