Non-Resonant Kinetic Energy Harvesting using Macro-Fiber Composite Patch

Over the past decades, thanks to the progresses being made in low power microelectronics, wireless technology, and energy harvesting techniques, we are observing an impressive increase in the use of wearable devices.
Kinetic human energy harvesting is the most efficient and practical method to power them reducing the need of batteries replacement since walking or running is how humans already expend much of their daily energy. The present energy harvesting technologies still have several limitations. In this work, thanks to a mechanical framework specifically designed to reproduce the kinematic of a knee joint and actuated using recorded human motion patterns, we demonstrate the feasibility of the non-resonant employment of the Macro Fiber Composites (MFCs) to scavenge energy from the various human body movements. Both the energy of periodic and aperiodic motions can be harvested. The electrical characteristics of the whole system focusing on the maximum power point of the MFC have been investigated to optimize the system power output.