These are the slides for my talk Sensors Expo and Conference 2019 in San Jose, CA.

1. Vibration Energy
Harvesting
In Action
Real World Stories
Karim El-Rayes, P.Eng, MSEE.
University of Waterloo
Canada

2. What is Energy Harvesting?
It is the process of scavenging energy from any physical
phenomenon in the surrounding environment and
converting it into usable electric power.
Input
conditioning
(optional)
Transducer
Output
conditioning
Energy
Storage
Input from
Physical
phenomenon
Output
power
Energy Harvester

3. Harvesting the Power of Nature
Water wheels were
used to convert the
kinetic energy of the
river Nile stream in
ancient Egypt into
usable power for
water-lifting
irrigation. 
Figure from: www.machinerylubrication.com

4. 8642
1821
1831
1880
1891
1995
1839
1887
1954
Electromagnetic Induction
Michael Faraday
Piezoelectricity
Pierre & Jacques
Curie Electrical Resonant
Transformer Circuit,
AKA: Tesla Coil
Nicola Tesla
Mass-on-Spring
Electromagnetic
Vibrations
Energy Harvester
C.B. William
& R.B. Yates
Seebeck
Thermoelectric effect
Thomas Johann
Seebeck
Photovoltaic Cell
Edmond
Becquerel Wind Turbine
James Blyth
Radioisotope
Thermoelectric
Generator,
AKA: RTG
K. Jordan
& J. Birden

5. Scales of Energy Harvesting
Solar
 Macro & Micro
Vibration & Motion
 Micro
Wind
 Macro
Thermal
 Micro

6. It is the technology of scavenging waste kinetic energy
due to natural or man-made activity from the
surrounding environment and converting it to usable
electrical energy.
What is “Vibration Energy Harvesting”?

7. Transduction Mechanisms for VEH
Electromagnetic
Output
Piezoelectric
Piezoelectric
material
Output
Electrostatic

8. Mechanical Structures for VEH
𝒎 𝒙 + 𝒄 𝒙 + 𝒌𝒙 = −𝒎 𝒚
Mass
Spring stiffness “k”Spring
damping “C”
Unloaded beam
Loaded beam
Beam Length
Static
body or
Wall
Force
applied on
the beam
𝒌 =
𝟑𝑬𝑰
𝑳 𝟑
𝑓𝑜 =
1
2π
𝑘
𝑚
Cantilever Beam Structure Mass-on-Spring Structure

9. Energy Harvesting Flow:
Power Management Perspective
Transducer
Voltage
Buck/Boost
Rectification
Energy Storage
circuitry
Voltage
Regulation
(optional)
Energy Storage To the
Load
Signal Conditioning Power Management
Energy Source

10. Selecting a VEH for Your Application
• Center frequency (Resonance).
• Harvesting Bandwidth (3dB bandwidth).
• Amplitude.
• Output power.
• Physical profile (form-factor).

11. Finding the Sweet Spot
Figure from:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-cutoffFrequencies.htm
Figure from:
https://www.boundless.com/physics/

12. Some Designs from Research
 Mann et al. design
fo = 5.12 Hz
Output power = 200 mW
 Zhenlong Xu et. al.
Multi frequency hybrid VEH
(Piezoelectric+Magnetic)
fo = 22.8 Hz & 25.8 Hz
Output Power = 1.2mW & 2.57 mW
Wang et al.
fo = 48.58 and 146.72 Hz
Output power = 104 nW
Halim et. al.
fo = 51 Hz
Output power = 110 μW
 Sari et al.
fo = 3.5 – 4.5 kHz
Output power = 0.4 μW
Tashiro et al.
fo = 6 Hz
Output power = 36 μW
 Designed for pacemakers
Amirtharajah et al.
fo = 94 Hz
Output power = 400 μW

13. Variable-Flux Biaxial Vibrations Energy
Harvester Magnet
Spring
Non-ferromagnetic tube (plastic)
End
limiters
Ferromagnetic ball (stainless steel)
Coil
Spring
End
Limiters
El-Rayeset. al.
fo = 7.64 Hz
Output power = 154 μW

14. Energy Harvesting at Heart 
 Geon-Tae Hwang et. al.,
KAIST, South Korea
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Output power: 1.18 µW
Dagdeviren et. al., ↓
University of Illinois, USA
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Output power: 1.2 µW/cm2
Source: John A. Roger YouTube Channel

15. Wearable Energy Harvesting
↓ PowerWatch
Matrix Industries
Menlo Park, CA, USA
Technology: Thermal (body heat)
Picture from: Design News
 Wu et. Al.
Chongqing University of Technology, China
Technology: Electromagnetic
Output power: up to 3.13 mW

16. Next Generation of Smart Shoes
Sampath Kumar, ↓
NMAM Institute of Technology, India
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Output power: 8.2 mW
Tsung-Hsing Hsu et. al., 
University of Wisconsin
– Madison, USA
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Output power: 1 – 5 Watts
InStep NanoPower, LLC ↑
Wisconsin, USA
Technology: Microfluid – Electrostatic
Output power: 1 W

