A fluttering-to-electrical energy transduction system for consumer electronics applications

This paper presents a novel type of energy transducer which converts ambient wind power into electrical energy based on electromagnetic induction principle. Different from traditional wind turbine generators, flexible belts were designed and demonstrated to harvesting energy using aerodynamically-induced fluttering. Essentially, airflows are used to drive a specifically designed belt to vibrate periodically during fluttering. Nd-Fe-B magnets and outer coils were implemented with the fluttering belt to induce current in the coils. The parameters of the coil are optimized for power output using a FEM tool. Experiments in controllable lab conditions were conducted to compare the performance of the prototype. We propose that such energy transducer can be used as an alternative or complementary power supply to batteries in low power consumer electronics applications.