Enhancement of surge-induced synchronized switch harvesting on inductor strategy

We propose and demonstrate a novel method to enhance vibration harvesting based on surge-induced synchronized switch harvesting on inductor ((SHI)-H-3). (SHI)-H-3 allows harvesting of a large amount of energy even from low-amplitude vibrations by inducing a surge voltage during the voltage inversion of a synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (SSHI). The surge voltage and the voltage amplification from the conventional voltage inversion improve energy harvesting. (SHI)-H-3 modifies SSHI by both rewiring the circuit without adding components and using a novel switching pattern for voltage inversion, thus maintaining the simplicity of SSHI. We propose a novel switching strategy and circuit topology and analyze six methods that constitute the (SHI)-H-3 family, which includes traditional (SHI)-H-3 and high-frequency (SHI)-H-3. We demonstrate that the six methods suitably harvest energy even from low-amplitude vibrations. Nevertheless, the harvestable energy per vibration cycle depends on the switching pattern and storage-capacitor voltage. The use of the proposed switching strategy, which allows energy harvesting before energy-dissipative voltage inversion, substantially increases the harvestable energy per vibration cycle. In the typical case considered in this study, the said increase is on the order of 11%-31% and 15%-450% compared to the traditional and existing high-frequency (SHI)-H-3 methods, respectively, depending on the storage-capacitor voltage. Additionally, the proposed circuit can be used as a traditional circuit. It could be considered a promising alternative to (SHI)-H-3 methods owing to its potential auto-reboot capability, which is not found in traditional (SHI)-H-3 circuit.

Automated summary

A novel method (SHI-H-3) is proposed and demonstrated to enhance vibration harvesting by improving synchronized switch harvesting on inductor, allowing energy collection even from low-amplitude vibrations. The new switching strategy and circuit topology significantly improve energy collection efficiency and suitably harvest energy from low-amplitude vibrations.