Supercapacitors Provide Peak Power Needed for Delivering Real-Time Wellness Vibration Alerts

Date
01/04/2018

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Spire Health Tag compared to a US quarter to demonstrate size.

CAP-XX announced that Spire has incorporated CAP-XX Thinline supercapacitors into the new Spire Health Tag to provide the peak power needed for delivering real-time wellness vibration alerts to consumers. Offloading this peak power role to the thin, flat supercapacitor allows Spire to keep the battery small to achieve the ultra-thin form factor of its new wearable fitness biosensor that attaches to clothes once, can be washed as normal, and needs no charging. Spire will demonstrate its Spire Health Tag at CES booth #43706.

The tag’s 3V coin cell battery continuously trickle charges the CAP-XX Thinline HA114 supercapacitor (0.8mm thin, 120 millifarads, 130 milli-Ohms), which then provides the peak power (100 milliamps initially, dropping to 40 milliamps for 400 milliseconds) for driving the motor that delivers vibration alerts that consumers can set to help manage stress or monitor their heart rate.

Spire Health Tag aims to disappear unless it has something important to say in the moment. The tags use advanced algorithms, deep learning and proprietary respiratory sensors to provide personalized, real-time health guidance for sleep, stress and daily activity by continuously analyzing breath and heart rate inflection points.

Users set their goals in the accompanying mobile app’s stay active, reduce stress, sleep better, get fit, stay calm and heart health programs. Spire’s Health Insights Engine monitors patterns and then suggests actions to help users toward their goals, either on the app, or via physical vibration alerts for monitoring more critical situations like an athlete’s heart rate or potential panic attacks. Users set their own thresholds and frequencies for their vibration alerts. If Spire detects bio-signals related to stress or another specific health variable in the user’s breathing pattern, it sends a vibration alert.

The supercapacitor’s low leakage current (< 1µA) helps maximize the non-replaceable coin cell battery’s life, which will last about 18 months. Users can return expired tags to Spire and get a discount on replacements, and Spire will recycle and reuse all components and materials. The tags are to ship in March and are available for pre-order at $99 (three pack), $199 (eight pack), or $299 (15 pack).

Thinline supports power requirements including wireless communication (Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Ant, active RFID), electronic paper and OLED displays, haptic or tactile feedback, vibration alerts, GPS acquisition, and injection or inhalation system delivery. The supercapacitors work with thin-film, solid-state, and other low-power batteries such as coin cells/button cells, energy harvesting modules (solar, vibration/kinetic, RF, and other ambient energy sources), as well as inductive/wireless and cable/cradle fast-charging systems.

Key features include:

  •     Thin, flexible packaging, 0.6mm (600µm) to 0.8mm thick
  •     Best-in-class power density and power output (up to 129kW / litre)
  •     Ultra-low resistance, even at low temperatures (ESR from 22mΩ, 2x nominal at -40°C)
  •     Excellent energy storage to support ambient/intermittent sources (up to 0.65Wh / litre)
  •     High cell voltages to facilitate integration with primary batteries (up to 2.75V continuous)
  •     Wide operating temperature range (from -40°C to +85°C)
  •     Very low leakage current to maximize battery life and minimize losses (typically < 1µA)
  •     Virtually unlimited charge-discharge cycle life
  •     4 footprints: 20.6mm x 17.0mm, 27.1mm x 20.0mm, 36.9mm x 20.2mm or 49.0 x 20.2mm
  •     Available in 2.3V / 70°C or 2.75V / 85°C configurations

Suggested retail price starts at less than US$1 in large volumes.

For more information about CAP-XX, visit http://www.cap-xx.com

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