Passive Energy Harvesting From Human Activities

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwar Romero ◽  
Michael R. Neuman ◽  
Robert O. Warrington
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Electrical Potential ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Planar Coil ◽  
Solar Powered ◽  
The One ◽  
Electrical Power Output

Energy harvesting from environmental sources such as motion, light, and temperature changes, has been demonstrated with commercially viable products (such as human-powered flashlights, solar-powered calculators, and thermal-powered wristwatches). Vibration or motion is an attractive environmental energy source due to its abundance and availability. A new electromagnetic energy harvester presented here is found to be capable for scavenging energy from human motion. The electrical power output of an inertial energy scavenger is proportional to the acceleration-squared-to-frequency (ASTF) and the quality (Q) factor. Human motion is associated with large ASTF values and low Q factors while machine vibrations are usually related with the opposite. Thus, passive energy harvesting from human activities could generate as much power as the one available from machine harvesters. The limit for such inertial generator is estimated to be on the order of 1mW/cm3. This paper reviews the energy harvesting limits, the energy generation from human activities, and the development of a new oscillating electromagnetic generator. This energy harvester is built with a permanent magnet (PM) ring with multiple poles and a gear-shaped planar coil. The PM ring has attached an eccentric proof mass for converting external movement into oscillations or rotations, these oscillations induce an electrical potential on the planar coil. As much as 3.45μW of power have been generated with a prototype at a frequency of 2.7Hz on a laboratory shaker and 2.35μW had been obtained when positioned laterally on the hip while walking.

scholarly journals Evaluating Energy Generation Capacity of PVDF Sensors: Effects of Sensor Geometry and Loading

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1895
Author(s):  
Mohammad Uddin ◽  
Shane Alford ◽  
Syed Mahfuzul Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Surface Area ◽  
Power Output ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Mechanical Strain ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Loading Frequency ◽  
Dielectric Thickness ◽  
Generating Capacity ◽  
Electrical Power Output

This paper focuses on the energy generating capacity of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric material through a number of prototype sensors with different geometric and loading characteristics. The effect of sensor configuration, surface area, dielectric thickness, aspect ratio, loading frequency and strain on electrical power output was investigated systematically. Results showed that parallel bimorph sensor was found to be the best energy harvester, with measured capacitance being reasonably acceptable. Power output increased with the increase of sensor’s surface area, loading frequency, and mechanical strain, but decreased with the increase of the sensor thickness. For all scenarios, sensors under flicking loading exhibited higher power output than that under bending. A widely used energy harvesting circuit had been utilized successfully to convert the AC signal to DC, but at the sacrifice of some losses in power output. This study provided a useful insight and experimental validation into the optimization process for an energy harvester based on human movement for future development.

scholarly journals Recent Trend in Biomechanical Energy Harvesting

10.48175/606 ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 68-73
Author(s):  
Swapnil Arawade ◽  
Ganesh Korwar
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Recent Trend ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Energy Crisis ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
The Past ◽  
Innovative Work ◽  
Work Done

In this literature different biomechanical energy harvesters are reviewed. In the past years a lot of work reported on energy harvesting. Energy crisis is the main issue in front of human so it is essential to find new promising ways to fulfil the need of electricity. Wearable smart devices and small sensor require low electrical power so to power them biomechanical energy harvesters comes into picture. The innovative work done by the researchers in developing new biomechanical energy harvester is discussed and summarized.

Optimizing the Electrical Power in an Energy Harvesting System

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 1550171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia Coccolo ◽  
Grzegorz Litak ◽  
Jesús M. Seoane ◽  
Miguel A. F. Sanjuán
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Resonance Phenomenon ◽  
Vibrational Resonance ◽  
Energy Harvesting System

In this paper, we study the vibrational resonance (VR) phenomenon as a useful mechanism for energy harvesting purposes. A system, driven by a low frequency and a high frequency forcing, can give birth to the vibrational resonance phenomenon, when the two forcing amplitudes resonate and a maximum in amplitude is reached. We apply this idea to a bistable oscillator that can convert environmental kinetic energy into electrical energy, that is, an energy harvester. Normally, the VR phenomenon is studied in terms of the forcing amplitudes or of the frequencies, that are not always easy to adjust and change. Here, we study the VR generated by tuning another parameter that is possible to manipulate when the forcing values depend on the environmental conditions. We have investigated the dependence of the maximum response due to the VR for small and large variations in the forcing amplitudes and frequencies. Besides, we have plotted color coded figures in the space of the two forcing amplitudes, in which it is possible to appreciate different patterns in the electrical power generated by the system. These patterns provide useful information on the forcing amplitudes in order to produce the optimal electrical power.

