A quantitative analysis of kinetic energy harvesting for hybrid power supplies

This study presents a quantitative analysis of experimental data for extracting energy from human body motion and its possibility of powering portable electronic devices, such as consumer electronics or biomedical monitoring sensors. Since portable electronic devices are typically limited by the size and lifespan of batteries, energy harvesting shows potential as alternative for extending battery life. The acceleration was collected experimentally from 10 subjects while walking and running at different velocities on a treadmill. The acceleration results were studied and a figure of merit consisting of the acceleration-squared-to-frequency was found to determine, in addition to the quality factor, as the important factors for optimal energy harvesting. It was determined that from average walking an energy harvester can produce a power output density greater than 1mW/cm3. Copyright © 2012 by ASME