A resonant electromagnetic vibration energy harvester for intelligent wireless sensor systems

Vibration energy harvesting is now receiving more interest as a means for powering intelligent wireless sensor systems. In this paper, a resonant electromagnetic vibration energy harvester (VEH) employing double cantilever to convert low-frequency vibration energy into electrical energy is presented. The VEH is made up of two cantilever beams, a coil, and magnetic circuits. The electric output performances of the proposed electromagnetic VEH have been investigated. With the enhancement of turns number N, the optimum peak power of electromagnetic VEH increases sharply and the resonance frequency deceases gradually. When the vibration acceleration is 0.5 g, we obtain the optimum output voltage and power of 9.04 V and 50.8 mW at frequency of 14.9 Hz, respectively. In a word, the prototype device was successfully developed and the experimental results exhibit a great enhancement in the output power and bandwidth compared with other traditional electromagnetic VEHs. Remarkably, the proposed resonant electromagnetic VEH have great potential for applying in intelligent wireless sensor systems. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.