Jonas Kubicki has been working as a research assistant at the LOEWE center emergenCITY since June 2025. Previously, he completed his master’s degree with his thesis on “Designing a parameterized virtual power source to accurately emulate energy environments for battery-free applications” in the Networked Embedded Systems Lab (NESLAB) at TU Darmstadt.

At emergenCITY, Jonas Kubicki works within the Communication program area (KOM), which focuses on the design of fundamentally robust communication systems that function under all circumstances – especially during crisis scenarios. Within this context, he explores communication in networks of battery-free embedded devices, such as wireless sensor networks. Battery-free devices rely on energy harvesting, a well-established technique that captures ambient energy, for example, through photovoltaic cells. This allows devices to operate independently of external power supply infrastructure.

The use of battery-free technology provides notable advantages over established approaches by eliminating batteries, which are bulky, contain hazardous materials and degrade over time, causing maintenance overhead. Battery-free technology can facilitate scalable, independently powered embedded networks that require very little maintenance. Such networks can be a valuable communication platform in crisis situations.

A major limitation of the approach is that the availability of ambient energy in real-world environments can not yet be predicted accurately. Hence, ensuring reliable operation of battery-free devices in realistic deployments requires extensive research, including the analysis of different energy environments and the development of special communication protocols.

In this research context, Jonas Kubicki focuses on scaling existing coordination schemes for pairs of battery-free devices to larger mesh networks.