Energy harvesting and power management of wireless sensors for structural control applications in civil engineering

The authors' research efforts recently led to the development of a customized wireless control unit which receives the real-time feedbacks from the sensors, and elaborates the consequent control signal to drive the actuator(s). The controller is wireless in performing the data transmission task, i.e., it receives the signals from the sensors without the need of installing any analogue cable
connection between them, but it is powered by wire. The actuator also needs to be powered by wire.
be powered by wire. In this framework, the design of a power management unit
is of interest only for the wireless sensor stations, and it should be adaptable to