scholarly journals Available Technologies and Commercial Devices to Harvest Energy by Human Trampling in Smart Flooring Systems: A Review

Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 432
Author(s):  
Paolo Visconti ◽  
Laura Bagordo ◽  
Ramiro Velázquez ◽  
Donato Cafagna ◽  
Roberto De Fazio
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Lighting System ◽  
Transduction Mechanism ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
Power And Energy ◽  
Human Trampling

Technological innovation has increased the global demand for electrical power and energy. Accordingly, energy harvesting has become a research area of primary interest for the scientific community and companies because it constitutes a sustainable way to collect energy from various sources. In particular, kinetic energy generated from human walking or vehicle movements on smart energy floors represents a promising research topic. This paper aims to analyze the state-of-art of smart energy harvesting floors to determine the best solution to feed a lighting system and charging columns. In particular, the fundamentals of the main harvesting mechanisms applicable in this field (i.e., piezoelectric, electromagnetic, triboelectric, and relative hybrids) are discussed. Moreover, an overview of scientific works related to energy harvesting floors is presented, focusing on the architectures of the developed tiles, the transduction mechanism, and the output performances. Finally, a survey of the commercial energy harvesting floors proposed by companies and startups is reported. From the carried-out analysis, we concluded that the piezoelectric transduction mechanism represents the optimal solution for designing smart energy floors, given their compactness, high efficiency, and absence of moving parts.

scholarly journals Design and Evaluation of Double-Stage Energy Harvesting Floor Tile

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isarakorn ◽  
Jayasvasti ◽  
Panthongsy ◽  
Janphuang ◽  
Hamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Proof Mass ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Average Power ◽  
Piezoelectric Element ◽  
Floor Tile ◽  
Cover Plate ◽  
Piezoelectric Cantilever ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Power And Energy

This paper introduces the design and characterization of a double-stage energy harvesting floor tile that uses a piezoelectric cantilever to generate electricity from human footsteps. A frequency up-conversion principle, in the form of an overshooting piezoelectric cantilever, plucked with a proof mass is utilized to increase energy conversion efficiency. The overshoot of the proof mass is implemented by a mechanical impact between a moving cover plate and a stopper to prevent damage to the plucked piezoelectric element. In an experiment, the piezoelectric cantilever of a floor tile prototype was excited by a pneumatic actuator that simulated human footsteps. The key parameters affecting the electrical power and energy outputs were investigated by actuating the prototype with a few kinds of excitation input. It was found that, when actuated by a single simulated footstep, the prototype was able to produce electrical power and energy in two stages. The cantilever resonated at a frequency of 14.08 Hz. The output electricity was directly proportional to the acceleration of the moving cover plate and the gap between the cover plate and the stopper. An average power of 0.82 mW and a total energy of 2.40 mJ were obtained at an acceleration of 0.93 g and a gap of 4 mm. The prototype had a simple structure and was able to operate over a wide range of frequencies.

Piezoelectric β-polymorph formation of new textiles by surface modification with coating process based on interfacial interaction on the conformational variation of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) chains

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 31301
Author(s):  
Nabil Chakhchaoui ◽  
Rida Farhan ◽  
Meriem Boutaldat ◽  
Marwane Rouway ◽  
Adil Eddiai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Vinylidene Fluoride ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Interfacial Interaction ◽  
Tetraethyl Orthosilicate ◽  
Poly Vinylidene Fluoride ◽  
Carbon Nanofillers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Advanced Applications

Novel textiles have received a lot of attention from researchers in the last decade due to some of their unique features. The introduction of intelligent materials into textile structures offers an opportunity to develop multifunctional textiles, such as sensing, reacting, conducting electricity and performing energy conversion operations. In this research work nanocomposite-based highly piezoelectric and electroactive β-phase new textile has been developed using the pad-dry-cure method. The deposition of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) − carbon nanofillers (CNF) − tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), Si(OCH2CH3)4 was acquired on a treated textile substrate using coating technique followed by evaporation to transform the passive (non-functional) textile into a dynamic textile with an enhanced piezoelectric β-phase. The aim of the study is the investigation of the impact the coating of textile via piezoelectric nanocomposites based PVDF-CNF (by optimizing piezoelectric crystalline phase). The chemical composition of CT/PVDF-CNC-TEOS textile was detected by qualitative elemental analysis (SEM/EDX). The added of 0.5% of CNF during the process provides material textiles with a piezoelectric β-phase of up to 50% has been measured by FTIR experiments. These results indicated that CNF has high efficiency in transforming the phase α introduced in the unloaded PVDF, to the β-phase in the case of nanocomposites. Consequently, this fabricated new textile exhibits glorious piezoelectric β-phase even with relatively low coating content of PVDF-CNF-TEOS. The study demonstrates that the pad-dry-cure method can potentially be used for the development of piezoelectric nanocomposite-coated wearable new textiles for sensors and energy harvesting applications. We believe that our study may inspire the research area for future advanced applications.

