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JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS 1

Electromagnetic Energy Harvester With Flexible

Coils and Magnetic Spring for
1–10 Hz Resonance
Qian Zhang, Yufeng Wang, and Eun Sok Kim, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract— This paper presents an energy harvester with at its resonant frequency. Previous energy harvesters, whose
microfabricated flexible coils (rolled and aligned to a magnet resonant frequency is tens or hundreds of hertz, are ineffective
array for maximum magnetic flux change) and magnetic spring in harvesting vibration energy at less than 10 Hz [9], [10].
to generate electrical power from human body motion. The
magnet array is suspended by a magnetic spring for a res- Thus, it is highly desirable to make the harvester’s resonant
onant frequency of several hertz. An analytical model of frequency less than 10 Hz, where many commonly available
vibration-driven energy harvester with magnetic spring through vibrations such as human body motion, bridge vibration, ocean
magnet and coil arrays is developed to explore the power wave, etc. are occurring. For scavenging traffic-induced bridge
generation with various magnet ranges and vibration amplitudes. vibrations, an electromagnetic energy harvester occupying
Experimental results show that the electromagnetic energy har-
vester with six 7-turn microfabricated coils (occupying 3.8 cc 68 cc was shown to generate an average power of 2.3 μW
and weighing 8.5 gram) generates an induced electromotive (into 1.5 k load) from 0.54 m/s2 acceleration at 2 Hz
force (EMF) of Vrms = 6.7 mV with 0.53-μW power output (about 3.4 mm vibration amplitude) [11]. Another electro-
(into 21- load) from 0.27-g acceleration at 8 Hz (corresponding magnetic power generator with stacked multilayer magnets
to 1.05-mm vibration amplitude). Its larger-scale version with occupying 18 cc generated an average power of 120 μW
sixteen 200-turn wire-wound coils (occupying 26 cc and weighing
98 gram) generates an EMF of Vrms = 1.3 V with 4.3-mW (into 680  load) from a root-mean-square (rms) acceleration
power output (into 100- load) from 0.5-g acceleration at 5.5 Hz of 0.25 m/s2 at 4.1 Hz [12]. To increase the power output at
(corresponding to 4.1-mm vibration amplitude). When the larger- low vibration frequency, the energy harvesters were developed
scale version of the energy harvester is placed in a backpack to convert low-frequency vibrations to a higher frequency by
of a human walking at various speeds, the power output is employing the frequency up-conversion technique [13], [14].
increased as the walking speed is increased from 0.45 m/s (slow
walking) to 2.68 m/s (slow running), and reaches 14.8 mW However, the resonant frequencies for these devices were still
at 2.68 m/s. [2014-0323] around 100 Hz, and much of the vibration energy was lost in
the conversion process.
Index Terms— Electromagnetic vibration-energy harvesting,
magnetic spring, flexible coils, magnet array, human body The kinetic energy from human body can be converted to
motion. electrical energy for powering portable devices. For example,
a suspended-load backpack consisting of a pinion gear and
I. I NTRODUCTION a set of springs fixed on a pack frame was developed to

A S THE performance and functionality of the personal

digital assistant devices are rising significantly, there
has been active research for renewable and maintenance-free
show a 7.37 W power when a person carries the 38 kg
heavy mass during normal walking [15]. When a sliding
electromagnetic generator with permanent magnets (10 mm
power sources. Harvesting energy from vibrational environ- in diameter, 5 mm in thickness) moving inside wire-wound
ments has attracted considerable attention as an alternative to coils was designed to fit in the heel of a shoe, the harvester
conventional batteries. Three transduction mechanisms have with two 7-gram magnets generated 8.5 mW at 5 Hz [16].
been employed to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy: A non-resonant energy harvester was built using a magnet ball
piezoelectric [1], [2], electrostatic [3], [4], and electromag- in two symmetric hemispheres, which are wrapped with copper
netic [5]–[8]. However, all vibration-driven energy harvesters wire to scavenge energy from ordinary human motion. The
based on these mechanisms can be analyzed as a mass- prototype occupying 70 cc and weighing 68 gram delivered
spring system within a frame, and produce a maximum power a maximum power of 234 μW when mounted on the ankle
during jogging [17]. The eccentric rotor in self-winding watch
Manuscript received October 17, 2014; revised January 6, 2015; accepted
January 12, 2015. This work was supported in part by the National Science industry was also introduced to non-resonant generator tech-
Foundation under Grant ECCS-1308041 and in part by the Defense Advanced nologies for harvesting energy from human movements [18].
Research Project Agency under Grant N66001-13-1-4055. Subject Editor A 1.5 cc prototype was fabricated with conventional winding
R. Ghodssi.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Electro- coils and two Nd-Fe-B magnets as an eccentric rotor, and was
physics University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0271 USA shown to generate power of 3 mW from 75 μm vibration
(e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]). amplitude at 80 Hz with initial angular rate larger than
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. 200 rad/s [19]. When stacked microfabricated planar coils
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JMEMS.2015.2393911 and multiple permanent magnets with an eccentric brass mass
1057-7157 © 2015 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
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2 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

