Insole energy harvesting from human movement using piezoelectric generators

Abstract

The energy requirements of various sensors and portable devices are conventionally met with batteries that have limited lifetimes and contain hazardous materials. Different energy harvesting technologies have emerged as possible alternatives to batteries. With these technologies energy that would otherwise be wasted, can be transformed into useful electric energy to power some applications. There are many readily available energy sources that can be exploited. One of them is different forms of mechanical energy that can be captured with piezoelectric energy harvesters. Several watts of energy can potentially be captured from walking without interfering with the normal gait by integrating piezoelectric energy harvesters in shoes.

In this thesis energy harvesting from walking with piezoelectric energy harvesters is discussed by presenting the basic concepts and theory behind piezoelectric energy harvesting, and providing a literature review about various existing shoe energy harvester designs. Inspired by these designs a piezoelectric shoe energy harvester is developed using commercially available components and its capability to harvest energy is demonstrated.