Design Article
10 energy harvesting solutions for 2012
Anne-Francoise Pele
12/14/2012 12:15 PM EST
Knee-joint piezoelectric energy harvester
A team of UK researchers from Cranfield University, the University of Liverpool and the University of Salford proposes a piezoelectric energy harvester to be worn on the knee-joint that relies on the plucking technique to achieve frequency up-conversion. The energy harvester, which is designed to fit onto the outside of the knee, is circular and consists of an outer ring and central hub. The outer ring rotates as the knee joint goes through a walking motion. The outer ring is fitted with 72 plectra which "pluck" four energy-generating arms attached to the inner hub.
By strapping the energy harvester to the knee joint, a user could power body-monitoring devices such as heart rate monitors, pedometers and accelerometers by simply walking and not have the worry of running out of power and replacing batteries.
Shown in the photos above: (a) Knee-joint piezoelectric harvester. It is worn on the
external side of the knee and fixed by braces. Inside, a hub carries a
number of bimorphs, which are plucked by the ring-mounted plectra as the
joint rotates during walking. (b) Geometrical details of the harvester
showing side view (above) and top view of the mounted bimorph.
Click on image to enlarge
Click on image to enlarge
A team of UK researchers from Cranfield University, the University of Liverpool and the University of Salford proposes a piezoelectric energy harvester to be worn on the knee-joint that relies on the plucking technique to achieve frequency up-conversion. The energy harvester, which is designed to fit onto the outside of the knee, is circular and consists of an outer ring and central hub. The outer ring rotates as the knee joint goes through a walking motion. The outer ring is fitted with 72 plectra which "pluck" four energy-generating arms attached to the inner hub.
By strapping the energy harvester to the knee joint, a user could power body-monitoring devices such as heart rate monitors, pedometers and accelerometers by simply walking and not have the worry of running out of power and replacing batteries.
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Pratham Bhat
12/17/2012 2:55 AM EST
gud idea...please provide related review papers
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GREAT-Terry
12/17/2012 4:13 AM EST
Very interesting ideas. It would be good to see them commercialised.
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iniewski
12/17/2012 12:24 PM EST
Ann-Francoise, great article...would you be interested in expanding it to a short book chapter for the energy harvesting book I am editing? kris.iniewski@gmail.com
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chanj
12/17/2012 12:34 PM EST
Wearable human motion energy harvester
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDwQFjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fortus.rtu.lv%2Fscience%2Flv%2Fpublications%2F12703%2Ffulltext.pdf&ei=EVfPUIXlLOzriQKg5YDgBg&usg=AFQjCNEFYDLM1v8-FadBNfV0bENghV0Lbw&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.cGE&cad=rja
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chanj
12/17/2012 12:41 PM EST
Energy harvesting seems to be one of the next big thing in 2013. I wonder whether the energy is being harvested is actually needed elsewhere. Harvesting from breathing and body heat would probably has no side effect to the person. I would like to understand more about "Harvesting vibrations from heartbeats", etc.
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elPresidente
12/18/2012 2:42 AM EST
These slide show, multipage, formats are ANNOYING
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horta1212
12/19/2012 3:46 PM EST
The amount of energy harvested thru these methods is ridiculously small except for the green wheel. You're better off putting a rechargable watch battery into devices along with wireless charging circuitry than use these methods. The exception being research into implantable pacemakers that never need removing.
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DR.PAUL
12/20/2012 6:20 AM EST
a good device for the ears. Thanks to the Engineers. by Dr.Paul
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thinkndo
12/20/2012 11:38 AM EST
In olden days, human energy was used for various purposes.We had slaves at that time :)
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Wegatech
3/25/2013 10:43 AM EDT
Wegatech Electronic has designed a circuit which can harvest energy from piezoelectric to power small microcontroller successfully.
For more information, please visit
http://www.wegatech.com
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