TABLE I
R EPORTED P OWER G ENERATORS FOR H ARVESTING V IBRATION E NERGY OF H UMAN B ODY ’ S WALKING /RUNNING M OTION

were assembled and tested on human body, an average power

of 472 μW was obtained from the 2 cc device placed on
the ankle while walking at 1.79 m/s [20]. Although magnetic
springs with two fixed magnets and one moving magnet
housed in a teflon tube were reported to show resonant
frequencies in 7-10 Hz [21], the energy-conversion efficiency
was not high for harvesting energy from a human body
walking or running. Another harvester having a volume of
13 cc was reported to produce 0.95 mW and 2.46 mW
during walking and slow running conditions, respectively [22].
The performances of the reported power generators for har-
vesting vibration energy of human body’s walking/running
motion are listed in Table I. We previously reported a new
energy-conversion technique to convert mechanical vibra-
tion into electrical energy with unprecedented power level
through magnet and coil arrays [23]. A magnetic suspension Fig. 1. Schematic of the energy harvester with flexible coils (rolled and
system was combined to a larger-scale electromagnetic power aligned to a magnet array for maximum magnetic flux change) and a magnetic
spring.
generator (occupying 120 cc and weighing 180 gram) with
magnet and coil arrays to harvest energy from vibrations at
II. M ODELING AND D ESIGN
several Hz [24]. The prototype having a resonant frequency
of 4 Hz generated 32 mW power output from a slow-running Figure 1 illustrates an electromagnetic power generator with
motion. However, that particular energy harvester had a limited a magnet array aligned to a coil array rolled on a teflon
maximum power output due to the magnet-array’s movable cylinder (that houses the power generator) for maximum
range as well as the cubical shape of the magnet array that magnetic flux change. The magnet array is suspended by
provided high magnetic field gradient only on the two-pole a magnetic spring, which consists of the top (T ) movable
sides (near the wound coils) where movable space was limited. magnet and the bottom (B) fixed magnet arranged to face
Moreover, the harvester was a single prototype built with large each other with the same pole. The magnet array is levitated
weight and volume for the sake of a low resonant frequency due to the repulsive force in the magnetic spring system, and
(4 Hz), and was far from being an optimum design. vibrates in response to external vibration, making the coil array
In this paper, an energy harvester with microfabricated coils generate electricity. The repulsive force in the magnetic spring
and magnetic spring (occupying a total volume of 3.8 cc and is [25]
weighing 8.5 gram) is presented. Electroplated planar coils μ0 Q T Q B
on flexible parylene film surround a cylinder magnet array FM = (1)
4π(r0 − z)2
suspended by a magnetic spring to completely utilize the
three-dimensional (3D) space. Also presented is a larger-scale where μ0 is vacuum permeability; Q(= HC A) is magnetic
energy harvester (26 cc and 98 gram) which generates mW field intensity with HC being the coercive force and A being
of power when placed in a backpack of a human walking at pole surface area; r0 is the distance between two magnets at
various speeds. The output signals from the harvesters per one initial position that can be calculated from μ04πr QT Q B
2 = mg
0
large vibration-amplitude cycle are simulated as a function of (m is proof mass and g is gravitational acceleration); z is
the vibration amplitude, when the amplitude is beyond the relative displacement between two magnets. The spring
linear region, and are compared. constant (k = ddFzM ) as a function of the displacement between
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ZHANG et al.: ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY HARVESTER WITH FLEXIBLE COILS AND MAGNETIC SPRING 3

