The Brainstorm is a new section of Product Design & Development where we talk with industry leaders to get their perspective on issues critical to the overall design engineering marketplace. In this issue, we ask:
In examining ways to improve energy efficiency in product design, do you think more attention should be paid to component composition or power supply/fuel?
As a semiconductor component supplier for consumer electronic products, we have to maximize power efficiency and lower the power consumption of our components in order to maximize battery life. This is especially true in cell phones and PDAs, where battery efficiency is critical and a true competitive differentiator.
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AuthenTec fingerprint sensors, which provide multi-functional touch control and security in millions of cell phones, have been optimized to reduce current consumption during the three primary modes of operation – finger detection, fingerprint imaging and finger navigation. AuthenTec’s new AES1711 fingerprint sensor/user touchpad consumes a very meager eight microamps in finger detect mode when a cell phone user has “awakened” the sensor, and only 23 milliamps during fingerprint imaging when the sensor images the unique valleys and ridges of a fingerprint during an authentication event.
AuthenTec has further maximized power efficiency during user navigation, or when the sensor is used like a touchpad to navigate contact lists, web pages, stored documents, and to control phone functions such as zooming and volume control. Finger navigation doesn’t require a full fingerprint image to control accurate cursor movements, therefore using AuthenTec’s TrueNav technology only activates a portion of the sensor’s 1,024 pixel array (128 pixels wide by 8 pixels high) in order to keep power consumption at a very low two milliamps.
These are just a few of the power efficiency steps that we take in order to keep batteries alive. Our guiding strategy is to optimize overall impact to the “battery charging event” through a study of real-life use cases of our mobile input technology feature; paying particular attention to time spent in various sensor modes and then targeting power conservation that maximizes
battery life.
 Chris Richardson, Sagentia
Head of Materials & Chemical Consulting
www.sagentia.com |
Both energy efficiency and the source of power will contribute to the environmental and cost impact of a component, however, looking for ways to improve energy efficiency should be the first consideration. If we lived in a world where there was a source of completely free or impactless energy then the point might be moot.
However, even solar generation has its cost – the energy invested to manufacture the solar cell and the opportunity cost of displacing some other energy consuming system to other energy sources, probably fossil fuel based. Increasing energy efficiency will always be beneficial.
In what form can these energy efficiencies be found? Weight reduction is very important, along with other mechanical effects such as low friction surfaces, but there are others. Many processes have a thermodynamic component to their efficiency – engines for example – and such processes typically run more efficiently at higher temperature. Hence there is a role for higher temperature capable materials.
Energy power source is still important, even if secondary. Typically electrical energy derived from renewable sources is one of the lowest impact forms, but even here the designer needs to take care. The impact of any energy source depends on the product of the efficiencies of generation of storage and generation as well as the fundamental impact of generation itself.
Unless you take care, the total impact of fuel cells, reliant on hydrogen requiring energy to compress and transport, and produced by inefficient electrolysis, can be greater than burning a fossil fuel directly.
 Randall Restle BSEE, MS
Newark
Technical Marketing Manager
www.newark.com |
Energy efficiency is about component composition. The U.S. Department of Energy says, “Only about 15 percent of the energy from the fuel you put in your tank gets used to move your car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling.”
Of course, it’s easy to argue for component composition when a car is the component. My point is that energy efficiency is about getting the most out of whatever a power supply or fuel delivers.
Today’s electronics are power misers. My cell phone keeps its charge for days. Of course, that charge diminishes quickly when I place a call, and the phone gets hot when it’s generating RF, but even in RF components, substantial improvements are being made.
The application of better algorithms has made high power AM radio transmitter efficiency well above 75 percent. Component efficiency is improved with the application of superior algorithms, and this can be true without even changing the underlying electronics. I see more benefit focusing on component composition than on their supplies.
Wind is an alternative fuel that might even be considered free, but before its energy can be used, it must be converted to a useable form like electricity, and there we have another opportunity to improve component composition. I simply don’t have a calculator that runs on wind. Of course, designing one that does would still pay more attention to component composition – not the wind.
Historically, reducing the cost of labor has been the focus of manufacturing. Labor cost has been reduced through automation and taking advantage of lower cost regions in the developing world. We now live in a global economy where labor cost is often a small component of total cost.
Over the last few years, fuel has become a larger portion of total cost. For many companies, the increase in fuel prices has significantly increased the cost of doing business. Entire industries are reeling: airlines, automobiles, etc. Few companies can afford to ignore the effects of escalating fuel costs.
What should be done? Fuel consumed in production of procured components, manufacturing processes, repair processes, and product usage should be considered as customer interests and traded off against other customer interests such as performance and cost. In fact, we are working with companies that are, for the first time, tracking fuel consumption as a key customer interest.
In the auto world, here is a case where Honda outsmarted all the rest, including Toyota. Honda is the only auto company we know of outside of Toyota that uses a knowledge-based product development process. And Honda has stuck to its strategy of high fleet mileage while Toyota veered somewhat off its green theme and built lots of large trucks and SUVs. Honda just announced its highest profit quarter ever and is closing in on Ford for the number three spot in U.S market share behind GM and Toyota.