scholarly journals Shaft Integrated Electromagnetic Energy Harvester with Gravitational Torque

Designs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Michel Ullrich ◽  
Maik Wolf ◽  
Mathias Rudolph ◽  
Wolfgang Diller
Keyword(s):  
Energy Supply ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Rolling Bearing ◽  
Electromagnetic Energy ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Rotating Shafts ◽  
Electrical Power Output ◽  
Electrical Supply

This paper presents the development of an electromagnetic energy harvester for electrical supply of a sensor unit integrated on the rotating inner ring of a rolling bearing. This energy harvester is of special interest for condition monitoring tasks on rotating shafts. A sensory monitor on the inner ring can detect wear conditions at an early stage. The harvester works without mechanical and energetic contact to surrounding components by utilizing the rotational energy of the shaft. The functionality of the Energy Harvester is enabled by the inertia principle, which is caused by an asymmetrical mass distribution. We provide simulations to validate the designs. This work includes simulation studies on the electrical power output of the harvester. Therefore, the necessary simulation of the magnetic problems is realized in a substitute simulation environment. The harvester design enables existing machines to be equipped with the harvester to provide an energy supply on rotating shafts. This clamp connection enables shaft mounting independent of location without mechanical work on the shaft. With an electrical power of up to 163.6 m W, at 3600 rpm, the harvester is used as an energy supply, which enables sensor-based monitoring of slow wear processes.

Electroelastic Finite Element Modeling and Experimental Validation of Structurally-Integrated Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ugur Aridogan ◽  
Ipek Basdogan ◽  
Alper Erturk
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Thin Plates ◽  
Flexible Plate ◽  
Numerical Predictions ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Host Structure

Vibration-based energy harvesting has attracted interest of researchers from various disciplines over the past decade. In the literature of piezoelectric energy harvesting, the typical configuration is a unimorph or a bimorph cantilevered piezoelectric beam located on a vibrating host structure subjected to base excitations. As an alternative to cantilevered piezoelectric beams, piezoelectric layers structurally integrated on thin plates can be used as vibration-based energy harvesters since plates and plate-type structures are commonly used in aerospace, automotive and marine applications. The aim of this paper is to present experiments and electroelastic finite element simulations of a piezoelectric energy harvester structurally integrated on a thin plate. The finite element model of the piezoceramic patch and the all-edges-clamped plate are built. In parallel, an experimental setup is constructed using a thin PZT-5A piezoceramic patch attached on the surface of all-edges-clamped rectangular aluminum plate. The electroelastic frequency response functions relating voltage output and vibration response to forcing input are validated using the experimentally obtained results. Finally, electrical power generation of the piezoceramic patch is investigated using the experimental set-up for a set of resistive loads. The numerical predictions and experimental results show that the use of all-edge-clamped flexible plate as host structure for piezoelectric energy harvester leads to multimodal vibration-to-electricity conversion.

Optimum power of a nonlinear piezomagnetoelastic energy harvester with using multidisciplinary optimization algorithms

2020 ◽  
pp. 1045389X2097443
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tahmasbi ◽  
Asghar Jamshiddoust ◽  
Amin Farrokhabadi
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Simulated Annealing ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Random Search ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Multidisciplinary Optimization ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Parallel Configuration ◽  
Energy Harvesting Devices

Energy-harvesting devices have been widely used to generate electrical power. Through the use of energy harvesting techniques, ambient vibration energy can be captured and converted into usable electricity in order to create self-powering systems. In the present study, to further improve the efficiency of energy-harvesting devices, a nonlinear piezomagnetoelastic energy harvester is proposed in two different configurations that is parallel and series. In order to optimize the generated electrical power, the physical parameters of the harvester are chosen as the design variables. Classical and Metaheuristic algorithms, namely, random search, genetic algorithm, and simulated annealing are applied to optimize the output power regarding the stress and displacement constraints and feasible variable bounds. Finally, the results of the applied algorithms are compared together. The results demonstrate that most of the implemented algorithms converge to the similar objective function value. The constrained random search methods with SQP and active set algorithms converge faster with small iterations. However, the genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm are more capable to find the global optimum. The obtained results revealed that, before the optimization, the average extracted power in specified time was 3.121 W in parallel configuration and 3.156 W in serial configuration. By using the optimization approaches, the power converged to 4.273 W in parallel configuration and 4.296 W in serial configuration that means the power is increased by 36.9% and 36.1% approximately.