Fig. 2. (a) Simulated spring constant versus displacement as a function of magnetic field intensities (Q T Q B ) for a proof mass of 40 gram. (b) Simulated
spring constant versus displacement as a function of proof mass for Q T Q B = 400 A2 m2 .

the two magnets is plotted for a given proof mass and magnetic near the initial position
field intensities of the magnets, as shown in Fig. 2a and 2b,
μ0 Q T Q B μ0 Q T Q B 1 2 3
respectively [24]. The spring constant varies with vibra- FM = = ( 2 + 3 z + 4 z2 · · · )
tion amplitude since the magnetic force has a non-linear 4π(r0 − z) 2 4π r0 r0 r0
relationship μ0 Q T Q B 1 2
 with the displacement, and the resonant frequency ≈ ( 2 + 3 z). (3)
4π r0 r0
( f = 2π
1
m ) at initial position is calculated. As can be seen
k

in Fig. 2, the resonant frequency is decreased by increasing For a sinusoidal vibration y(t) = Y0 cosωt = Re{Y0 e j ωt } and
the magnetic field intensities (Q T Q B ) or decreasing the proof z(t) = Z 0 cos(ωt + θ ) = Re{Ze j ωt }, the complex constant
mass. of the relative displacement between the proof mass and the
For a vibration-driven power generator the absolute motions frame is
of the proof mass and the frame are x(t) and y(t), respectively,
while the relative displacement between the proof mass and mω2 Y0 mω2 Y0
Z = μ0 Q T Q B
=
the frame is z(t)(= x(t) − y(t)). The equation of motion for −ω2 m + j ωd + −ω2 m + j ωd + 2mg
2πr03 r0
the system is given by
(ω/ωn )2 Y0
   = (4)
mz(t) + dz(t) + (FM − mg) = −my(t) (2) 1 − (ω/ωn )2 + j 2ζ ω/ωn
where d is damping constant. The FM in Eq. (2) can be where Y0 is the frame’s vibration amplitude or the
approximated with the following equation for a small vibration input vibration amplitude; ω is the vibration frequency;
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4 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Fig. 3. Calculated magnitude and phase of the relative displacement amplitude Z 0 versus vibration frequency ω as a function of damping ratio ζ.
  
ωn (= 2g
= 4g μ0πmg where A0 (= ω2 Y0 ) is the acceleration amplitude. For a given
r0 Q T Q B ) is the resonant frequency;
vibration frequency, the EMF has a linear relationship with
ζ(= 2mω d
n
) is the damping ratio. From the equation for the the vibration amplitude Z 0 . Figure 3 indicates that Z 0 is less
resonant frequency, the initial distance (r0 ) between the two than Y0 at a frequency lower than ωn , decreasing rapidly as the
magnets can be used to estimate the resonant frequency. Also, vibration frequency decreases. This is fundamental reason why
the resonant frequency is decreased by increasing the magnetic the energy harvesters with high resonant frequency are inef-
field intensities (Q T Q B ) or decreasing the proof mass, which fective in harvesting energy from low-frequency vibrations.
increases the initial distance between the two magnets. Since At the resonant frequency, the EMF simplifies to
the initial distance (r0 ) between the two magnets is inversely    
 d  A0  d  m A0
proportional to the square of the resonant frequency, there is a 
ε0− peak =   =   (7)
trade-off between the device volume and resonant frequency. dz  2ζ ωn dz  d
The relationship between Z 0 and Y0 is dependent on the Since the damper (d) is consisted of the electrical
frequency ω and damping ratio ζ as shown in Fig. 3. Near the damping (de ) and mechanical damping (dm ), we have
resonant frequency ωn , Z 0 increases as the damping ratio ζ
decreases. But Z 0 is close to Y0 at a frequency significantly d = de + dm (8)
higher than ωn , as Eq. (4) simplifies to
 where de (= 2mωn ζe ) is due to electrical resistive elements,
Y0
(ω = ωn ) while dm (= 2mωn ζm ) is due to mechanical damping. The
Z 0 = 2ζ (5)
Y0 (ω  ωn ) generated electrical power is [26]
According to Faraday’s law, the zero-to-peak magnitude of  3
electromotive force (EMF) ε is proportional to the time-rate mζe Y02 ωωn ω3
Pe = (9)
change of magnetic flux  through a coil, and is  2 2 
      2
 d   d dz   d  1 − ωωn + 2ζ ωωn
ε0− peak = − = =  ωZ 0
dt   dz dt   dz 
  At the resonant frequency, Eq. (9) simplifies to
 d  ω/ωn2
=   A0 
  (6)
dz  
2 2 ω
2 mζe Y02 ωn3
1 − (ω/ωn ) + 2ζ ωn Pe = (10)
4ζ 2
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ZHANG et al.: ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY HARVESTER WITH FLEXIBLE COILS AND MAGNETIC SPRING 5

