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9.
INTRODUCTION
Gobb
i
Rama
samy
Department of
Electrical and
Electronic
Engineering
The
University
of
Nottingha
m
Jalan
Broga,
Semeny
ih
gob
bi@
ieee.
org
RAT
URE
REV
IEW
k = maximum
and minimum
vertical
position of
the waist
Lk = step
length of
the k-th
step
Tk = cycle
time of
the k-th
step
Figure 1: Walking
pattern of a normal
person [4]
This kinetic energy
produced from human
movement can be converted
into another form of useful
energy such as the
978-1-4577-0444-4/11/$26.00 2011
IEEE 165
electric energy according to the conservation of energy
stated in first law of thermodynamics [5]. Estimation on
AND
EXPERIMENTAL
SETUP
An outline of the system is illustrated in Figure 4 with
a combination of both mechanical harvesting system and
piezoelectric harvesting system together with an efficient
power management circuit has been proposed and
designed in such a way where it overcome the flaws that
present in the previous prototypes reported in literatures.
1
6
6
Crankshaft
Body support
mechanical harvesting
driven
number of revolutionsdriver
The transmission formula which is given by equation (1)
where d represents the diameter is used to calculate the wheel
size of the generator and the flywheel [7]. In order to turn the
generator three times with just a revolution from the flywheel
for higher power generation, a flywheel with diameter of three
167
material placed on the sole of the footwear. Although
there are many operating mode which can be used for a
piezoelectric harvesting system, yet the commonly used
methods are the d33 compression mode or the d31
vibration mode as shown in Figure 8 [8]. Examples of
such methods in practice are a piezoelectric material
located on the sole of the footwear is either positioned on
a surface in order to absorb the pressure of a heel strike
for a d33 compression mode or positioned in a cantilever
form with the intention of exposing it to the vibration
from the impact of a heel strike for a d31 vibration mode.
On the one hand, a d33 compression mode would
generate higher power as compared to a d31 vibration
mode with the same amount of input parameters due to
the natural characteristics of the piezoelectric effect [8].
Therefore, the piezoelectric harvesting system is designed
to operate under d33 compression mode by placing it on
the sole of the footwear with the surface of the
piezoelectric material being exposed to the pressure of a
heel strike such that it converts this wasted kinetic energy
into usable electrical energy.
harvesting system.
C. Efficient power management circuit
In spite of the necessity of having an optimized
mechanical harvesting system and piezoelectric
harvesting system, efficient power management circuits
are also vital in achieving highest efficiency possible in
the energy harvesting systems. A few aspects are being
considered in the process of designing
B. Load
The electrical
energy generated is
not being wasted
and dissipated as
heat. A common
method used is by
storing
this
electrical energy in
an energy storage
device which acts
as
a
load.
Examples of such
energy
storage
devices commonly
used to store this
electrical energy
are the
capacit
ors and
batterie
s.
Howev
er,
capacit
ors are
only
used as
a
tempor
ary
energy
storage
device
due to
its
1
6
8
higher
rate
of
self
discharge as compared to
batteries [14]. Therefore,
batteries are used as long
term energy storage device
to store this electrical
energy due to its relatively
low rate of self discharge
although
the
process
involved in charging a
battery is much more
complicated as compared
to a capacitor [14].
There are different
types of batteries used as
energy storage device such
as the lithium-ion battery
and
nickel
cadmium
battery. In fact, all these
10
minutes
2%
6%
5%
Time ta
20
minut
4%
9%
8%
Voltag
e, V
22. P
R
A
C
T
I
C
A
B
I
L
I
T
Y
A case study is
done in order to
investigate on the
feasibility of the
complete
prototype. In fact,
the
person
involved in testing
this
complete
prototype weighs
60kg with a height
of 163cm. The
battery level in a
mobile
is
monitored
throughout
the
whole day when a
person is using this
prototype
as
compared to a
person
without
using
this
prototype.
The
experiment is setup
as shown in Figure
10 and the results
are
shown
in
Figure 11 and
Figure 12 as well
as tabulated in
Table 2.
en
t
ca
se
st
ud
y
Case study
generat
ed
voltage
of the
comple
te
prototy
pe
without
mobile
phone
Time, minute
c
h
ar
g
e
in
a
b
at
te
r
y
o
f
a
m
o
bi
le
p
h
o
n
e
at
di
ff
er
169
VI. DISCUSSIONS
This fully functional prototype charges up a Nickel
Cadmium battery and a Lithium Ion battery with an initial
0% state of charge up to a 5% state of charge and with an
initial 0% state of charge up to a 11% state of charge
within 30 minutes in a battery respectively.
In fact, experiments are being conducted in order to
investigate on the practicability of the prototype. An
example on the practicability of the archetype is shown
when a person is using the prototype as compared to a
person without using the prototype. When a person is
using this prototype to charge the battery in the mobile
phone throughout the day, the battery level increases to
69% with an initial 50% state of charge whereas when a
person is not using this prototype to charge the battery in
the mobile phone throughout the day, the battery level
reduces to 16% with a 50% initial state of charge.
On the one hand, there are several flaws in this
prototype. It is noticeable that this prototype would
impede the movement of the wearer slightly although it is
designed based on the walking pattern of a normal person.
Despite that, the mechanical structure of the prototype can
be further improved and designed to eliminate the
obstruction caused by the prototype.
Nevertheless, this prototype has illustrated the
feasibility on energy harvesting from human movement as
well as the potential of this prototype as a boundless
power source for charging and powering up low powered
electronic gadgets. Although the amount of resources
saved such as energy and money are rather trivial in the
short term, yet the impact would be notable on the long
run.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, the proposed prototype has clearly
demonstrated its ability to charge up a mobile phone. This
project integrates both the mechanical harvesting system
and piezoelectric harvesting system in order to convert
kinetic energy from human movement into electrical
energy while at the same time the electrical energy
generated is processed by their respective efficient power
management circuits. Although both the harvesting
systems are playing an important
[4] Kensuke
[5] Laws
[6]
[7]
of
Thermodynamics.
[Online].
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6e.h
tml
T. Starner, "Human-powered wearable computing,"
vol. 35, no. 3 & 4, 1996.
Rasool Baghebani, Masoomeh Ashoorirad, "A Power
Generating System for Mobile Electronic Devices
Using
Human Walking Motion," 2009.
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