Smokey the Bear says that only you can prevent wildfires, but what if Smokey had a high-tech backup?
Smokey the Bear says that only you can prevent wildfires, but what if Smokey had a high-tech backup? In a new study, a team of Michigan State University scientists designed and fabricated a remote forest fire detection and alarm system powered by nothing but the movement of the trees in the wind.
As detailed in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the device, known as MC-TENG — short for multilayered cylindrical triboelectric nanogenerator — generates electrical power by harvesting energy from the sporadic movement of the tree branches from which it hangs.
“As far as we know, this is the first demonstration of such a novel MC-TENG as a forest fire detection system,” said lead author Changyong Cao, who directs the Laboratory of Soft Machines and Electronics in MSU’s School of Packaging and is an assistant professor in the Packaging School and Departments of Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Read more: Michigan State University
The new device generates electrical power by harvesting energy from the sporadic movement of the tree branches from which it hangs. (Photo Credit: Michigan State University)
