The project has been launched in last June, 21st 2017 at ESIGELEC in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France. That was the first physical meeting of the partnership since approval of the project in February, 2nd 2017. During that event, several presentations have been given along with the keynote delivered by Moncef KADI, the Head of IRSEEM’s research team of Electronic and Embedded Systems. - ESIGELEC focussed on the general objectives and technological challenges facing the project, particularly the rectenna’s part. - While, GST addressed the general specifications of the project regarding both targeted applications in terms of power management and energy storage. Some potential use cases were also analysed. - Highlights made by University of Kent dealt with some design constraints of the surface in terms size, number of cells, pattern redirection, etc., all over the frequency bands of interest typically ISM/GSM/Wi-Fi. - Both University of Surrey and Intrinsiq Materials presented their respective fabrication facilities and capabilities.
The training meeting, held in June, 20th 2017 prior to the kick-off meeting, have been led by the JTS representative Sophie JARDIN (Finance and Appraisal Officer from INTERREG, Norwich, UK). The meeting was hosted by ESIGELEC too and dealt with many rules regarding communication aspects (logos, project website, templates, etc.), payment claims (procurement, spending, expenditure checks, etc.), risk management, etc.
The 2nd general assembly meeting has taken place in last October, 9th-10th 2017, held by Intrinsiq Materials Ltd, in Farnborough, UK. While, the 3rd meeting took place January, 15th-16th 2018 in Guildford, Surrey, UK, hosted by University of Surrey. The first part of those meetings was dedicated to administrative and financial aspects along with communication matters. Those presentations were followed by an open discussion session with Sophie JARDIN (Finance and Appraisal Officer from INTERREG, Norwich, UK) who answered many questions on those topics. The second part of the meetings included diverse presentations. For instance, - GST analyzed a few characteristics (output power density, area, etc.) of some basic renewable energy transducers as solar ones compared with RF transducers. - ESIGELEC presented preliminary analysis of the state-of-the art on high impedance surfaces followed by first design considerations within the lower ISM band (868MHz/2.4GHz). - GST and ESIGELEC jointly presented some first trials of indoor power densities measurement methods. - University of Kent showed first simulation results for an early 3-layer design operating in the WiFi band around 5.8 GHz. Kent also showed the measurement setup that would be used to characterize the first fabrication trials from both the University of Surrey and Intrinsiq Materials. - Some technical exchanges have been conducted between University of Surrey and Intrinsiq Materials for defining some appropriate parameters regarding fabrication processes (inks, paste, printing technology, solvents, etc.). Some test samples have already been sent out to Kent for further analysis - Intrinsiq Materials has fabricated ESIGELEC’s first antenna prototype. - University of Surrey has started the development of a single-layer coplanar super-capacitor based on interdigital topologies along with long-term stability of the fabricated prototypes as basic printed tracks. - First feasibility studies have been discussed around several applications. - Two of them have definitely been confirmed (smoke alarms, Wi-Fi boosters) - Home automation sensors have been targeted as potentially well-suited as an additional application of the project - Three other applications need to be discussed during next general assembly in order to make a decision
The 2nd general assembly meeting has taken place in last October, 9th-10th 2017, held by Intrinsiq Materials Ltd, in Farnborough, UK. While, the 3rd meeting took place January, 15th-16th 2018 in Guildford, Surrey, UK, hosted by University of Surrey. The first part of those meetings was dedicated to administrative and financial aspects along with communication matters. Those presentations were followed by an open discussion session with Sophie JARDIN (Finance and Appraisal Officer from INTERREG, Norwich, UK) who answered many questions on those topics. The second part of the meetings included diverse presentations. For instance, - GST analyzed a few characteristics (output power density, area, etc.) of some basic renewable energy transducers as solar ones compared with RF transducers. - ESIGELEC presented preliminary analysis of the state-of-the art on high impedance surfaces followed by first design considerations within the lower ISM band (868MHz/2.4GHz). - GST and ESIGELEC jointly presented some first trials of indoor power densities measurement methods. - University of Kent showed first simulation results for an early 3-layer design operating in the WiFi band around 5.8 GHz. Kent also showed the measurement setup that would be used to characterize the first fabrication trials from both the University of Surrey and Intrinsiq Materials. - Some technical exchanges have been conducted between University of Surrey and Intrinsiq Materials for defining some appropriate parameters regarding fabrication processes (inks, paste, printing technology, solvents, etc.). Some test samples have already been sent out to Kent for further analysis - Intrinsiq Materials has fabricated ESIGELEC’s first antenna prototype. - University of Surrey has started the development of a single-layer coplanar super-capacitor based on interdigital topologies along with long-term stability of the fabricated prototypes as basic printed tracks. - First feasibility studies have been discussed around several applications. - Two of them have definitely been confirmed (smoke alarms, Wi-Fi boosters) - Home automation sensors have been targeted as potentially well-suited as an additional application of the project - Three other applications need to be discussed during next general assembly in order to make a decision
The consortium is going to met during two days and discuss the project progress. That meeting will be held by GST, Bourguébus, Normandy, France. The first day is dedicated to management and communication matters, followed by discussions on WP T3 promotion, dissemination and the transfer of the technology. In the frame of the first project workshop, particular attention will be given to discussions on the communication strategy toward the enterprises of the FCE zone. During the second day’s meeting, which is entirely technical, each team will present the work achieved, followed by some interactions between the speaker and the assembly through questions/comments helping to more assess the work done. This kind of meeting, regrouping all of the members of the project, allows to see everyone’s work and accomplishments, and to encourage discussions and sharing ideas and knowledge. It also boost a nice atmosphere and good relationships between everyone involved in the project.
