Air temperature and velocity measurements are important parameters in many applications. A self-powered sensor placed in a duct and powered by an electromechanical generator scavenging energy from the airflow has been designed and tested. It periodically transmits the measured air temperature and velocity to a receiving unit. The system basically consists of two macroblocks, respectively: the self-power wireless sensor and the receiving unit. The self-powered sensor has a section devoted to the energy harvesting, exploiting the movement of an airscrew shaft keyed to a dc motor. The self-powered sensor adopts integrated devices in low-power technology, including a microcontroller, an integrated temperature sensor, and a radio-frequency transmitter at 433 MHz. The data transmission is realized in Manchester encoding, with amplitude-shift-keying modulation at 433 MHz, allowing covering a distance between the sensor and the reader on the order of 4-5 m, depending on the power supplied in transmission. The air velocity is measured through the rotor frequency of the electromechanical generator, whereas, for the temperature, a commercial low-power sensor is used. An experimental system has been designed and fabricated, demonstrating that the airflow harvester can power the self-powered wireless sensor permitting air temperature and velocity measurements. The system can be used for real-time monitoring of temperature and velocity. The sensor module placed into the duct does not require any batteries.

Over the last 30 years, scientific and technological progress has boosted the development of medical devices that can assist patients and support medical staff. With regard to the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered from traumas, robotic systems can be an aid for rapid patient recovery. This paper focuses on studying and implementing a system for measuring the finger position of one hand with the aim of giving feedback to the rehabilitation system. It consists of a glove where sensors are mounted suitably configured and connected to an electronic conditioning and acquisition unit. The information regarding the position is then sent to a remote system. The objective of this paper is to provide a sensorized glove for monitoring the rehabilitation activities of the hand. The glove can have several other applications such as: 1) the recognition of sign language; 2) the diagnostic measurement of the finger movement at a distance; and 3) the interaction with virtual reality.

The monitoring of any human physiological parameters during rehabilitation exercises requires noninvasive sensors for the patient. This paper describes a wireless wearable T-shirt for posture monitoring during rehabilitation or reinforcement exercises. The subject posture is measured through a sensorized T-shirt using an inductive sensor sewn directly on the fabric. The wireless wearable T-shirt design specifications are the following: independence from the remote unit, easy to use, lightweight and comfort of wearing. This paper reports the conceptual framework, the fabricated device description, and the adopted experimental setup. The instrumented T-shirt's output data are compared with the data obtained via an optical system, as a gold standard, that measures the marker positions over the patient's back and chest. The trials performed on four subjects obtained on different days demonstrate that the wireless wearable sensor described in this paper is capable of producing reliable data compared with the data obtained with the optical system. The constitutive sensor simplicity that includes only a copper wire and a separable circuit board allows achieving the objectives of simplicity, ease of use, and noninvasiveness. The sensorized T-shirt, integrated with designed conditioning and transmission electronics for remote communication, could be used as a support tool for postural monitoring during rehabilitation exercises.

The growing demand for wearable devices is imposed by the ability to monitor in real-time critical situations in the different areas of daily life. In many cases, power is the limiting factor for such devices. One aspect is the power supply with batteries that introduces issues due to the weight, the overall dimensions, and the disposal of the batteries. A viable solution to overcome the limitations of batteries as power source is to harvest ambient energy to power the devices directly. In this paper, a proposed wearable device with an energy-harvesting module has been designed, manufactured, and tested for the measurement of vital signs. The energy-harvesting module is implemented to directly power the electronic circuit board by a flexible solar panel. This paper describes the proposed instrumented autonomous T-shirt powered by the flexible solar panel applied directly on the T-shirt. The instrumented T-shirt is capable of measuring respiration rate, heart rate, and movement of the body. The methodology adopted, the design choices, and the experimental results are clearly reported and discussed. The experimental results show the functioning even with poor outdoor lighting conditions and under specific indoor constraints. Tests have been conducted aiming to compare the instrumented T-shirt's output data with the data obtained via instruments as gold standards and to show that the overall system described in this paper is capable of producing reliable data compared with the data obtained with these instruments.