Fig. 4. Calculated relative displacement between two magnets of the magnetic spring (with 10 Hz resonant frequency) for a fixed input vibration amplitude
of 0.1 m: (a) versus time at 2, 3 and 4 Hz vibration frequency and (b) versus vibration frequency.

TABLE II
PARAMETERS U SED IN THE C ALCULATION OF THE R ELATIVE M OTION FOR N ON -L INEAR M AGNETIC S USPENSION S YSTEM

TABLE III
PARAMETERS U SED IN THE S IMULATIONS OF THE EMFs FOR T WO M AGNETS AND F OUR M AGNETS

Thus, decreasing the proof mass for a lower resonant by solving Eq. (2). Thus, a numerical method is used with
frequency will reduce the electrical power output. Conse- MATLAB to estimate the relative motion between the proof
quently, increasing the magnetic field intensities (Q T Q B ) of mass and the frame for the magnetic spring with 10 Hz
the magnetic spring is a better way to lower the resonant resonant frequency at different vibration frequencies under a
frequency with less impact on the power output. fixed sinusoidal vibration with 0.1 m amplitude, as shown in
However, as the vibration amplitude increases, the variation Fig. 4. When the vibration frequency is lower than the resonant
of the spring constant cannot be neglected for a large relative frequency, the relative displacement amplitude is smaller than
displacement between the proof mass and the frame. Since the vibration amplitude, and increases as the vibration fre-
the magnetic force (FM ) is not linearly proportional to the quency increases (Fig. 4a). At a vibration frequency near and
relative displacement between the two magnets, the relative higher than the resonant frequency, the relative displacement
motion between the proof mass and the frame is not sinu- amplitude is close to the vibration amplitude, but the amplitude
soidal even under a sinusoidal vibration, and it is difficult value is not exactly same in each vibration period. Even
to express the relationship between the relative displacement though the displacement waveform is not sinusoidal, the non-
amplitude and the vibration amplitude with an exact solution linear magnetic suspension system still shows the relative
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6 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Fig. 5. (a) Calculated magnetic field distribution of the array of two alternating north- and south-orientation magnets passing through a coil. (b) Calculated
magnetic field distribution of the array of four alternating north- and south-orientation magnets passing through a coil. The simulated output voltage in time
as a function of the displacement amplitude from 0.1 to 12.7 mm (c) and from 19.1 to 38.1 mm (d) for two magnets. The simulated output voltage in time
as a function of the displacement amplitude from 0.1 to 12.7 mm (e) and from 19.1 to 38.1 mm (f) for four magnets. (g) The rms values of the simulated
EMFs versus the displacement amplitude.

displacement’s dependency on the input-vibration frequency The magnet array with alternating north- and south-
that is typical of a linear system. The parameters used in the orientation provides a rapidly changing magnetic field, and
calculation are listed in Table II. a high power level has been generated when the magnet
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ZHANG et al.: ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY HARVESTER WITH FLEXIBLE COILS AND MAGNETIC SPRING 7

Fig. 6. Brief microfabrication process of the flexible coils: (a) Spin photoresist and deposit parylene. (b) Deposit and pattern Ti/Cu for connection between
the coils. (c) Deposit and pattern parylene isolation layer. (d) Electroplate copper coils. (e) Dice the wafer to expose photoresist. (f) Lift-off to release the
coils. (g) Roll the coils on a teflon cylinder.

