2026 Green Powered Challenge: The Eternal Headphones
2026 Green Powered Challenge: The Eternal Headphones
STM32U3B5/C5 ultra-low-power MCU features 640 KB RAM, 2 MB Flash, and HSP accelerator to run AI without batteries

STMicroelectronics has added two members to the STM32U3 ultra-low-power Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller family: the STM32U3B5 and STM32U3C5 MCUs get more resources with up to 640 KB SRAM and 2 MB flash, as well as an HSP (hardware signal processor) accelerator to run AI/ML workloads without batteries, just using energy harvesting. The new chips are still clocked at up to 96 MHz, benefit from a near-threshold design (down to 0.65 V), allowing a power consumption of just 117 Coremark/mW in active mode, and can operate up to 105°C ambient temperature. They come with one additional group of interfaces, bringing the total to four SPI and I2C, two I3C and CAN-FD, and five UARTs, as well as five more 16-bit timers, for a total of 10. The STM32U3C5 also includes a cryptocore to accelerate encryption and decryption operations, and supports the CCB (Coupling and Chaining Bridge) hardware security feature, both of which
The Ambient IoT Alliance aims to promote and develop standards for batteryless IoT devices using energy harvesting

The Ambient IoT Alliance, or AIoTA, is a global, cross-industry coalition working to promote and develop standards for batteryless IoT devices relying on energy harvesting for power. Ambient Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a class of IoT devices powered by radio waves, light, motion, heat, or any other viable ambient energy source. It is an evolution of legacy IoT and RFID technologies that promises lower costs and high scalability through Bluetooth, 5G Advanced, and the IEEE 802.11bp ambient power communication (AMP) standard. The alliance says its mission is to "promote and support the development of an open, harmonized, and aligned multi-standard ecosystem". Ambient IoT-enabled devices can gather location, temperature, humidity, and/r other data, and communicate with the wireless infrastructure through a nearby mobile device, wireless access points, domestic appliances, or other standard gateways using a compatible standard. This reduces maintenance costs since batteries do not need to be replaced,
🪇 Soft robots harvest ambient heat for self-sustained motion
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-soft-robots-harvest-ambient-sustained.html
#robots #energyharvesting #energy #thermodynamics #heat #technology
STMicro ST25DA-C is the first NFC chip with Matter support
ST ST25DA-C is an NFC chip with built-in support for the latest Matter 1.5 protocol, enabling easier installation of smart devices on home networks, including lighting, access control, security cameras, or any IoT device. NFC here is used as an alternative to Bluetooth LE or QR core commissioning. NFC tap-to-pair functionality enables users to tap an NFC tag code on a device with their smartphone to securely and easily add it to their Matter-compatible app(s) and network(s). Besides batteryless commissioning, the ST25DA-C chip can also be used for firmware updates over I2C (Matter OTA), and secure storage for keys & certificates. ST25DA-C secure NFC tag specifications: Contact interface 1.62 V to 3.3 V supply voltage range ESD protection Human body model (HBM): 6 kV for digital and antenna pads Charge device model (CDM): 1 kV based on a STMicroelectronics module I2C serial interface up to 400 kHz Contactless interface Power
Enabling Long-Term Nanodevices: A Heat-Driven Power Architecture.
#EnergyHarvesting #Nanotechnology #IoT #IndustrialIoT #Innovation #Engineering #Thermoelectric #Industry40 #Sustainability #DeeptechStartups
Quantum energy harvesting:
#electron #energyharvesting #thermodynamics #quantumphysics #researchanddevelopment
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https://phys.org/news/2025-10-energy-harvesters-surpass-carnot-efficiency.html
Harnessing quantum states that avoid thermalization enables energy harvesters to surpass traditional thermodynamic limits such as Carnot efficiency, report researchers from Japan. The team developed a new approach using a non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid to convert waste heat into electricity with higher efficiency than conventional approaches. These findings pave the way for more sustainable low-power electronics and quantum computing.
🫨 Self-tuning energy device turns vibrations into power
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-tuning-energy-device-vibrations-power.html
#energy #energyharvesting #vibrations #resonance #hardware #research #technology
Researchers at National Taiwan University developed a new device that captures energy from vibrations more efficiently. Its self-adjusting mechanism enables resonance with environmental frequencies, resulting in higher power output across a broader operational range.