While, the 6th meeting took place January, 24th – 25th 2019 at Guildford, Surrey, UK, hosted by University of Surrey. The first part of those meetings was dedicated to administrative and financial aspects along with communication matters. The second part of the meetings included diverse presentations. For instance, o ESIGELEC presented a theoretical design of a reflective surface developed and validated with simulations. (image 7.1) o GST presented some additional applications regarding home automation and compared in terms of duty cycle, consumption, etc. o University of Kent showed several designs of a 10GHz-reflective surface that was able redirect incident waves toward a particular direction. (image 7.2) o University of Surrey presented the results of comparative fabrication tests between PET and Kapton-based circuits. (image 7.3) o The organization of the 1st workshop to be held in Rouen was discussed.
While, the 8th meeting took place in September, 25th-26th 2019 in Guildford, Surrey, UK, hosted by University of Surrey. The first part of the meetings was dedicated to the technical issues, including diverse presentations. For instance, o University of Surrey showed the fabricated notch antenna and a basic 2.4 GHz - demo comprising a set of blinking LED depending on the electromagnetic energy harvested. (image 8.1) and (image 8.2) o University of Kent presented the results of the analysis of the size effects of the surface on the improvement of the power link and a concertina surface for WiFi applications. (image 8.3) and (image 8.4) o ESIGELEC showed experimental results of the channel behaviour as a Gaussian channel and the improvement of the surface over the power link between two antennas.(image 8.5) and (image 8.6) The following part of those meetings was dedicated to administrative and financial aspects along with communication matters, focusing on the budget issues. The organization of the 2nd workshop in the UK was discussed.
The first part of this meeting was dedicated to administrative and financial aspects along with communication matters, focusing on the budget issues.
The second part of the meetings included diverse presentations. For instance,
o University of Surrey presented the results of measurement of conductivity on various samples fabricated. (image 9.1)
o University of Kent presented the tests on Wi-Fi signal improvement with concertina surface. (image 9.2)
o ESIGELEC presented several multiband antenna designs based on slot antennas and the results of experimental tests for measuring ambient power densities over bands GSM/IMT/Wi-Fi (image 9.3) and (image 9.4)
o The organization of the 2nd workshop in France and UK was discussed.
The first part of this meeting was dedicated to administrative and financial aspects along with communication matters, focusing on the budget issues. The second part of the meetings included diverse presentations. For instance, o University of Surrey presented the fabrication details of the rectenna provided by ESIGELEC and the results of the characterisation of printed microstrips. (image 10.1) and (image 10.2) o University of Kent showed the results of simulation and experimental tests on Wi-Fi signal improvement with concertina surface. (image 10.3) o ESIGELEC presented - The results of the incident power density measurement. (image 10.4) - Simulation and measurement results of two newly designed slot antennas with dual polarisation. (image 10.5) - The RF energy harvesting system. (image 10.6) - The results of experimental tests on Wi-Fi signal improvement. (image10.7)
The first part of this meeting was dedicated to administrative and financial aspects along with communication matters, focusing on the budget issues. The second part of the meetings included diverse presentations. For instance, o University of Surrey presented the fabrication details of the rectenna provided by ESIGELEC and the results of the characterisation of printed microstrips. (image 11.1) and (image 11.2 o ESIGELEC presented - The final design of slot antenna and the results of measurement. (image 11.3) - The final prototype of energy harvesting system. (image 11.4)