array vibrates to make the boundary between the magnets output voltage with multiple cycles with the number of the
pass through the coil array. The relative displacement between cycles increasing as the vibration amplitude increases. It is
the magnet and coil arrays in response to external vibrations noted that the peak value in each of the multi-cycle waveform
causes the magnetic flux () to vary through the coils, and the is different from one another, since the vibration velocity of
magnetic flux () through a multi-turn coil is obtained with the magnet array (with respect to the coil) varies sinusoidally

n n → −
− → in time.
= i = ( B · d Si ) (11) The rms values of the output voltages are calculated from
i=1 i=1 Si
the measured waveforms in Figs. 5c, 5d, 5e and 5f, and are
where n is number of coil turns; i is magnetic flux through shown to increase almost linearly as the vibration amplitude
the i t h coil; B is magnetic flux density; Si is area of the increases for the array of four magnets (Fig. 5g). With multiple
i t h coil. The magnetic flux () is a numerical integral of cycles of magnetic flux change in each mechanical cycle,
magnetic flux density which is obtained by COMSOL  sim- the high energy-conversion efficiency through the magnet and
ulation, and the EMF is calculated by ε = − d dt
 when the
coil arrays is maintained even at a large vibration amplitude.
magnet array vibrates in the direction parallel to its surface. For an array of two magnets, when the magnets move out
Here we assume that the magnet array vibrates sinusoidally of the coil (for example, the vibration displacement from
with vibration displacement between the magnets and coils 19.1 to 38.1 mm), the voltages increase at a lower rate. Thus,
from 0.1 to 38.1 mm. A 100-turn coil is located at the height the maximum relative displacement between the coils and
of 250 μm over the magnet surface. The values used in the magnets needs to be within the range of the magnets for high
simulations are listed in Table III. energy-conversion efficiency.
The magnetic flux density (Bz ) along the direction parallel
to the planar surface (y-direction) for an array of two magnets
and four magnets (12.7 × 12.7 × 3.2 mm3 ) with alternat- III. FABRICATION
ing north- and south-orientation is shown in Figs. 5a and 5b, The coil array has been fabricated on a flexible parylene
respectively. The simulated output-voltage waveforms for film in a microfabrication process as shown in Fig. 6. First,
various input vibration amplitudes in one mechanical cycle photoresist AZ4620 is spin-coated on a silicon wafer as a
are shown in Figs. 5c and 5d for two magnets, and sacrificial layer, and 8 μm thick parylene is deposited to
in Figs. 5e and 5f for four magnets. The output voltage peaks cover the whole wafer. After a Ti/Cu (10 nm/200 nm) is
when the magnet-to-magnet boundary passes through the coil, deposited by E-beam evaporator and patterned for connec-
and the peak value increases as the displacement increases, as tion between the coils, 1 μm thick parylene is deposited
expected from Eq. (6). For two magnets, when the magnets for isolation and patterned to form via holes. Another
move out of the coil (i.e., the vibration displacement is Ti/Cu (10 nm/200 nm) is deposited as a seed layer, and then
increased from 19.1 to 38.1 mm), the output voltage is near photoresist AZ4620 is spin-coated and patterned to obtain
zero for a relatively long time during the vibration as shown a mold for the copper coil. After 25 μm thick copper is
in Fig. 5d. For four magnets, the magnet array provides mul- electroplated on the front side, the photoresist is removed in
tiple cycles of magnetic flux change in each mechanical cycle acetone, and the seed layer is etched away. The wafer is then
when the vibration amplitude is large enough for the multi- partially diced to expose the photoresist sacrificial layer, and
pole magnets to pass through the coil. Thus, one mechanical the coils embedded in 9 μm thick parylene are released by a
cycle of a large vibration amplitude produces an electrical lift-off process. Six 7-turn coils of 25 μm thick electroplated
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8 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Fig. 7. (a) Photos of the coils on a released parylene film. (b) Side-view and (c) top-view photos of the energy harvester with microfabricated flexible coils
and magnetic spring. (d) Magnet array suspended by the magnetic spring in the teflon cylinder.


