Energy harvesting is the process by which energy is derived from ambient environment, captured, and stored for low-power, wireless autonomous devices, like those used in wearable electronics and wireless sensor networks, where conventional batteries are limited in use due to their requirements for replacement or recharging.
In our group, we are working on vibration energy harvesting from aircraft operation using piezoelectric conversion and nonlinear dynamics. Energy harvesters are designed to operate effectively over a broad frequency bandwidth. This characteristic is critical, as the vibrations on aircraft are random and broadband.
Power management circuits are also investigated to integrate the energy harvester with the developed low-powered sensing system for SHM. These circuits regulates the harvested energy and provides sufficient power for the sensing system.
