A cubic triboelectric generator as a self-powered orientation sensor

Recently, triboelectric generator (TEG) has attracted a lot of attention due to its high output voltage and low-cost fabrication process. Here, a novel cubic TEG box is designed, which has separated electrodes on different surfaces. Thanks to the specially designed structure, it can scavenge vibration energy from all directions. Firstly the device is investigated through finite element method (FEM) simulation. Then the device is evaluated by experiments. The measuremental results show that this device can generate an amount of 25 nC charge during once shake by charging a 10 nF capacitor. Besides, an output voltage about 100 V is obtained, which is able to directly light up several light-emitting diodes (LEDs) simultaneously. At last, the device is utilized as a self-powered orientation sensor, which shows explicit directivity. This work extends the applications of TEG for ambient vibration energy harvesting techniques and the self-powered orientation sensor.