scholarly journals Near-field thermophotovoltaics for efficient heat to electricity conversion at high power density

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohith Mittapally ◽  
Byungjun Lee ◽  
Linxiao Zhu ◽  
Amin Reihani ◽  
Ju Won Lim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Density ◽  
High Power ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Photovoltaic Cells ◽  
High Power Density ◽  
Pv Cell ◽  
Electrical Power Output ◽  
Power Densities

AbstractThermophotovoltaic approaches that take advantage of near-field evanescent modes are being actively explored due to their potential for high-power density and high-efficiency energy conversion. However, progress towards functional near-field thermophotovoltaic devices has been limited by challenges in creating thermally robust planar emitters and photovoltaic cells designed for near-field thermal radiation. Here, we demonstrate record power densities of ~5 kW/m2 at an efficiency of 6.8%, where the efficiency of the system is defined as the ratio of the electrical power output of the PV cell to the radiative heat transfer from the emitter to the PV cell. This was accomplished by developing novel emitter devices that can sustain temperatures as high as 1270 K and positioning them into the near-field (<100 nm) of custom-fabricated InGaAs-based thin film photovoltaic cells. In addition to demonstrating efficient heat-to-electricity conversion at high power density, we report the performance of thermophotovoltaic devices across a range of emitter temperatures (~800 K–1270 K) and gap sizes (70 nm–7 µm). The methods and insights achieved in this work represent a critical step towards understanding the fundamental principles of harvesting thermal energy in the near-field.

Stretchable ITO‐Free Organic Solar Cells with Intrinsic Anti‐Reflection Substrate for High‐Efficiency Outdoor and Indoor Energy Harvesting

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (16) ◽  
pp. 2010172
Author(s):  
Jiaming Huang ◽  
Zhiwei Ren ◽  
Yaokang Zhang ◽  
Kuan Liu ◽  
Hengkai Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Organic Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency

scholarly journals Time-jerk optimal trajectory planning of hydraulic robotic excavator

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 168781402110346
Author(s):  
Yunyue Zhang ◽  
Zhiyi Sun ◽  
Qianlai Sun ◽  
Yin Wang ◽  
Xiaosong Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Angular Velocity ◽  
Trajectory Planning ◽  
Optimal Trajectory ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Optimal Time ◽  
Target Point ◽  
Robotic Excavator ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Optimal Trajectory Planning

Due to the fact that intelligent algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) are susceptible to local optima and the efficiency of solving an optimal solution is low when solving the optimal trajectory, this paper uses the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) algorithm for the optimal trajectory planning of a hydraulic robotic excavator. To achieve high efficiency and stationarity during the operation of the hydraulic robotic excavator, the trade-off between the time and jerk is considered. Cubic splines were used to interpolate in joint space, and the optimal time-jerk trajectory was obtained using the SQP with joint angular velocity, angular acceleration, and jerk as constraints. The optimal angle curves of each joint were obtained, and the optimal time-jerk trajectory planning of the excavator was realized. Experimental results show that the SQP method under the same weight is more efficient in solving the optimal solution and the optimal excavating trajectory is smoother, and each joint can reach the target point with smaller angular velocity, and acceleration change, which avoids the impact of each joint during operation and conserves working time. Finally, the excavator autonomous operation becomes more stable and efficient.

A Broadband High-Efficiency RF Rectifier for Ambient RF Energy Harvesting

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1185-1188
Author(s):  
Wenbo Liu ◽  
Kama Huang ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Zhuoyue Zhang ◽  
Jing Hou
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Rf Energy Harvesting ◽  
Rf Energy
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