Granted Patent B2

US 12,618,910 · App. 18/442,542 · Granted May 5, 2026

Inventors: Reddy Nili Bhaskar (Bangalore, IN); Appadurai Balaji (Bangalore, IN); V N Pranathy (Bangalore, IN)

Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG

G01R31/382H02J7/0048H10N10/13H02J7/345

Abstract

Claims (34)

1 . A method for operating a sensor device, the method comprising:

generating, by a thermoelectric generating module, an electrical energy corresponding to a heat dissipated from a surface of an equipment;

regulating, by a power managing module, the electrical energy to generate an optimum output voltage using a maximum power point tracking technique;

feeding, by the power managing module, the optimum output voltage to charge an energy storage device;

powering, by a controlling module, the sensor device using the energy storage device; and

triggering, by the controlling module, the sensor device to acquire sensor data when a charge stored in the energy storage device is equal to or greater than a pre-defined threshold value.

2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising transmitting the sensor data to a receiving device.

3 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the equipment is one of a busbar, a heat sink, a power cable joint, and a transformer.

4 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein generating the electrical energy corresponding to the heat dissipated from the surface of the equipment comprises:

measuring difference in heat energy between two terminals of a system, wherein one terminal of the system is positioned close to the surface of the equipment and another terminal of the system is at an ambient temperature; and

generating the electrical energy based on the difference in the heat energy between the two terminals of the system.

5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the energy storage device is one of a super-capacitor and a rechargeable battery.

6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sensor data is at least one of temperature data and humidity data.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein triggering the sensor device to acquire the sensor data when the charge stored in the energy storage device is equal to or greater than the pre-defined threshold value comprises:

determining an amount of energy from the charge stored in the energy storage device;

determining an energy required for acquiring the sensor data and for transmitting the sensor data to a receiving device; and

triggering the sensor device to acquire the sensor data when the amount of energy is equal to or greater than the energy required for acquiring the sensor data and transmitting the sensor data to the receiving device.

8 . A system for operating a sensor device, the system comprising:

a thermoelectric generating module configured to generate an electrical energy corresponding to a heat dissipated from a surface of an equipment;

a power managing module electrically coupled to the thermoelectric generating module, the power managing module configured to:

regulate the electrical energy to generate an optimum output voltage using a maximum power point tracking technique; and

feed the optimum output voltage to charge an energy storage device;

a controlling module electrically coupled to the power managing module and the sensor device, the controlling module configured to power the sensor device using the energy storage device, and trigger the sensor device to acquire sensor data when a charge stored in the energy storage device is equal to or greater than a pre-defined threshold value.

9 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising a transmitting module electrically coupled to the controlling module, the transmitting module configured to transmit the sensor data to a receiving device.

10 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the equipment is one of a busbar, a heat sink, a power cable joint, and a transformer.

11 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the thermoelectric generating module is configured to:

measure a difference in heat energy between two terminals of the system, wherein one terminal of the system is positioned close to the surface of the equipment and another terminal of the system is at an ambient temperature; and

generate the electrical energy based on the difference in the heat energy between the two terminals of the system.

12 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the energy storage device is one of a super-capacitor or a rechargeable battery.

13 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the sensor data is at least one of temperature data and humidity data.

14 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the controlling module is configured to:

determine an amount of energy from the charge stored in the energy storage device;

determine an energy required for acquiring the sensor data and for transmitting the sensor data to a receiving device; and

trigger the sensor device to acquire the sensor data when the amount of energy is equal to or greater than the energy required for acquiring the sensor data and transmitting the sensor data to the receiving device.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (11)