Abstract
Recent advances in integrated circuits and micromachining have enabled
the integration of battery-powered micro-actuators in miniaturized drug
delivery systems. However, the power/energy management system that
treats current overloading remains sub-optimal. Overloading not only
deteriorates the actuators’ long-term performance but also attenuates
battery capacity. In this work, we are proposing a simple yet powerful
solution to manage current overloading to maximize battery-powered
system life-time. The proposed solution consists of a digitally
programmable soft starter and DC-DC converter that can dynamically
balance the trade-off between inrush current amplitude and motor
starting speed as well as maximally minimize the continuous current draw
from a battery. Our experimental results show that the proposed soft
starter alone can enhance the battery capacity by 18% and together with
the DC-DC converter, they can increase the drug delivery cycles by 33%
without sacrificing the system’s output performance.