Rubik-Cube-Based Self-Powered Sensors and System: An Approach toward Smart Toys

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is an effective approach for self-powered systems. Here, a second-order Rubik-cube-based TENG (SRC-TENG) is designed, which can harvest the internal sliding energy of the Rubik cube. The influence of different rotation speeds, different strengths, and effective contact area on the output performance of SRC-TENG is studied. When the SRC-TENG rotates with a high speed, light strength, and the contact area is 8 cm(2), the maximum open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current can reach up to 35 V and 1.45 mu A, respectively, which are enough to light up dozens of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and charge commercial capacitors. In addition, the SRC-TENG-based smart toys can act as self-powered sensors to be applied in smart home. More importantly, the movement trajectory of the Rubik cube in the process of recovery can also be tracked in different directions of X, Y, and Z. The proposed SRC-TENG is low cost and has great potential to replace battery-powered electronic toys, which can open a new path for the next-generation commercial toys.