In an energy harvester powered wireless sensor node system, as the energy harvester is the only energy source, it is crucial to configure the microcontroller and the sensor node so that the harvested energy is used efficiently. This paper outlines modelling, performance optimisation and design exploration of the complete, complex system which includes the analog mechanical model of a tunable ki...

This paper introduces and compares different benchmark parameters for the performance of electromagnetic energy harvesters, including the bottom-up (power according to the harvester model) as well as the top-down view (maximum power that can be generated within a volume) and considering the dependency and scaling of geometrical and physical parameters, such as the mechanical damping. The compar...

The development of the Internet of Things infrastructure requires the deployment of millions of heterogeneous sensors embedded in the environment. The powering of these sensors cannot be done with wired connections, and the use of batteries is often impracticable. Energy harvesting is the common proposed solution, and many devices have been developed for this purpose, using light, mechanical vi...

Cantilevered beams with piezoceramic layers have been frequently used as piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters in the past five years. The literature includes several single degree-of-freedom models, a few approximate distributed parameter models and even some incorrect approaches for predicting the electromechanical behavior of these harvesters. In this paper, we present the exact analytic...

In this paper, a novel method to generate electrical energy by converting available mechanical energy from pressure fluctuations of the cerebrospinal fluid within lateral ventricles of the brain is presented. The generated electrical power can be supplied to the neural implants and either eliminate their battery need or extend the battery lifespan. A diaphragm type harvester comprised of piezoe...

Ease of miniaturization, and less or no maintenance, among other advantages, have pushed towards replacement of conventional batteries with energy harvesters in particular, vibratory energy harvesters. In the recent years, nonlinearity has been intentionally introduced into the otherwise linear energy harvesters in the hope of increasing the frequency bandwidth and power density. However, funda...

In this work, we have proposed and experimentally validated of hybrid electromagnetic and triboelectric energy harvester using dual Halbach magnets array excited by human handy motion. Hybrid electromagnetic (EM) and triboelectric (TE) generator that can deliver an output performance much higher than that of the individual energy-harvesting unit due to the combination operation of EM and TE mec...

This paper reports on a low frequency piezoelectric energy harvester that scavenges energy from a wire carrying an AC current. The harvester is described, fabricated and characterized. The device consists of a silicon cantilever with integrated piezoelectric capacitor and proof-mass that incorporates a permanent magnet. When brought close to an AC current carrying wire, the magnet couples to th...

This paper presents a new energy-harvesting system with two identical piezoelectric energy harvesters in a tandem configuration. Each harvester consists of a piezoelectric beam and a circular cylinder. Experiments are performed to investigate the energy-harvesting performances of this system in water. It can be found that their energy-harvesting performances are all different from that of the s...