Morehead State University

Electrical Energy Harvesting and Storing from Human Physical Movement

Grade Level at Time of Presentation

Senior

Major

Computer Engineering

Institution 24-25

Morehead State University

KY House District #

100

KY Senate District #

18

Department

College of Science & Engineering

Abstract

Title: Electrical Energy Harvesting and Storing from Human Physical Movement

This research aims to build and test the prototype of an energy harvester and charging unit for battery-operated low-power medical devices. Low-power-consuming electronic devices, sensors, and transducers are widely used in battery-operated wearable medical devices. These electronic devices have limited battery energy. Such batteries cannot operate long and require recharging or periodic replacement, resulting in e-waste. Yearly, 1.4 billion disposable batteries are estimated to be thrown away and degraded in landfills, leading to human toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and resource depletion. Rechargeable batteries like Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) or Nickel-Metal-Hydride (NiMH) charged by renewable energy can resolve the issue of short battery life and environmental pollution. In that context, harvesting and storing energy through a vibrating piezoelectric transducer (PZT) can be a viable solution. In this research, an energy harvester is designed using PZT to harvest energy from human physical movement. The charging device has multiple piezoelectric sensors that harvest energy from everyday human movements, e.g., typing, grabbing, pressing, or walking, to charge a storage capacitor. The sensors are attached to the fingertips and footwear soles. Thus, the proposed product obviates the need for an external power source to charge the rechargeable batteries. This harvested energy is not directly usable and needs signal conditioning. Power management circuits are designed in this research to store harvested energy from the vibration of PZTs energy effectively and efficiently. An electrolytic 50 micro-Farad, 25 V capacitor was used to store the harvested energy. The experimental results demonstrated that the voltage across the capacitor and output current from the rectifier increased from 0.11V,14.01 micro-Amps at 1s to 2.02V, and 103.3 micro-Amps at 7s. The experiment's outcome shows that the proposed technology is able to power low-power medical devices as the capacitor charges continuously due to fluctuating fingertip pressure.

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Electrical Energy Harvesting and Storing from Human Physical Movement

Title: Electrical Energy Harvesting and Storing from Human Physical Movement

This research aims to build and test the prototype of an energy harvester and charging unit for battery-operated low-power medical devices. Low-power-consuming electronic devices, sensors, and transducers are widely used in battery-operated wearable medical devices. These electronic devices have limited battery energy. Such batteries cannot operate long and require recharging or periodic replacement, resulting in e-waste. Yearly, 1.4 billion disposable batteries are estimated to be thrown away and degraded in landfills, leading to human toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and resource depletion. Rechargeable batteries like Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) or Nickel-Metal-Hydride (NiMH) charged by renewable energy can resolve the issue of short battery life and environmental pollution. In that context, harvesting and storing energy through a vibrating piezoelectric transducer (PZT) can be a viable solution. In this research, an energy harvester is designed using PZT to harvest energy from human physical movement. The charging device has multiple piezoelectric sensors that harvest energy from everyday human movements, e.g., typing, grabbing, pressing, or walking, to charge a storage capacitor. The sensors are attached to the fingertips and footwear soles. Thus, the proposed product obviates the need for an external power source to charge the rechargeable batteries. This harvested energy is not directly usable and needs signal conditioning. Power management circuits are designed in this research to store harvested energy from the vibration of PZTs energy effectively and efficiently. An electrolytic 50 micro-Farad, 25 V capacitor was used to store the harvested energy. The experimental results demonstrated that the voltage across the capacitor and output current from the rectifier increased from 0.11V,14.01 micro-Amps at 1s to 2.02V, and 103.3 micro-Amps at 7s. The experiment's outcome shows that the proposed technology is able to power low-power medical devices as the capacitor charges continuously due to fluctuating fingertip pressure.