Arm Motion Dynamics to Excite a Mobile Energy Harvesting Autowinder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abby George ◽  
David Moline ◽  
John Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Gear Train ◽  
Future Research ◽  
System Response ◽  
Battery Life ◽  
Arm Motion ◽  
Motion Dynamics

Abstract A mobile energy harvester device based on the inertial automatic winding mechanism found in watches is explored. Through normal human motion during walking and running, the arm travels a spatial path that can potentially be used for energy harvesting. The conceptual harvester consists of a rotary pendulum coupled to a small generator through a step-up gear train. The generator’s electrical output may be stored and utilized as a power source for portable electronic devices that require a smaller amount of power for operation. In this paper, the equations of motion governing the human arm motion dynamics and harvester pendulum excitation are fully derived. Two cases of human walking and running are considered to analyze the system response. A series of representative simulation studies have been conducted for representative arm motion to determine the potential energy. The energy available for harvesting was greater in the case of the human subject running at 2.06 mJ, while when walking it offered an output of 0.42 mJ for a 5 second time period. The two numerical results serve as a basis for building a mobile energy harvester for future research into a renewable device that can be used by humans to augment battery life for portable electronic devices.

Nonlinear Dynamics of the Hybrid Rotary-Translational Energy Harvester

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Amin Karami ◽  
Daniel J. Inman
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Translational Motion ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Translational Energy ◽  
Ambient Vibrations ◽  
Tire Pressure ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Pressure Sensing ◽  
Basin Of Attractions

The analytical modeling and experimental investigation of a nonlinear electromagnetic rotational energy harvester, which can harvest power from rotary and translational excitations, are presented. Some application of energy harvesting such as energy harvesting for tire pressure sensing require an energy harvester which is efficient in generating power from rotational ambient vibrations. The majority of literature on vibration energy harvesting assumes that the ambient excitations are along a single axis. The vibrations from human motion or rotary machines have two components of translational motion as well as a strong rotary motion. The energy harvesting device studied in this paper is a pendulum like device. The base excitations result in rotations of a pendulum. The pendulum is connected to a direct current micro generator. The rotational vibrations of the pendulum generates electricity through the DC generator. Since the energy harvester is responsive to both translational and rotational base excitations, it is called Hybrid Rotary-Translational (HRT) generator. In this paper a small size HRT harvester is introduced and modeled. The model is used to investigate the relation between the frequency and the amplitude of base vibrations on the vibrations and power generation characteristics of the HRT system. For each frequency and amplitude of vibrations the coexistence of multiple solutions and their basin of attractions are investigated. Three types of ambient excitations are studied: rotational, translational along the direction of gravity, and translational normal to the direction of the gravity.

Influence of Nonlinear Effects on a Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Device

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreza T. Mineto ◽  
Paulo S. Varoto
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Nonlinear Effects ◽  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Lumped Mass ◽  
Coupled Equations ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Electrical Power Output ◽  
Tip Mass

In this paper we present an analytical investigation of a nonlinear energy harvester device. The device is composed of a cantilever beam partially covered by piezoelectric ceramics in a bimorph configuration with a magnetic lumped mass attached to the beam’s free end. The model accounts for the nonlinearity coming from the piezoelectric constitutive equations in addition to the nonlinear effect arising from the magnetic field generated by the magnetic properties of the tip mass and additional magnetic sources in the vicinity of the beam. The electromechanical coupled equations are solved numerically through the initial value problems for ordinary differential equations. The electrical power output is calculated by varying the amplitude of the base acceleration, the distance between the magnets and the load resistor. The stability of the system is also investigated. From the numerical results it is found that the influence of the parameters investigated in the frequency range of operation of the device and the nonlinear effects present on the device energy harvester extend the useful frequency range of these.

scholarly journals Energy Harvesting Backpacks for Human Load Carriage: Modelling and Performance Evaluation

Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1061
Author(s):  
Ledeng Huang ◽  
Ruishi Wang ◽  
Zhenhua Yang ◽  
Longhan Xie
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Load Carriage ◽  
Metabolic Power ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
And Performance

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for portable power sources as people are required to carry more equipment for occupational, military, or recreational purposes. The energy harvesting backpack that moves relative to the human body, could capture kinetic energy from human walking and convert vertical oscillation into the rotational motion of the generators to generate electricity. In our previous work, a light-weight tube-like energy harvester (TL harvester) and a traditional frequency-tuneable backpack-based energy harvester (FT harvester) were proposed. In this paper, we discuss the power generation performance of the two types of energy harvesters and the energy performance of human loaded walking, while carrying energy harvesting backpacks, based on two different spring-mass-damper models. Testing revealed that the electrical power in the experiments showed similar trends to the simulation results, but the calculated electrical power and the net metabolic power were higher than that of the experiments. Moreover, the total cost of harvesting (TCOH), defined as additional metabolic power in watt required to generate 1 W of electrical power, could be negative, which indicated that there is a chance to generate 6.11 W of electricity without increasing the metabolic cost while carrying energy harvesting backpacks.

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