A Four-in-one Compact Design of Monostable Quasi-Static-Toggling
Mechanical Energy Harvester
Abstract
Quasi-static-toggling (QST) mechanical energy harvester (MEH) can slowly
accumulate a certain amount of mechanical potential energy. After the
triggering position, it releases and converts the stored energy into
useful electricity in an instant. It was designed into micro-generators
for powering some ultra-low-powered Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
This short paper introduces a 4-in-1 QST-MEH design. It uses a compact
and deformable iron cantilevered beam to inclusively embody four key
elements, i.e., an iron core, an energy-buffering spring, a rebounding
spring, and a mechanical lever, which form a monostable QST
electromagnetic generator. Compared with the existing designs, the
proposed design reduces the component number to the most extreme. It
largely helps reduce manufacturing and assembly procedures toward
low-cost implementation and reliable operation. Experimental result
shows that about 0.25 mJ of energy can be harvested from each round of
press-release action with the experimental prototype. Such an amount of
energy is sufficient to power an iBeacon Bluetooth low-energy (BLE)
transmitter for motion-powered IoT applications.