Title :
A new circuital solution for power harvesting from random and low-amplitude voltages by using bistable mechanical switch
Author :
Giusa, F. ; Trigona, C. ; Ando, B. ; Baglio, S.
Author_Institution :
Dipt. di Ing. Elettr. Elettron. e Inf., Univ. degli Studi di Catania, Catania, Italy
Abstract :
This paper concerns the development of a new strategy for vibration energy harvesting with piezoelectric transduction. The proposed solution is based on nonlinear bistable system; it can collect and store energy from weak and random mechanical vibrations and it is particularly suitable when the alternate output voltage produced by the piezoelectric transducer has a low amplitude, lower then diode threshold. In these situations in fact, it is not possible to use the traditional rectifying methods. The system presented here is composed of a PZT (Lead Zirconate Titanate) layer that produces an alternate voltage in response to the external vibrations, a mechanical bistable switch (driven by the same vibration source) and a storage circuit. The system has been modeled, simulated and experimentally validated showing the improvement in performances correlated with the adoption of the nonlinear (bistable) switch.
Keywords :
energy harvesting; lead compounds; microswitches; piezoelectric transducers; vibrations; PZT; PZT layer; bistable mechanical switch; low-amplitude voltages; nonlinear bistable system; piezoelectric transduction; power harvesting; random mechanical vibrations; storage circuit; vibration energy harvesting; Energy harvesting; Inductors; Magnetic resonance; Switches; Switching circuits; Vibrations;
Conference_Titel :
SENSORS, 2013 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Baltimore, MD
DOI :
10.1109/ICSENS.2013.6688248