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VIBRATING MICROENGINES FOR POWER GENERATION AND
MICROSYSTEMS ACTUATION |
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VIMPA Project
The goal of VIMPA
is to develop a new class of high energy and high power
density generators to be embedded in portable or autonomous
devices. The addressed domain is the one of Power MEMS,
i.e. Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems able to exploit
combustion for mechanical and electrical power generation.
Output densities are projected to reach many W/cc for
power, while energy densities up to many KJ/cc are expected:
both values are several times higher than the respective
upper values of traditional batteries.
Few attempts have been and are being conducted worldwide
(mainly in the USA and in Japan) in the field of Power
MEMS, but no usable products have been developed, despite
the strong need for miniature high performance power
supplies and in spite of dedicated research programs
and funding. The main reason of this delay is the adopted
approach which consists of scaling down traditional
engines, by developing micro turbomachinery or microengines
inspired by already existing concepts.
The enabling paradigm for the success of VIMPA is a
real multidisciplinary consortium in which state of
the art teams in combustion research, microengineering
design and MEMS fabrication are included. Hopefully
VIMPA’s goal will allow EU research to excel in
the interdisciplinary field of Power MEMS. |
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Project
funded by the European Commission under the NEST (New and
Emerging Science and
Technology) activity of the Sixth Framework Programme
(FP6), contract No. 511889
www.cordis.lu/nest |
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