17. Smart Textiles
↑ Suling Li et. al.,
Nanning University, China
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Output power: 4.65 µW/cm2
Chao Li et. al., 
University of Central
Florida, FL, USA
Technology: Solar
Output power: 243
mW/cm3

18. Smart Textiles (cont.)
↑ Min Zhang et. al.,
Xiamen University, China
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Output power: 10.2 nW
↑ Quinn Brogan et. al.,
Virginia Tech, VA, USA
Technology: Thermal and Solar
Output power: 140-220 mW

19. Wearable Energy Harvesting
 PowerWalk
Bionic Power
Vancouver, Canada
Technology: Electromagnetic
Output power: 10 – 12W
↓ J. M. Donelan et. al.
Simon Fraser University,
Canada
Technology: Electromagnetic
Output power: 5W

20. Macro Vibrations Energy Harvesting
PaveGen Inc. floor tile installed in Astana, Kazakhstan
London, UK
Technology: Electromagnetic VEH
Output power: 7W per stepPhoto courtesy of: Reader’s Digest

21. Macro Vibrations Energy Harvesting
Revibe Energy ↑ 
Gothenburg, Sweden
Technology: Electromagnetic VEH
Output power: up to 300 mW
Frequency range: 20 – 200 HzPerpetuum ↑
Romesy, UK
Technology: Electromagnetic VEH
Output power: up to 27.5 mW
Frequency range: 25 – 125 Hz

22. Examples of New Products
Batteryless asset monitoring for Industry 4.0
Heat
Exchangers
Corrosion
Monitoring
Gas Detection
Flare Systems
Vibrating
Machinery
Eversensor
Thermistor
Thermistor
TEG
Everactive Steam Trap Monitor Solution
For more information visit everactive.com
Batteryless products powered by Energy Harvesting in the Market Today
Everactive
San Jose, CA
Technology: Thermoelectric
Operating Range (Hot Side) : 32 °F to 392 °F
Output power : ~1μW/°C

23. Keeping an Eye on National Infrastructure:
Structural Health Monitoring
Energy harvester to generate power from traffic on
Forth road bridge, Scotland, ↑
Cambridge Center for Smart Infrastructure and
Construction, University of Cambridge, UK
Picture from: American Society of Civil Engineers
Using energy harvesting to power up wireless sensor nodes
for structural health monitoring, ↑
Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
Wireless sensor networks for infrastructure health
monitoring

24. Macro VEH:
Highway to Power
California Energy
Commission announced in
April 2017 a pilot project of
embedding thousands of
Piezoelectric vibrations
energy harvesters roads to
power roadside lights or
add to the grid.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle

25. Macro VEH:
Regenerative Brakes
source: www.machinedesign.com
Source: HowStuffWorks

26. More Novel Ideas for VEH
↑ Y. Tanaka et. al.,
VEH from sea waves
University of Nottingham, UK
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
McGarry & Knight, 
VEH from trees swaying
Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research
Organization (CSIRO), Australia
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Output power: 44.7 mW

27. Vibration Energy Harvesting from High –
Rise Buildings
Belatchew Labs Architecture’s
Strawscraper:
harvests energy from the wind
with a kinetic hair-covered shell
Belatchew Labs, Sweden
Technology: Piezoelectric VEH
Source: www.inhabitat.com

28. Summary of VEH Transduction Technologies
Parameter Electromagnetic Piezoelectric Electrostatic
Voltage Low
Few milli-Volts 
sub-1V
Very High
Few volts 
tens of volts
High
Few volts 
hundreds of volts
Current High
Tens of µA 
hundreds of mA
Low
Few nA  hundreds
of µA
Very Low
Few nA 
few µA
Power High
hundreds of µW 
few Watts
Low
Few nW 
hundreds of µW
Very Low
Tens of nW 
hundreds of µW
Center
Frequency
Low
Less than 100 Hz
Low  High
1 Hz  5 KHz
Low
Less than 100 Hz

29. Technical Challenges In front of
Vibration Energy Harvesting
• Low output power (few watts).
• Peak power is achieved at a certain frequency.
• Narrow harvesting bandwidth.
• Intermittent output power.
• Form factor issues, especially for wearables and implants.
• Electrical and Mechanical issues (fatigue, tuning,
maintenance, installation, replacement).
• Nonlinear behavior.

30. VEH Triangle of Innovation
New
Materials
Magnetic
materials,
Electrets, PZT…
etc
Fabrication
Technology
MEMS,
Polymers, IC
technology
Form
Factor
meso vs. micro
scale, MEMS
(again).

31. Energy Harvesting Market Challenges
• Low power capacities.
• High entry costs.
• Need for interoperability.
• Lack of Standardization.
• Lack of awareness among end-users.
• A key role to play for the public sector.
Source: Digital Transformation Monitor, European Commission.

32. • “The global Energy Harvesting market is valued at 500
million USD in 2018 and is expected to reach 840
million USD by the end of 2024, growing at a CAGR of
11.1% between 2019 and 2024.”
– Global Energy Harvesting Market 2019 by Company,
Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2024. From
Analytical Research Cognizance
Why Energy Harvesting?