copper are connected in series by another copper layer through to be 5.8 Hz from ωn = 2g r0 . The energy harvester II was
via holes on the flexible parylene film, rolled and fixed by measured to show a 4 Hz resonant frequency since stronger
two pieces of tape at the joining edge on the cylinder which magnets were used in the magnetic spring with 4 cm initial
is used to house the generator as shown in Figs. 7a and 7b. distance [24]. The detailed parameters of the energy harvester
Four diametrically magnetized magnets (6.4 mm in diameter, with microfabricated flexible coils and the larger-scale energy
3.2 mm in thickness) are suspended by the magnetic spring harvesters are listed in Table IV-VI.
with an initial distance of 8 mm in a teflon cylinder (of which
the wall thickness is 1.5 mm), and surrounded by the coils IV. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
aligned to the boundary between the magnets, as shown The energy harvesters are characterized with a vibra-
in Figs. 7c and 7d. The resonant frequency is estimated to be tion shaker system, which includes a function generator,
power amplifier, shaker table, laser Doppler displacement
7.9 Hz from ωn = 2g r0 . Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets (grade meter (LDDM) and oscilloscope. The shaker table provides the
N52 from K&J Magnetics, Inc.), which are the strongest
vibration, while the function generator controls the vibration
commercial magnets for the size, are used to provide the
frequency and amplitude. The vibration amplitude is measured
magnetic field.
with the LDDM, while the EMF from the power generator
Based on the same principle, a larger-scale energy
is observed at the oscilloscope. With the rms values of the
harvester I (occupying 1 × 2.6 × 10 cm3 and weighing
voltages that are obtained from the waveforms, the power
98 gram) and energy harvester II (occupying 2 × 3 × 20 cm3 outputs delivered to the loads of various resistances can be
and weighing 180 gram) scaled up to ten magnets and sixteen calculated.
coils have been fabricated, and shown to generate enough
power to light up a light-emitting diode, when shaken by a A. Energy Harvester With Microfabricated Flexible Coils
hand at a few Hz, as shown in Figs. 8a-8c. Sixteen coils wound For the energy harvester with four disk magnets and
by a coil winder are arranged over the boundaries between six microfabricated flexible 7-turn coils, the measured EMFs
the magnets of the 2 × 5 magnet array in a laser-machined as a function of vibration frequency at various input accelera-
plastic cylinder (that houses the harvester). For the energy tions are shown in Fig. 9a. At a fixed acceleration, the EMFs
harvester I, the magnetic spring with an initial distance of depend on the vibration frequency, peaking at the resonant
1.5 cm between the two magnets is used to suspend the magnet frequency. From the acceleration of 0.27 g at the resonant fre-
array in the prototype, and the resonant frequency is estimated quency of 8 Hz, close to the theoretical resonant frequency of
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ZHANG et al.: ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY HARVESTER WITH FLEXIBLE COILS AND MAGNETIC SPRING 9

to a vibration amplitude from 0.35 to 1.05 mm), the EMF

increases from 4.95 to 6.7 mVrms , and the power output (into
21  load) increases from 0.29 to 0.53 μW. The power output
increases at a lower rate when the acceleration is larger than
0.36 g (corresponding to a vibration amplitude of 1.4 mm).
At 0.36 g acceleration, the relative motion between the mag-
nets and coils (Z 0 = Y0 /2ζ = 3.7mm) is larger than the
thickness of the magnet (3.2 mm). Thus, the power output
increases at a lower rate when the magnet array moves out
of the coil range, as expected from the simulations. As the
magnetic flux change for an array of magnets peaks when the
coil center is located at the boundary between the magnets
and increases as the distance from the magnet surface is
decreased [23], the power output can be improved by using
thinner teflon tube to reduce the distance between the magnet
and coil arrays. In addition, the microfabrication process of
electroplated planar coils that are embedded in parylene film
provides an easy method to fabricate flexible coils, which
can easily surround a cylinderical magnet array to completely
utilize the 3D space.

B. Larger-Scale Energy Harvester

For the larger-scale energy harvester I, the measured EMFs
as a function of vibration frequency at various input accelera-
tions are shown in Fig. 10a when sixteen coils are connected
in series. At acceleration of 0.2 g (corresponding to 1.64 mm
vibration amplitude), the measured resonant frequency is
5.5 Hz, close to the theoretical resonant frequency of 5.8 Hz.
The power outputs as a function of input acceleration at
5.5 Hz are shown in Fig. 10b. As the acceleration increases
from 0.1 to 0.5 g (corresponding to a vibration amplitude of
4.1 mm), the power output (into 100  load) increases from
1.2 to 4.3 mW. However, the power output increases slowly,
though the acceleration is increased further, mainly because
the relative motional amplitude (Z 0 ) is limited by the initial
distance of 1.5 cm between the two magnets of the magnetic
spring. When the input acceleration is larger than 0.5 g, the
Fig. 8. (a) Photo of the larger-scale electromagnetic energy harvester I with relative motion is large enough to cause the hitting of the two
magnetic spring occupying 26 cc and weighing 98 gram. (b) Photos of the magnets of the magnetic spring. Since the energy lost by the
larger-scale energy harvester II with magnetic spring occupying 120 cc and magnets hitting, the power output cannot increase even though
weighing 180 gram. (c) Photo of a light-emitting diode being lit up by hand
shaking the energy harvester. the input acceleration increases. Figure 10c shows the power
outputs as a function of input acceleration at 2 Hz. As the
acceleration increases from 0.1 to 1 g (corresponding to a
7.9 Hz, a peak value of 6.7 mVrms is measured. The measured vibration amplitude from 6.2 to 62 mm), the power output (into
plot of EMF versus vibration frequency for an input acceler- 100  load) increases from 2.4 μW to 1.07 mW. At vibration
ation of 0.27 g at the resonant frequency of 8 Hz shows a frequency of 2 Hz, which is lower than the 5.5 Hz resonant
3-dB bandwidth ( ω) of 3 Hz, and a quality factor (Q) is frequency, the relative motion amplitude (Z 0 ) is less than
estimated to be 2.7 from Q = ωn / ω. Thus the damping vibration amplitude (Y0 ) as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, and
ratio is ζ = ωn d/2k = 1/2Q = 0.19. The coil inductance the power output keeps increasing with the increased vibration
is measured to be 32 μH with a network analyzer. At the amplitude without the magnets hitting.
vibration frequency of several Hz, the inductive impedance is To compare the relative performance of the energy har-
much less than the resistive impedance (21 ), and can be vesters with different sizes under different vibration accelera-
neglected. Thus, maximum power is delivered into a matched tions, power density (i.e., power output per harvester volume,
load of which the resistance is equal to the coil resistance, mW/cm3 ) and figure of merit (FOM) defined to be the power
as expected. Figure 9b shows the measured EMFs and power density (mW/cm3 ) normalized to the square of acceleration
outputs as a function of input acceleration at 8 Hz. As the (mW/cm3 /g2 ) are calculated, and used to compare the energy
acceleration is increased from 0.09 to 0.27 g (corresponding harvester in this work with other published electromagnetic
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10 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

TABLE IV
PARAMETERS OF THE E NERGY H ARVESTER W ITH M ICROFABRICATED F LEXIBLE C OILS

TABLE V
PARAMETERS OF THE L ARGER -S CALE E NERGY H ARVESTER I W ITH M AGNETIC S PRING

TABLE VI
PARAMETERS OF THE L ARGER -S CALE E NERGY H ARVESTER II W ITH M AGNETIC S PRING

Fig. 9. Measured EMF of the energy harvester with microfabricated flexible coils: (a) EMF versus vibration frequency as a function of accelerations and
(b) EMF and power output (into 21  load) versus input acceleration at the resonant frequency.

energy harvesters, as shown in Table VII. Since a larger input of 5.5 Hz, our energy harvester with volume of 26 cm3
acceleration brings in a larger damping, FOM typically drops produces highest power density (0.16 mW/cm3 ) and best FOM
as the input acceleration increases. At the resonant frequency (0.64 mW/cm3 /g2 ) from 0.5 g acceleration, although higher
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ZHANG et al.: ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY HARVESTER WITH FLEXIBLE COILS AND MAGNETIC SPRING 11

Fig. 10. Measured EMF of the larger-scale energy harvester I (26 cc, 98 gram): (a) EMF versus vibration frequency as a function of acceleration, (b) EMF
and power output (into 100  load) versus input acceleration at 5.5 Hz, and (c) EMF and power output (into 100  load) versus input acceleration at 2 Hz.

FOMs of 1.2 and 0.7 mW/cm3 /g2 are reported with a large The power output increases as the walking speed increases
volume of 500 cm3 in [18] and at a lower acceleration of since both the vibration frequency and amplitude increase. The
0.04 g in [22], respectively. power output from the energy harvester I increases rapidly,
as the walking speed increases beyond 2 m/s (slow running),
C. Harvesting Energy From Human Body’s and reaches 14.8 mW at 2.68 m/s. The speed higher than
Walking/Running Motion 2 m/s corresponds to running, and provides larger vibration
When the larger-scale energy harvester I is placed in a amplitude than walking condition, in addition to increased
backpack of a human walking at various speeds, the harvester vibration frequency. This causes the power level to increase
produces mW level of power from a walking motion. The rapidly as the walking speed increases beyond 2 m/s.
measured output voltages at walking speeds of 0.45, 1.12 and When the larger-scale energy harvester II with 4 Hz resonant
2.68 m/s are shown in Figs. 11a, 11b and 11c, respectively. frequency was placed in a backpack of a human walking, it
From the output–voltage waveforms, we see that the most showed higher power outputs of 25.6 mW at 2.68 m/s and
electrical powers are at 1.33, 1.67 and 2.86 Hz for 0.45, 1.12 32 mW at 3.58 m/s [24]. As the walking speed increases, the
and 2.68 m/s walking speed, respectively, similar to where frequency gets closer to the resonant frequency (4 Hz) of the
the most mechanical powers are for those walking paces. harvester II, and the relative motion between the magnet and
As the walking speed increases, the peak value of the output coil array increases rapidly. In case of the energy harvester I
voltage increases, and the frequency (where most mechanical with 1.5 cm initial distance, increasing the walking speed
power resides) also increases. The maximum power outputs beyond 2.68 m/s does not generate any higher power due to the
as a function of walking speed for the larger-scale energy hitting of magnets in the magnetic spring. But for the energy
harvesters I and II are shown and compared in Fig. 11d. harvester II, the 4 cm initial distance between the two stronger
 This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.

12 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

TABLE VII
C OMPARISON B ETWEEN T HIS W ORK AND P UBLISHED E LECTROMAGNETIC E NERGY H ARVESTERS

Fig. 11. Measured output voltage of the larger-scale electromagnetic energy harvester I (26 cc, 96 gram): (a) output voltage at a walking speed of 0.45 m/s
(b) output voltage at a walking speed of 1.12 m/s, (c) output voltage at a walking speed of 2.68 m/s, and (d) power output versus the walking speed for the
larger-scale energy harvesters I (weak magnetic spring) and II (strong magnetic spring).

magnets in the magnetic spring reduces the resonant frequency, and volume are larger, though. No special interface electronic
and allows the harvester to work at a higher waking speed circuit is needed to drive a resistive load, as the harvesters
without the magnets hitting each other. The harvester’s weight can drive any resistive loads (e.g., incandescent light bulbs,
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ZHANG et al.: ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY HARVESTER WITH FLEXIBLE COILS AND MAGNETIC SPRING 13

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 This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.

14 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Yufeng Wang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees Eun Sok Kim (M’91–SM’01–F’11) received the
from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2009 B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University
and 2012, respectively. He is currently pursuing of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, in
the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering with the 1982, 1987, and 1990, respectively, all in electrical
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, engineering.
CA, USA. He joined the University of Southern California,
His research interests include piezoelectric micro- Los Angeles, CA, in Fall 1999, where he is currently
machined ultrasonic transducers, electromagnetic a Professor and the Chair of the Ming Hsieh Depart-
transducers, and vibration-driven energy harvesting. ment of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics. From
Spring 1991 to Fall 1999, he was with the Depart-
ment of Electrical Engineering, University of Hawaii
at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA, as a Faculty Member. He was with the IBM
Research Laboratory, San Jose, CA; NCR Corporation, San Diego, CA; and
Xicor Inc., Milpitas, CA, as an Intern, a Design Engineer, and a Summer-
Student Engineer, respectively.
Prof. Kim is an Expert in piezoelectric and acoustic MEMS, has authored
about 200 refereed papers, and holds 10 issued patents, but has recently
launched a research program on electromagnetic vibration-energy harvest-
ing. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. He serves as an Edi-
tor of the IEEE J OURNAL OF M ICROELECTROMECHANICAL S YSTEMS /
ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, and is on the Editorial
Board of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. He was
a recipient of the Research Initiation Award from 1991 to 1993 and the
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award by the National Science
Foundation. He received the Outstanding Electrical Engineering Faculty of the
Year Award at the University of Hawaii in 1996 and the IEEE T RANSACTIONS
ON AUTOMATION S CIENCE AND E NGINEERING Best New Application Paper
Award in 2006.