Design Considerations for Harvesting Vibration Energy at MEMS Scale: Review

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod R. Challa ◽  
Frank T. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Low Power ◽  
Power Density ◽  
Wireless Sensors ◽  
Load Resistance ◽  
Peak Power Output ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Ultra Low Power ◽  
Design Considerations

Vibration based energy harvesting has wide potential applications in areas such as wireless sensors networks and ultra low power devices. While there have been various technologies through which vibration energy has been harvested, there is a considerable need to improve the power density of such devices. Recently, efforts have been made in developing MEMS scale devices as they would have increased power density and also provide ease of integration with wireless sensors and low power electronic devices. The aim of this paper is to present the generic and specific design considerations for vibration energy harvesting at the MEMS scale for electrostatic, electromagnetic and piezoelectric techniques. The effect of external load such as load resistance employed for peak power output on the total damping in the system is discussed. The typical MEMS scale vibrating structures such as cantilever beam, fixed-fixed beam and membrane are also presented.

Towards a Self-Tunable, Wide Frequency Bandwidth Vibration Energy Harvesting Device

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod R. Challa ◽  
M. G. Prasad ◽  
Frank T. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Resonance Frequency ◽  
Power Output ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Cutoff Frequency ◽  
Peak Power Output ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Frequency Bandwidth ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Ultra Low Power

Vibration energy harvesting is increasing in popularity due to potential applications such as powering wireless sensors and ultra low power devices. For efficient energy harvesting, matching the device frequency to the source frequency is a major design requirement. Since mechanical vibrations differ in characteristics (frequency and acceleration amplitude), it is difficult to design an individual energy harvesting device for every source. Recently, several groups have pursued techniques to tune the resonance frequency of the vibrating structure through active and passive methods. In this paper, work has been done to attain a self-tunable energy harvesting device, which utilizes a magnetic force resonance frequency tuning technique to tune the device. The device is successfully tuned with in a bandwidth of ± 27% of its untuned resonance frequency, considering root mean square of the peak power output as the cutoff for frequency bandwidth. Since the technique is semi-active, energy is only consumed to tune the resonance frequency and is not required to remain at that specific frequency. The device consists of a piezoelectric cantilever beam array which is displaced to the desired distance to induce magnetic stiffness and to match the source frequency using a DC motor. The device has a power output of approximately 0.7 mW to 1 mW in the designed cutoff frequency range. The amount of energy consumed by the actuator to displace the beam is approximately 3.5 W to 4.5 W, which requires approximately 150 minutes to reclaim the expended energy.

Energy Harvesting Performance of Vertically Staggered Rectangle-Through-Holes Cantilever in Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Gao ◽  
Hongrui Ao ◽  
Hongyuan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Resonant Frequency ◽  
Power Density ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Cantilevered Beam ◽  
Piezoelectric Vibration

Abstract Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology has attracted significant attention for its applications in integrated circuits, microelectronic devices, and wireless sensors due to high power density, easy integration, simple configuration, and other outstanding features. Among piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting structures, the cantilevered beam is one of the simplest and most commonly used structures. In this work, a vertically staggered rectangle-through-holes (VS-RTH) cantilevered model is proposed, which focuses on the multi-directional vibration collection. To verify the output performance of the device, this paper employs basic materials and fabrication methods with mathematical modeling. The simulations are conducted through finite element methods to discuss the properties of VS-RTH energy harvester on resonant frequency and output characteristics. Besides, an energy storage circuit is adopted as a collection system. It can achieve a maximum voltage of 4.5 V which is responded to the harmonic vibrating input of 1 N force and 1 m/s2 in a single vibrating direction. Moreover, the power density is 2.596 W/cm3 with a 100 kΩ resistor. It is almost four times better than the output of unidirectional cantilever beam with similar resonant frequency and volume. According to the more functionality in the applications, VS-RTH energy harvester can be used in general vibration acquisition of machines and vehicles. Except for electricity storage, the harvester can potentially employ as a sensor to monitor the diversified physical signals for smooth operation and emergence reports. Looking forward, the VS-RTH harvester renders an effective approach toward decomposing the vibration directions in the environment for further complicating vibration applications.

scholarly journals Ultra low power mixer with out-of-band RF energy harvesting for wireless sensor networks applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Jie Jin ◽  
Xianming Wu ◽  
Zhijun Li
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Low Power ◽  
Wireless Sensors ◽  
Supply Voltage ◽  
Battery Life ◽  
Ic Design ◽  
Rf Energy Harvesting ◽  
Ultra Low Power ◽  
Rf Energy ◽  
Cmos Rf

An ultra low power mixer with out-of-band radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting suitable for the wireless sensors network (WSN) application is proposed in this paper. The presented mixer is able to harvest the out-of-band RF energy and keep it working in ultra low power condition and extend the battery life of the WSN. The mixer is designed and simulated with Global Foundries ’ 0.18 μ m CMOS RF process, and it operates at 2.4GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. The Cadence IC Design Tools post-layout simulation results demonstrate that the proposed mixer consumes 248 μ W from a 1V supply voltage. Furthermore, the power consumption can be reduced to 120.8 μ W by the out-of-band RF energy harvesting rectifier.

Autonomous Low Power Microsystem Powered by Vibration Energy Harvesting

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.N. Torah ◽  
M.J. Tudor ◽  
K. Patel ◽  
I.N. Garcia ◽  
S.P. Beeby
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Low Power ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting

Constrained Design Optimization of Vibration Energy Harvesting Devices

2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Hendijanizadeh ◽  
Mohamed Moshrefi-Torbati ◽  
Suleiman M. Sharkh
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Load Resistance ◽  
Relative Displacement ◽  
Internal Resistance ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Optimum Load ◽  
Seismic Mass ◽  
Low Frequency Vibration

Existing design criteria for vibration energy harvesting systems provide guidance on the appropriate selection of the seismic mass and load resistance. To harvest maximum power in resonant devices, the mass needs to be as large as possible and the load resistance needs to be equal to the sum of the internal resistance of the generator and the mechanical damping equivalent resistance. However, it is shown in this paper that these rules produce suboptimum results for applications where there is a constraint on the relative displacement of the seismic mass, which is often the case. When the displacement is constrained, increasing the mass beyond a certain limit reduces the amount of harvested power. The optimum load resistance in this case is shown to be equal to the generator's internal resistance. These criteria are extended to those devices that harvest energy from a low-frequency vibration by utilizing an interface that transforms the input motion to higher frequencies. For such cases, the optimum load resistance and the corresponding transmission ratio are derived.

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