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A Four-in-one Compact Design of Monostable Quasi-Static-Toggling Mechanical Energy Harvester
  • Shiyi Liu ,
  • Junrui Liang
Shiyi Liu
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Junrui Liang
ShanghaiTech University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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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.
2023Published in IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics on pages 1-5. 10.1109/TMECH.2023.3323149