Vibration power harvesting from head motion [E192]

Elliott, S.J., Saba, R. and Baumann, O.N. (2008) Vibration power harvesting from head motion [E192]. Brennan, M.J. (ed.) In Proceedings of EURODYN 2008, 7th European Conference on Structural Dynamics, Southampton, UK, 7-9th July 2008. University of Southampton. 12pp .

Abstract

A feasibility study has been undertaken to estimate the maximum power that could be harvested from the different axes of the linear and angular movements of a person’s head when walking. An inertial device, tuned to a particular frequency, was assumed in each case, and it was found that most power was generally available by harvesting from vertical head motion. The scaling law for linear motion predicts that the power available is proportional to vibration amplitude, the fourth power of the device’s characteristic length and the cube of the excitation frequency. The power available by tuning the device to the fundamental walking frequency was predicted to be about 60 ?W for a 1 cm3 device. Even though the amplitude of the measured head motion decreased at higher harmonics, the frequency cubed term in the scaling law made it more efficient to harvest power from a higher harmonic, about 100 ?W being available from the fifth harmonic, for example. Some preliminary work has also been performed in the design of a nonlinear device, which is able to harvest power from several harmonics simultaneously.

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