Evaluation of Harvesting Energy from Pedestrians using Piezoelectric Floor Tile Energy Harvester

AbstractWe investigate a concept that can reduce the overall power requirement of a smart building through improvements in the real-time control of HVAC and indoor lighting based on the building occupancy. The increased number of embedded sensors necessary to realize the smart building concept results in a complex wiring and power structure. We demonstrate a floor tile energy harvester for creating a wireless and self-powered occupancy sensor. This sensor termed as “Smart Tile Energy Production Technology (STEP Tech)” can be used to control automation in smart buildings such as lighting and climate control based upon the real-time building occupancy mapping. The sensor comprises of piezoelectric transducer, energy harvesting circuit and wireless communication. Modeling and optimization procedure for the piezoelectric cymbal transducer is described within the framework of tiles. The design and selection of a packaging technique and construction of a durable floor tile enclosure aimed at protecting the bulk piezoceramic is discussed within the constraint that the deflection of the tile should be minimal such that it is not readily perceivable by humans, thus not disturbing their gait. Experimental results demonstrate that the piezoelectric tile could provide a promising solution for wireless occupancy sensing.

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Floor Tile Energy Harvester for Self-Powered Wireless Occupancy Sensing

ENERGYO ◽

10.1515/energyo.0023.00051 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Nathan Sharpes ◽

Dušan Vučković ◽

Shashank Priya

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvester ◽

Floor Tile ◽

Self Powered

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The effectiveness of different width piezoelectric energy harvester in the pedestrian floor tile energy harvesting system for internet of things sensors

Journal of the Korean Physical Society ◽

10.1007/s40042-020-00036-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

pp. 81-88

Author(s):

Jeong Pil Jhun ◽

Seong Do Hong ◽

Deok Hwan Jeon ◽

Tae Hyun Sung

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Internet Of Things ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Floor Tile ◽

Piezoelectric Energy ◽

Energy Harvesting System

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Simply supported FPEDs connected by springs for broadband energy harvesting

International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics ◽

10.3233/jae-209323 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (1-4) ◽

pp. 201-210

Author(s):

Yoshikazu Tanaka ◽

Satoru Odake ◽

Jun Miyake ◽

Hidemi Mutsuda ◽

Atanas A. Popov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Evaluation Method ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Vibrational Energy ◽

Functional Materials ◽

Vibration Energy ◽

Theoretical Evaluation ◽

Vibration Energy Harvester ◽

Polyvinylidene Difluoride ◽

Simply Supported

Energy harvesting methods that use functional materials have attracted interest because they can take advantage of an abundant but underutilized energy source. Most vibration energy harvester designs operate most effectively around their resonant frequency. However, in practice, the frequency band for ambient vibrational energy is typically broad. The development of technologies for broadband energy harvesting is therefore desirable. The authors previously proposed an energy harvester, called a flexible piezoelectric device (FPED), that consists of a piezoelectric film (polyvinylidene difluoride) and a soft material, such as silicon rubber or polyethylene terephthalate. The authors also proposed a system based on FPEDs for broadband energy harvesting. The system consisted of cantilevered FPEDs, with each FPED connected via a spring. Simply supported FPEDs also have potential for broadband energy harvesting, and here, a theoretical evaluation method is proposed for such a system. Experiments are conducted to validate the derived model.

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