Description
At Berkeley, the Single-Chip Micro Mote (SCµM), a 3x2 mm, 4.2mg crystal-free 802.15.4 and BLE wireless SoC, was developed to make swarms of mm-scale microrobots a reality. This dissertation will begin by discussing SCµM in the context of system integration, including the challenge of accurate channel frequency tuning in the face of varying temperature and voltage conditions. By characterizing the RF frequency's dependence on voltage droop during transmission, we were able to compensate for the RF frequency shift, increasing SCµM's 802.15.4 packet payload from 10B to 125B while powered from a solar cell.
Several integrated systems with SCµM at their core will also be discussed, including a wirelessly-actuated, solar-powered, quarter-sized, 286mg microrobot MEMS gripper for microrobotics; and a 244mg, 5x8mm BLE SCµM tag, which was used to track an Asian hornet-feats not possible with commercial off-the-shelf components.
The dissertation will conclude with a look at how future crystal-free radios could be designed to address the inherent instability of power sources in low-power systems, potentially pushing the envelope for even smaller, cheaper, lower-power and more reliable wireless electronics.