33. The Kardashev Scale – Just for Fun 
“The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization's level of
technological advancement based on the amount of energy a civilization
is able to use”.
Source: Wikipedia

34. Thank you for your time 
Questions?
Karim El-Rayes® 2019
kelrayes@uwaterloo.ca

35. References
• “A Novel Tunable Multi-Frequency Hybrid Vibration Energy
Harvester Using Piezoelectric and Electromagnetic Conversion
Mechanisms”, Z. Xu, X. Shan, D. Chen and T. Xie.
• “Investigations of a nonlinear energy harvester with a bistable
potential well”, B.P. Mann, B.A. Owens.
• “Self-powered signal processing using vibration-based power
generation”, R. Amirtharajah, A.P. Chandrakasan.
• “An electromagnetic micro power generator for wideband
environmental vibrations”, I. Sari, T. Balkan, H. Kulah.

36. References (cont.)
• “Design, fabrication and performance of a new vibration-based
electromagnetic micro power generator”, P. Wang, X. Dai, D.
Fang, X. Zhao.
• “A non-resonant, frequency up-converted electromagnetic
energy harvester from human-body-induced vibration for
hand-held smart system applications”, M. A. Halim and J. Y.
Park.
• “Development of an electrostatic generator for a cardiac
pacemaker that harnesses the ventricular wall motion”,
R. Tashiro, N. Kabei, K. Katayama, E. Tsuboi, K. Tsuchiya.

37. References (cont.)
• “Conformal piezoelectric energy harvesting and storage from motions of
the heart, lung, and diaphragm”, Canan Dagdeviren, Byung Duk
Yang, Yewang Su, Phat L. Tran, Pauline Joe, Eric Anderson, Jing Xia, Vijay
Doraiswamy, Behrooz Dehdashti, Xue Feng, Bingwei Lu, Robert Poston, Zain
Khalpey, Roozbeh Ghaffari, Yonggang Huang, Marvin J. Slepian, and John A.
Rogers.
• “Self‐Powered Cardiac Pacemaker Enabled by Flexible Single Crystalline
PMN‐PT Piezoelectric Energy Harvester”, Geon-Tae Hwang, Hyewon Park,
Jeong-Ho Lee, SeKwon Oh, Kwi-Il Park, Myunghwan Byun, Hyelim Park, Gun
Ahn, Chang Kyu Jeong, Kwangsoo No, HyukSang Kwon, Sang-Goo Lee,
Boyoung Joung, and Keon Jae Lee.

38. References (cont.)
• “Energy Scavenging During Human Walk”, Sampath Kumar.
• “Bubbler: A Novel Ultra-High Power Density Energy Harvesting
Method Based on Reverse Electrowetting”, Tsung-Hsing Hsu,
Supone Manakasettharn, J. Ashley Taylor and Tom Krupenkin.
• “Cloth-Based Power Shirt for Wearable Energy Harvesting and
Clothes Ornamentation”, Suling Li, Qize Zhong, Junwen Zhong,
Xiaofeng Cheng, Bo Wang, Bin Hu, and Jun Zhou.
• “Solar and Thermal Energy Harvesting with a Wearable Jacket”,
Quinn Brogan, Thomas O’Connor, and Dong Sam Ha

39. References (cont.)
• “Wearable energy-smart ribbons for synchronous energy
harvest and storage”, Chao Li, Md. Monirul Islam, Julian
Moore1, Joseph Sleppy, Caleb Morrison, Konstantin
Konstantinov, Shi Xue Dou, Chait Renduchintala and Jayan
Thomas.
• “A hybrid fibers based wearable fabric piezoelectric
nanogenerator for energy harvesting application”, Min Zhang,
Tao Gao, Jianshu Wang, Jianjun Liao, Yingqiang Qiu, Quan Yang,
Hao Xue, Zhan Shi, Yang Zhao, Zhaoxian Xiong and Lifu Chen.

40. References (cont.)
• “Forced vibration experiments on flexible piezoelectric devices
operating in air and water environments”, Tanaka, Yoshikazu;
Oko, Takuya; Mutsuda, Hidemi; Popov, Atanas A.; Patel,
Rupesh; McWilliam, Stewart.
• “The Potential for Harvesting Energy from the Movement of
Trees”, Scott McGarry and Chris Knight.
• “Variable-flux Biaxial Vibrations Energy Harvester”, K. El-Rayes,
S. Gabran, E. Abdelrahman, W. Melek.

41. References (cont.)
• “Biomechanical Energy Harvesting: Generating Electricity
During Walking with Minimal User Effort”, J. M. Donelan, Q. Li,
V. Naing, J. A. Hoffer, D. J. Weber, A. D. Kuo.
• “Energy harvesting to power the rise of the Internet of Things”,
Digital Transformation Monitor, July 2017, European
Commission.
• “An energy harvesting bracelet”, Zhiyi Wu, Jianhong Tang, Xin
Zhang, and Zhicheng Yu.