An Electromagnetic Frequency Increased Vibration Energy Harvester

This paper presents an impact-based frequency increased electromagnetic vibration energy harvester to scavenge energy in a low frequency environment. To realize the novel impact based frequency up-conversion mechanism, a coil has been elastically anchored with a platform on which four permanent magnets are arranged in such a way that a strong closed magnetic flux path, linking the coil, is formed. The proposed scavenger has two dynamics of motion. The first phase is a low frequency oscillation to absorb energy from ambient vibration during which both the coil and magnet act as proof mass and move collectively. The increased proof mass ensures maximization of absorbed energy. After crossing a certain clearance, the platform containing magnetic setup rigidly and supporting the coil elastically, collides with a rigid stopper and bounces back. As a result of this mechanical impact a high frequency oscillation is setup in the coil relative to the magnets during which energy is transferred to electrical domain by electromagnetic induction. A macro-prototype has been build to prove the proposed concept. Initial test results show that the proposed harvester generates a peak voltage of 1 volt across a load of 220 Ω at an excitation frequency of 5 Hz which corresponds to a peak power of 4.5 mW and average power of 660 µW.