KOTENSE
Estudio tecnológico de soluciones inalámbricas sin batería con diferentes protocolos de comunicación.
KOTENSE is an R&D project led by Kliskatek to develop the next generation of battery-free wireless sensor nodes for industrial IoT. It tackles one of the biggest obstacles to deploying sensors at scale, the dependency on batteries, which limits scalability, increases maintenance costs and generates electronic waste, by combining optimised RF energy harvesting with advanced communication protocols.
Millions of sensors, and their batteries
Industry 4.0 needs millions of connected sensors across factories, infrastructure, transport and cities. Battery-powered solutions create a bottleneck: replacing batteries in hard-to-reach places is expensive, slow and unsustainable. Battery-free alternatives based on UHF RFID are promising, but still limited in range, speed, flexibility and reader cost.
Two new battery-free nodes
KOTENSE builds on Kliskatek’s previous work on hybrid RFID and BLE architectures.
A battery-free sensor node that combines a custom-designed discrete RF energy harvester with Bluetooth Low Energy for data transmission. By dropping the traditional RFID downlink and relying only on an RF continuous wave for energy, BLE_RF extends the communication range beyond the limits of commercial RFID transceivers and works with low-cost Bluetooth readers.
A battery-free sensor node with an alternative communication protocol optimised for Industry 4.0 use cases where Bluetooth may not be the best choice: enhanced security, noise robustness or lower latency in demanding industrial environments.
What we are researching
Discrete RF energy harvester design
Optimised discrete RF harvesting topologies that free us from the limits and scarcity of commercial RFID transceiver chips, for more design flexibility and longer range.
Energy-first design methodology
Instead of focusing on power consumption, as conventional low-power design does, KOTENSE develops a method that optimises the total energy budget of the sensor node.
Antenna optimisation for industrial environments
We evaluate and characterise antenna topologies for real industrial settings, with gain, input impedance and bandwidth as the key parameters for harvester co-design.
Multi-protocol communication
Beyond Bluetooth, KOTENSE explores protocols that better serve specific industrial needs, always with energy consumption as the differentiating factor.
Where batteries are the problem
- Real-time temperature monitoring of busbars in electrical switchgear, to prevent overheating and arc flash
- Predictive maintenance of rotating machinery and industrial equipment
- Structural health monitoring of bridges, tunnels and critical infrastructure
- Tyre pressure and temperature monitoring in mobility and transport
- Fault detection in smart grids and energy distribution networks
Shared as we go
The results are shared through scientific publications, international conferences and Kliskatek’s own channels. They include organising and taking part in the workshop “Wireless and Batteryless Sensors: Towards AIoT” at IEEE SENSORS 2025 in Vancouver (Canada), an invited talk at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Forum on Urban Intelligence and Industrial Innovation in Macao (China); and a paper submitted to the IEEE Journal of Radio Frequency Identification.
Funding
This project is funded by the HAZITEK 2025 programme of the Basque Government and co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the framework of the Basque Country ERDF Programme 2021-2027.
Proiektu hau Eusko Jaurlaritzaren HAZITEK 2025 programak finantzatzen du eta Europar Batasunak kofinantzatzen du Europako Garapen Eskualdeko Funtsaren (EGEF) bidez, Euskadiko EGEF Programa 2021-2027ren esparruan.
Este proyecto está financiado por el programa HAZITEK 2025 del Gobierno Vasco y cofinanciado por la Unión Europea a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), en el marco del Programa del País Vasco FEDER 2021-2027.
Eusko Jaurlaritzak diruz lagundua / Subvencionado por el Gobierno Vasco
Cofinanciado por la Unión Europea / Europar Batasunak kofinantzatua