1. Mechanical energy recovery. Electrostatic structures

1.1 Energy recovery objectives for microsystems

MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) are micro-systems developed by the micro-electronics industry, made up of mechanical and electronic components that act as sensors (pressure, acceleration, mass, etc.) or actuators (motors, etc.). They are already in use in many fields, including telecommunications, medicine, automotive, aeronautics and biology.

Thanks to microsystems and the reduction in size of elementary functions, it is now possible to imagine complete, intelligent systems capable of retrieving information (acceleration, pressure, etc.), processing it and transmitting it. These microsystems, commonly known as smart dusts, can then become the building blocks of wireless sensor networks