Hybrid and electromagnetic large bandwidth energy harvesters with interface circuit for 0.4-1.6 g acceleration range

Date

2023-4-25

Author

Yılmaz, Akın Mert

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Environmental energy sources such as vibration, heat and light can be converted to electrical energy by energy harvesters and stored in batteries and super-capacitors using interface circuits (IC). Depending on the size and application of the energy harvester, a 50 cm3 transducer can supply power at the level of mWs, which is enough for new-generation integrated sensors and systems developed with deep sub-micron technology. Hence, with the help of energy harvesters, it is possible to operate sensors and systems in closed environments without charging and maintenance. However, an essential part of the vibration sources does not generate vibrations at a constant frequency and acceleration level, which creates a need for energy harvesters with bandwidth ratios above 20% which can generate power from vibrations with a wide range of acceleration levels (0.4-1.6 g). Furthermore, different vibration sources may require application-specific energy harvester designs whose electrical characteristics vary. To convert generated AC electrical energy from distinct energy harvesters to storable energy, an IC, which can adapt itself to the electrical characteristics of the energy harvester to harvest energy at the optimum level, is necessary. The goal of this thesis study is to design and implement systems that can harvest energy from human body motions and mechanical vibrations. The designed hybrid energy harvester can harvest human body vibrations within the 1-2 Hz frequency range at 0.4-1.6 g using the proposed frequency up-conversion method. The proposed electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH) has a large frequency bandwidth of 22.9-29.7 Hz at 1.4 g acceleration with a bandwidth ratio of 28%. Experimental results show that the designed EMEH can output 12.3 mW power with a normalised power density (N.P.D) of 0.22 (mW/cm3/g2) at 1 g input acceleration. Finally, an interface IC is designed and implemented in TSMC 180 nm technology. Simulation results of the sub-blocks of the interface show that with the proposed method, energy can be harvested from a large frequency spectrum and regulated for the sensors of interest.

Subject Keywords

Electromagnetic energy harvester, Hybrid energy harvester, Vibration-based energy harvesting, Maximum power point tracking, Interface circuit

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/103245

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis