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Performance Study of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting to Flash a LED

Article in International Journal of Renewable Energy Research · January 2011

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International Journal Of Renewable Energy Research, IJRER
J.Dayou, C.Man-Sang, Vol.1, No4, pp.323-332 ,2011

Performance Study of Piezoelectric Energy

Harvesting to Flash A LED

Jedol Dayou*‡, Man-Sang, C.

* Energy, Vibration and Sound Research Group (e-VIBS), School of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah,
Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

‡ Jedol Dayou : [email protected]

Received:17.06.2011 Accepted:17.08.2011

Abstract- In this paper, analytical model of parallel and series configurations of identical piezoelectric benders with the
increasing number is derived and studied to understand the performance of harvesting electric charge and power to flash a
Light Emitting Diode (LED). Experiment was carried out where the flashing intervals of the LED were used to measure the
harvesting performance. The benders in parallel configuration were found to perform the best as the number increases. The
workability of the benders as a module of self-powered decorative LED as well as an autonomous sensor for monitoring
shaking amplitude with reference to the flashing interval was then validated within the consideration of the structural damping.

Keywords- Ambient Vibration; Charge generation; Power harvesting; Piezoelectric bender; LED flashing.

1. Introduction possible to be lit up at observable luminosity if any

of the transmitting devices is replaced by the LED
Mechanical vibration is a potential energy source in the above-mentioned autonomous system. This
that is abundant enough to be acquired from is because its power acquired is generally less than
surroundings. It can be converted into electrical 20 mW and the LED requires power of 20 to 40
energy through piezoelectric transducer. As a mW for normal operating [9].
result, this opens the possibility for developing an
This paper expands on the previous works
autonomous system and the need to power this
described in [3-8] and investigates the capability of
system has motivated many research efforts
using the increasing number of identical
focused on harvesting electrical energy from
piezoelectric benders (parallel and series
ambient vibration. These included the previous
configurations) for rising the power generation so
work at the MIT Media Lab to investigate the
that a self-powered system to flash a LED can be
feasibility of harnessing energy parasitically from
developed. Out of various ambient vibration
various human activities [1]. The work was later
sources, an air-conditioner (air-con) compressor
extended to study using piezoelectric ceramics for
can provides steadier and more continuous
the collecting energy by walking [2]. More
vibration for longer time and therefore it has been
recently the piezoelectric element has been used
chosen in this paper for the system validation at
simultaneously as a power generator and a sensor
the last stage. Benders (short cantilever beams)
[3-8]. They have evaluated the performance of the
with polymeric piezoelectric element bonded on
piezoelectric sensor to power wireless transmission
each of the bender were used for converting the
(most of them are RF transmission) and validated
vibration energy of such air-con compressor in
the feasibility of the autonomous sensor system.
operation into electrical energy. Due to the limited
These results have motivated the desire to develop
power harvesting with piezoelectric elements, the
a similar system for powering up a LED either
direct supply of energy for lighting a LED is not
continuously as a light source or intermittently as a
feasible. Therefore, the electric charge harvested
flashing indicator. However, a LED will not be
International Journal Of Renewable Energy Research, IJRER
J.Dayou, C.Man-Sang, Vol.1, No4, pp.323-332 ,2011

from the piezoelectric elements was first of a equivalent spring constant, K, of the
accumulated until a sufficient amount before piezoelectric beam, an equivalent mass, M, a
deliver to the LED. This results in discontinuous dashpot with damping coefficient, C, and a
supply of energy to the LED and making LED to vibrating base. The equivalent SDOF model is
flash. The analytical models of series and parallel shown in Fig. 1, where d(t) is the vibrating base
configurations of the given identical benders with displacement and x(t) is the equivalent mass
its increasing number, n, were theoretically studied displacement. y(t) is the relative motion between
and experimentally compared to understand the the vibrating base and the equivalent mass, M.
performance of harvesting electric charge and given by
power to flash a LED. After the validation of the
y (t ) d (t ) x (t ) . (3)
self-powered system to flash a LED, this paper
discuss the potential applications of (i) developing
the flashing LED system into a module of self- x(t)
powered decorative LED for the building or tree M
decorative light which consists of hundreds of this
d(t)
module; (ii) developing an autonomous sensor for
monitoring the vibration amplitude of a vibrating K C
object with the reference of LED flashing interval

2. Theoretical Study
Fig.1. Equivalent SDOF model for the piezoelectric
2.1. Analytical Models for Piezoelectric Benders cantilever beam with excitation at base.
According to Newton’s second law, the dynamic
A piezoelectric bender consists of a layer of
model of such system can be written as
polymeric piezoelectric element (its relative
permitivity is 13) and a layer of host that they are My Cy Ky Md . (4)
bonded together. External stress to a piezoelectric Applying Laplace transform with zero initial
bender in base vibration causes deflection and conditions y (0) y (0) 0 , Eq. (4) becomes
bending to the bender. The deflection distorts the
1
internal dipole moments within the piezoelectric y( s) d (s) , (5)
element and generates electrical voltages. This s (4 f 0 )s (2 f 0 ) 2
2

results in the generation of charges on the element. where f0 is the natural frequency and is the
The relationship between the stress and strain of damping ratio.
the piezoelectric element [10] are given as Assuming that the piezoelectric bender is excited
piezo Y piezo piezo g 31 D3 , (1) at its base which is at the fixed end, the force F(s)
experienced by the beam because of the
D3 displacement input of y is given by
E3 g 31 piezo , (2)
13 0 1
F (s ) Ky (s ) Kd (s ) (6)
s (4 f 0 ) s (2 f 0 ) 2
2
where Y piezo is the Young’s Modulus of the
polymeric piezoelectric element, piezo and piezo where K is the equivalent dynamic stiffness of the
beam.
are the strain and stress of the element respectively
When a sinusoidal input d (t ) d 0 sin( 2 ft ) is
in x direction, g 31 is the piezo stress constant, D3
applied to the base excitation, Eq. (6) can be
and E3 are electric displacement and electric field written as
strength along the z direction, 0 is the permittivity (2 r ) 2 1
of the vacuum, 0 8 .85 exp( 12 ) Fm 1 . F Kd 0 sin( 2 ft ) , (7)
( 2 r ) 2 (1 r 2 ) 2
For the equivalent mechanical model, the where r = f/f0 is the ratio of the excitation
piezoelectric bender can be modeled as a single frequency to the natural frequency.
degree of freedom system (SDOF), which consists
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J.Dayou, C.Man-Sang, Vol.1, No4, pp.323-332 ,2011

The electric charge harvested on the harvesting application. One of the important
piezoelectric element due to an external force, F, parameters to be considered in both models is the
can be obtained by integrating the electric capacitance of the piezoelectric material. This can
displacement to its overlapping area. The be determined by first setting the external force, F,
harvesting of electric charge for the piezoelectric in Eq. (8) to zero which gives
bender can be obtained with the Eqs. (1) and (2), 13(1 A AB) L2 0 t bender whV
and expressed as Q 2
. (14)
w L
ktbender (1 A) L
Q D3 dydx
0 0
,(8)
13 (1 A AB ) L2 0 tbender whV
2
3 ABg 31 F
kt bender (1 A ) L

where
h 1 A4 (1 B) 2 2 A(2 A2 3 A 2)(1 B) (9) Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of piezoelectric element.
2
k h1 A AB 1 13 Y piezo g 31 0
Rearranging Eq. (14) give the capacitance as
, (10)
39 1 A A 2 B 2 Y piezo g 31
2 Q 13 (1 A AB ) hwL 0
0 C . (15)
V (1 A )t bender k
t host
A , (11) In order to increase the power transferred to the
t bender
LED, more than one piezoelectric bender could be
is the ratio of the host thickness, thost, to the used to raise the harvested power. When more than
respective bender thickness, tbender, one bender are used, these benders can be
connected in various combinations (i.e. parallel
Yhost
B , (12) only, series only and any mixture of parallel and
Y piezo series). With the understanding of combining
capacitance in electricity study, their electric
is the ratio of the Young’s Modulus of the host,
charge generated and effective piezoelectric
Yhost , to the Young’s Modulus of the polymeric
capacitance can be determined. Since the parallel
piezoelectric element, Y piezo , V is the external only combination possesses maximum electric
applied voltage to the piezoelectric element, L and charge harvested and effective capacitance and the
w are the length and width of the piezoelectric series only combination possesses minimum
bender, respectively. electric charge generation and effective
capacitance among all the possible combinations,
When the piezoelectric bender is used to harvest only these two extreme combinations are
electric energy, there is no external applied voltage
considered in this study. When n identical
to the piezoelectric element attached (V = 0). As a piezoelectric benders are used, their electric charge
result, the electric charge harvested on the
harvested and effective piezoelectric capacitance
piezoelectric element from Eq. (8) becomes for the two combinations (n-parallel and n-series
39 AB (1 A AB ) g 31 0 L2 F configurations) become
Q 2
. (13)
tbender k 39 nAB (1 A AB ) g 31 0 L2 F
Q n parallel 2
,(16)
Under converse piezoelectric effect, a t bender k
piezoelectric element work as a sensor which is
39 AB (1 A AB ) g 31 L2 F
converting the mechanical energy into electrical Qn series 2
0
, (17)
signal and this element is modeled as an equivalent t bender k
circuit which consists of a series capacitance, C, 13 n (1 A AB ) hwL
Cn 0 , (18)
with a voltage source [11] (refer to Fig. 2). Since parallel
(1 A ) t bender k
the piezoelectric energy harvester has the same
13 (1 A AB ) hwL
working principle as the piezoelectric sensor, the Cn series
0
. (19)
same model is used in this paper for power n (1 A ) t bender k

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Therefore, for n-parallel configuration, the required level, Vin = Vmin, the control circuit turns
electric charge harvested is in direct proportion to off the discharge process so that the capacitor is
the applied forces and the number of the identical allowed to charge up again.
benders, n (Eq. (16)), whereas, the effective By considering the piezoelectric capacitor (Fig.
piezoelectric capacitance is directly proportional to 2) and the input capacitor (Fig. 3) of the harvesting
n (Eq. (18)). circuit are connected in series and assuming the
For n-series configuration, the electric charge rectifier is ideal, the average piezoelectric power
harvested is independent on n but it is still in direct harvested, Ppiezo, is given as
proportion to the applied forces (Eq. (17)), but the
effective piezoelectric capacitance is inversely 2
1 Qtot fQtot
2

proportional to n (Eq. (19)). Ppiezo 2 fW piezo 2f (20)

2 Ctot Ctot
2.2. Power Harvesting Circuit and Energy
Conversion where Wpiezo is the electric energy harvested per
bending, Qtot is the total electric charge harvested,
The block diagram of the proposed power Ctot is the combined capacitance of piezoelectric
harvesting circuit is shown in Fig. 3. In order to be capacitance and f is the frequency of the vibration
able to light up the LED, electric current in the experienced by the piezoelectric elements.
LED has to be large enough. A DC – DC buck The electric energy transferred, Wtransfer, into the
converter approach is deployed to amplify the rectifier circuit during one discharging process can
current by reducing the voltage output [12]. To be determined by using
achieve higher current in LED, the duty cycle is
incrementally increased or decreased by a control 1 2 2
Wtransfer Cin Vmax Vmin . (21)
circuit to change the current level on the current 2
versus duty cycle curve. With the designed where Cin is the input capacitance.
algorithm [13], the adaptive controller is used to
manage the maximum power into the LED. Thus, the average electric power transferred into
the rectifier circuit can be expressed as
Wtransfer
Ptransfer , (22)

where is the charging and discharging time of the

input capacitor.
And the efficiency of power transferred from the
piezoelectric elements during vibration into the
rectifier circuit is written as
Ptransfer
power 100% . (23)
Ppiezo

3. Experiment and Results

Fig. 3. Block diagram of piezoelectric energy power
harvesting circuit. The piezoelectric elements used in the
experiment are the 52 m piezo film from
Since piezoelectric elements produce AC voltage Measurement Specialties, Inc. and the host
under vibration and LED needs a DC current, the material is polypropylene. The piezo stress
piezoelectric energy is first rectified then used to constant, g31, is given as 216 x 10-3 m2C-1. The
charge up an input capacitor. When the input length and width of each piezoelectric bender are
capacitor is charged to a predetermined value, Vin 125 mm X 11 mm, respectively. As a result, A (Eq.
= Vmax, it will discharge into the buck converter (11)) and B (Eq. (12))are 0.704 and 0.3,
and this voltage is monitored by the control circuit. respectively. With this configuration, the
When the input to the buck converter falls below a
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piezoelectric bender will have its resonance

frequency at 20 Hz.
In order to ease the comparison between the
results of the laboratory experiment and that of real
application testing in the later section, the vibration
frequency, f, and the external force, F, applied Fig. 5. Equivalent circuit of Fig. 3 by ignoring the rectifier
using the shaker to the base of the benders are set bridge.
to be 20 Hz and 2.3 mN, respectively, in the The comparison of the experiment and the
experiment. These values are the typical vibration simulation (using Eqs. (16) and (17)) shows that
frequency and the input force from the vibrating the experimental electric charge harvested is in
air-con compressor when the fan speed is at 1200 good agreement with the theoretical prediction.
rpm (refer to section 4 for the prototype This is clearly shown in Fig. 6. The electric charge
performance analysis for comparison). harvested increases directly proportional to n, in
For verifying the theoretical electric charge the n-parallel configuration and that is independent
harvesting in this paper, the experiment was first on n in the n-series configuration.
setup without the converter and LED (refer to Fig. 5
x 10
-7

4). The input capacitance used is Cin = 23 F and 4.5 Simulation (Parallel)
Simulation (Series)
its voltage is Vin. The maximum value of Vin is 4
Experiment (Parallel)
Experiment (series)

Vin,max, and the charging time for the input

Electric Charge Generated, Q (C)

3.5

capacitor from Vin = 0 to Vin,max is t. The 3

experiment was conducted for both the parallel and 2.5

the series configurations with n = 1 to 10. Each set 2

of Vin,max and t were measured. In experiment, a 1.5

bridge rectifier with four schottky barrier diodes 1

was used in order to ensure the low loss of energy 0.5

0
transfer from the piezoelectric elements to the 1 2 3 4 5 6
n (Number of Bender)
7 8 9 10

converter. By assuming the rectifier is ideal and Fig. 6. Results of simulation and experiment for electric
ignoring the existence of the rectifier (refer to Fig. charge harvesting.
5), the input capacitor is considered to be in series
with the piezoelectric capacitor and, thus, the For verifying the theoretical effective
piezoelectric capacitor has the same amount of piezoelectric capacitance, a digital capacitance
electric charge as the input capacitance. The meter was then used to measure the effective
electric charge harvested per bending in piezoelectric capacitance and the theoretical
experiment, Qexp, can be determined by simulation is based on Eqs. (18) and (19). Fig. 7
shows the results of both the simulation and the
CinVin ,max measurement. The measurement seems to agree
Qexp , (24)
2 ft very well with theoretical simulation. The
analytical Eqs. (18) and (19) for the effective
where Cin and Vin,max were the measured values.
piezoelectric capacitance for both the parallel and
the series configurations up to n = 10 are,
therefore, verified.
During the experiment with a LED from HB
Electronic Components [14] loaded to the
converter (Fig. 3), the voltage of the input
capacitor (Cin = 24 F), Vin, was found to reach
4.95 V (Vmax), and then it discharged into the
Fig. 4. Experiment setup for determination of electric charge converter circuit until Vin falls below 3.93 V (Vmin )
harvesting. as shown in Fig. 8. The discharging process was

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J.Dayou, C.Man-Sang, Vol.1, No4, pp.323-332 ,2011

3.5
x 10
-8
to the LED during one cycle of charging and
Simulation (Parallel)
Measurement (Parallel)
discharging of the output capacitor. Since the
3
Simulation (Series)
energy input to rectifier circuit and that output to
Effective Piezoelectric Capacitance, C (F)

Measurement (Series)

2.5
the converter circuit acquired are 108.7 J
2 (Wtransfer,input) and 28.5 J (Wtransfer,output),
1.5
respectively, the efficiency of the converter in this
experiment is 26.6%.
1

0.5

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
n (Number of Bender)

Fig. 7. Results of simulation and measurement of

piezoelectric capacitance.
terminated by the control circuit so that the input
capacitor could be charged up again. Since the
values of Vmax (4.95 V) and Vmin (3.93 V) in this
experiment were predetermined at the circuit
design, the change in Vin = Vmax – Vmin is a
constant. However, the rate of the change in Vin
was affected by the parameters of n and the Fig. 9. Change in voltage of the output capacitor for n = 5 in
parallel configuration.
configuration of the benders. Fig. 8 shows the
change in Vin with time for n = 5 in parallel The performance of the piezoelectric benders as
configuration for example. Using Eq. (21), Wtransfer a power generator can be determined by measuring
was found to be 108.7 J per change in voltage in the duration of a charging and discharging cycle in
this experiment. the output capacitor was conducted for each of the
configurations with n up to 10. This result (refer to
Fig. 10) shows that the duration decreases as n
increases for both the parallel and series
configurations. However, the parallel configuration
has shorter duration than that in the series
configuration. Due to the rapid discharge of the
capacitor through the LED, a short burst of large
enough electric current is produced and hence
causes the LED to flash. This duration of the cycle
is, therefore, referred as the flashing interval of the
Fig. 8. Change in Vin with time for n = 5 in parallel
configuration.
loaded LED. Thus, the results shown in Fig.10 can
be referred as the flashing intervals of the LED for
piezoelectric benders in parallel and series
One of the important information to be considered configurations. The shortest flashing interval of the
in this experiment is the efficiency of the converter LED was 1.15 s with n = 10 in parallel
which can be determined as follows. The electrical configuration. Shorter flashing interval means
energy transferred from the input capacitor into the more electric charge and power are harvested so
converter is first stored in the output capacitor, Cout that the LED can be flashed more rapidly. Fig. 11
(refer to Fig. 3), which is later channeled into the shows the ratio of the flashing interval with series
LED. In this experiment, Cout = 82.7 F and the configuration to parallel configuration for n = 1 to
range of voltage of output capacitor, Vout, was 10 obtained through experiment. It was found that
found to change from 1.5 V to 1.25 V (Fig. 9). the ratio increases with n. This means that the
Similar to Vin, the change in Vout remains constant flashing interval with parallel configuration is
as long as the same LED loaded. The result shows smaller than that with series configuration.
that the electric energy of 28.5 J has transferred However, as the curve gradient (Fig. 11) reduces

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J.Dayou, C.Man-Sang, Vol.1, No4, pp.323-332 ,2011

as n increases, the decrement in the flashing where V’max = 1.5 V and V’min = 1.25 V in this
interval with parallel configuration reduces for experiment.
increasing n. Since flashing interval with parallel Fig. 12 shows the results of the average
configuration is generally shorter than that with piezoelectric powers harvested and the average
series configuration, the piezoelectric benders in power transfer with parallel and series
parallel configuration is concluded to perform configurations as a function of benders number, n.
better electric charge generation and power The average piezoelectric power harvested with
harvesting to flash the LED and the performance parallel configuration was found to be coincided
can be improved further with increasing n. with that of series configuration. This means that
the average power harvested for a given n is
Duration of a Cycle of Charging and Discharging in Output Capacitor (s)

15

independent to the configuration. However, the

Parallel
Series average power transfer for parallel configuration
10
was observed to be always larger than that for
series configuration due to the fact of larger
electric charge harvested per bending of the
5
piezoelectric elements in parallel configuration.
The average power transfer to the converter circuit
was less than that to the rectifier circuit, as
expected, due to power lost and impedance
0
1 2 3 4 5 6
n (Number of Bender)
7 8 9 10
mismatch between the circuits. By using Eq. (23),
Fig. 10. Duration of a charging and discharging cycle in the the efficiency of each of the average power
output capacitor. transfer to the rectifier circuit and that to the
converter circuit was obtained which is shown in
7
Fig. 13. It was observed that the transfer efficiency
in parallel configuration increases as n increases.
Ratio of flashing interval for series to parallel

This is because this configuration provides better

5
match in the source impedance to the input
4
impedance in the rectifier circuit. The converter
circuit was found to have constant transfer
3 efficiency at 26.2% always. Fig. 14 outlines the
power flow and system characteristics of five
2
piezoelectric benders in parallel configuration.
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -4
n (Number of Bender) x 10
1.6
Piezoelectric Power (Parallel & Series)

Fig. 11. Ratio of flashing interval with configurations of 1.4

series to parallel for n = 1 to 10.
1.2

Power Transfer to
E lectric P o w er (W )

1 Rectifier Circuit (Parallel)

With reference to the experimental results of
0.8
electric charge generated and the effective
piezoelectric capacitance (Fig. 6 and Fig. 7), the 0.6
Power Transfer to LED (Parallel)

average piezoelectric power harvested and the 0.4

Power Transfer to Rectifier Circuit (Series)

Power Transfer to LED (Series)

average power transferred to the rectifier circuit
were calculated using Eqs. (20) and (22), 0.2

respectively. The average power transferred to the 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
converter circuit, P’transfer, was determined by n (Number of Bender)

Fig. 12. Piezoelectric power and power transfer for parallel

1 2 2
and series configurations.
C out V 'max V 'min
P'transfer 2 , (25)

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70

59%
60
Power Transfer Efficiency (%)

50
Rectifier Circuit (Parallel)

40
Rectifier Circuit (Series)

30 Converter Circuit (Parallel & Series)

26.2%

20 Overall System (Parallel)

15.5%

10
Overall System (Series)
(a)
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
n (Number of Bender)

Fig. 13. Experimental power transfer efficiencies for parallel

and series configurations.

(b)
Fig. 16. Characteristics graphs of the LED used in
experiment. [14] (a) Light intensity Vs Forward current; (b)
Fig. 14. Outline of power flow and system characteristics. Forward current Vs Forward voltage.
In order to estimate the average power for
flashing the LED used in experiment, the intensity 4. Test on the Piezoelectriv Energy Harvester
of the emitted light from the LED was measured. It Prototype
can be seen from Fig. 15 that the LED flashing The piezoelectric benders in parallel
interval was 2.4 s and the duration for the LED
configuration and the power harvesting circuit
emitting light was approximate 1.8 s when five discussed above form a prototype of the
piezoelectric benders in parallel configuration
piezoelectric energy harvester. This prototype was
were used. Other than these, the highest light tested its workability as a self-powered light
intensity reached and its average were found to be
indicator for the two potential applications by
about 3 Lux and 0.35 Lux, respectively. By placing it on the casing of a selected air-con
referring to the LED characteristics graphs as
compressor (refer to Fig. 17). The typical fan
shown in Fig. 16, for the average light intensity of speeds in this compressor are about 700 rpm, 900
0.35 Lux, the equivalent forward current, I, and
rpm and 1200 rpm. These provide the fundamental
voltage, V, were acquired to be 7.5 mA and 3.0 V, mode of vibration in the frequencies of 11.7 Hz, 15
respectively. Hence, the average power for
Hz and 20 Hz. By using n = 1 to 10, the results of
flashing the LED is estimated as 22.5 mW. the prototype testing with the three different
vibration frequencies were obtained. Fig. 18 shows
the comparison of the test results with the
experimental results. The shortest LED flashing
interval was found to be 1.50 s at 20 Hz when n =
10 .This is because when the compressor fan
turned 1200 rpm (20 Hz), the piezoelectric benders
were in resonance. Thus, more electric charge was
harvested and resulted in the highest LED flashing
rate. The test results of the rate of LED flashing is
consistent with the experimental results for n = 1
to 10 under the same vibrating frequency.
Fig. 15. Light intensity emitted by the flashing LED.
However, due to the existence of additional

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J.Dayou, C.Man-Sang, Vol.1, No4, pp.323-332 ,2011

mechanical damping in the test structure, the piezoelectric benders with increasing bender
overall test results were observed to be number, n, were established. From the results of
approximate 30% difference from the experimental the experiment, the electric charge harvesting with
results. the benders in parallel configuration is n times of
the charge harvesting in series configuration since
the charge generation in series configuration is
always constant. The piezoelectric benders in
parallel configuration were found to perform the
best and the electric charge and power harvested
were increased with increasing n. By using shaker
to provide steady and continuous vibration to the
benders, the LED flashing interval for the benders
in parallel configuration is 1.15 s at n = 10. The
recorded LED flashing light intensity was
Fig. 17. Piezoelectric energy harvester prototype placed on
the air-con compressor.
estimated to be 22.5 mW. By placing on the casing
of an air-con compressor for testing its workability
35 as a module of self-powered decorative LED as
Test on air-con compressor casing (11.7 Hz) well as an autonomous monitoring system for
30
Test on air-con compressor casing (15 Hz) shaking amplitude of the compressor casing at a
25 particular fan speed with reference to the LED
LED flashing interval (s)

Experiment using shaker (11.7 Hz)

20 Experiment using shaker (15 Hz)

flashing interval, the test results of the rate of LED
flashing is consistent with the experimental results
15 Test on air-con compressor casing (20 Hz)
for n = 1 to 10 under the same vibrating frequency.
10
Experiment using shaker (20 Hz)
Hence, the workability of the suggested
applications is validated within the consideration
5
of the structural damping.
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
n (Number of Bender)
Acknowledgements
Fig. 18. Comparison between the results of experiment and
prototype testing. This study was supported by the Malaysian
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
In view of the LED flashing intervals (2.6 s, 2.0 (MOSTI) under e-Sciencefund 03-01-10-SF0144,
s, 1.5 s for 11.7 Hz, 15 Hz, 20 Hz, respectively) in and is greatly acknowledged.
the test results when n = 10, the workability as a
self-powered light indicator (Fig. 19) for the two References
mentioned applications is therefore validated
within the consideration of the mechanical [1] T. Starner, “Human-powered Wearable Computing”,
damping of the vibrating structure. IBM Systems J., vol. 35(3 & 4), pp. 618-629, 1996.
[2] N.S. Shenck, and J.A. Paradiso, “Energy Scavenging
with Shoe-Mounted Piezoelectrics”, J. IEEE Micro,
vol. 21(3), pp. 30 – 42, 2001.
[3] J. Kymissis, C. Kendall, J. Paradiso, and N. Gershenfeld,
“Parasitic power harvesting in shoes”, Proc. 2nd IEEE
ISWC, pp. 132-139, 1998.
Fig. 19. Power harvesting circuit prototype with the flashing [4] T.H. Ng, and W.H. Liao, “Sensitivity Analysis and
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