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Scavenging Energy from Human Activities

Using Piezoelectric Material

Article · December 2014

DOI: 10.1016/j.protcy.2014.09.056

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Mohd Hanif Mohd Ramli Ahmed Jaffar

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Procedia Technology 15 (2014) 828 – 832

2nd International Conference on System-Integrated Intelligence: Challenges for Product and

Production Engineering

Scavenging energy from human activities using piezoelectric material

aM.Hanif M.Ramlia*, M.Hazwan M. Yunusa, Cheng Yee Lowa,b, Ahmed Jaffara,b
a
Humanoid Robot and Bio-Sensing Center, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam,Malaysia
b
Brain and Neuroscience Communities of Research, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Malaysia

Abstract

Smart solutions for energy generationare required for a sustainable future. Many studiesand researches are in the pipeline to forge new reliable
and affordable techniques for electricity generation from natural sources, particularly in low power generation due to mass consumption of
small and portable electronic devices. In this context, piezoelectric material is seen as a potential candidate for energy generation since it has an
outstanding property of converting kinetic energy into electricity. In this study, a prototype termed as Vibration Energy Harvester (VEnH) is
developed to assess its performance in generating electricity from a vibration source. The prototype consists of a cantilever beam with a
piezoceramic attached at half-length of the cantilever beam, a DC motor for emulationof the vibration produced by human footsteps and a
microcontroller. Whena continuous force is applied to the VEnH, the cantilever beam experiencesdeformations and thus induces electricity.
Two tests were conducted, namely the input force magnitude variation (1mm – 18mm) tests and the input frequency increment (0Hz – 10Hz)
tests.The results showed that the output voltage was consistently increased proportional to the applied input displacement until it reacheda
saturationpoint. In an optimal condition, about 5.4 Volts was generated before it reached the saturation point. Nonetheless the saturation point
varies according to the input excitation frequency and it is discovered that the optimal input excitation frequency is of4.2Hz.The results have
potently showed the energy generation via VEnH isreliable and consistent, and thus upholds the positive prospective for its applications to
harvest energy from human activities.

© 2014 The
© 2014 TheAuthors.
Authors.Published
Publishedbyby Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of SysInt 2014.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of SysInt 2014.

Keywords: Piezoelectric; scavenging energy; green technology

1. Introduction

Piezoelectric ceramics can be used for energy conversion,i.e.from kineticenergy into electricity (transducers) or inversely from
electricity into kinetic energy (actuators) [1]. Piezoelectric materials can be electrically polarized or undergo a change in
polarization when subjected to a stress. A slight change in the dimension of a piezoelectric material would result in the variation
in bond lengths between cations and anions. This phenomenon was discovered by Jacques and Pierre Curie brothers in 1880
[2]on many crystals, for instance, tourmaline, topaz, quartz, Rochelle salt, and cane sugar.Piezoelectricity or piezoelectric direct
effect describes the relationship between stress and voltage.
Conversely, a piezoelectric material would have a change in dimension when it is exposed in an electric field [3]. This inverse
mechanism is called electrostriction. Those devices utilizing the piezoelectric direct effect to convert mechanical strain into
electricity are called transducers or sensors, which can be used in sensing applications, such as tactile sensors[4-5], microphones,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +603-5544-2987; fax: +603-5543-5161.

E-mail address: haniframli@salam.uitm.edu.my

2212-0173 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of SysInt 2014.
doi:10.1016/j.protcy.2014.09.056
 M.Hanif M.Ramli et al. / Procedia Technology 15 (2014) 828 – 832 829

strain gages, etc.; while those devices utilizing the converse piezoelectric effect to generate a dimension change by adding an
electric field are called actuators and used in actuation applications, such as positioning control devices, frequency selective
device, etc.Different types of piezoelectric materials are available, for instance, single crystals (e.g. quartz SiO2 and Rochelle
salt), ceramics (e.g. lead zirconate titanate or PZT and BaTiO3 or BTO), thin films (e.g. ZnO and PZT), thick films (e.g. PZT),
and polymers (e.g. polyvinylidenefluoride or PVDF).
PZT is a solid solution of lead zirconate and lead titanate, Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3. The structure of PZT (Figure 2.3) decides the
piezoelectric property of PZT. Under strong electric field, dipole forms because the Ti4+ or Zr4+ deviates from the neutral
position of the unit cell. These electric dipoles can be reversed in an electric field. The reversion of dipoles can deform a PZT
material. Similarly, a deformed PZT material can produce electric charge on its surface electrodes due to the deviation of dipoles.
Commercially, PZT ceramic was doped with either acceptor dopants, which create oxygen (anion) vacancies and generate hard
PZT, or donor dopants, which create metal (cation) vacancies and generate soft PZT. The cation vacancies facilitate the domain
wall motion.A soft PZT has a higher piezoelectric constant, but larger loss due to internal friction. A hard PZT has a lower
piezoelectric constant and also lower loss because the domain wall motion is pinned by the impurities.
There were apparent effects of excitation frequency, and input variation [6-10] to the performance of energy generation.
However these effects diminished as the threshold or saturation point is reached. In addition, the geometry changes [11-12] also
play a significant role in facilitating the process of harvesting the energy and it is found that output voltage has a strong
relationship with the size of the piezoelectric layer.Longer, wider and thinner layer requires lower frequency excitation to
generate electricity compared its counterpart.Meanwhile, an optimum power generation is observed when thelocation of input is
set to center of the actuator [13]. For further improvement of output efficiency, the association of electrostatic generators to the
piezoceramic material has shown a potential increment in the rate of electricitygeneration [14].The generated electricity is either
put to immediate use as a source or could be stored by means of storage medium utilizing capacitors [15]. However, for better
results, storage is the best solution.
Electricity supply in Malaysia is mostly driven from non-renewable resources such as coal, natural gas and dams. The non-
renewable resources are running low, and the demands would soon exceed the supply.A new level of energy generation,thus,
must be sought. Every potent approach must be researched to ensure the balance of supply-usage. Malaysia is known for its
tropical rainforest climate and suitable for thermal driven electricity platform. Another potential approach of energy generation is
from scavenged and surrounding waste where it offers a green and low cost process. Therefore this study aims to assess the
capacity of piezoelectric (vibration) based energy harvester for widespread usage in low power devices.

2. Experimental Environment

This study aims to assess the capacity of piezoelectric material for energy conversion or generation. A prototype of a vibration
energy harvester (VEnH) is designed and fabricated (Figure 1a). VEnH consists of an input generator of DC motor, a carbon fibre
cantilever beam, a piezoceramic strip and a microcontroller. The input generator was designed to emulate the vibration produced
by human footsteps. It used a slider crank mechanism to produce a linear reciprocating motion, which is vertical tothecantilever
beam.The prototype has a width of 175mm, a height of 275mm and a thickness of 75mm. A microcontroller (Arduino Uno)
controlled the input displacement of the slider crank based on the speed of the DC motor. Fig. 1b shows a physical layout and
dimensions of piezoceramic of P-876.A12that was used as energy conversion.The laminated structure consistsof a piezoceramic
plate, electrodes and polymer materials which categorized as bendable type. Table 1 shows the specifications and operating
conditions of piezoelectric P-876.A12.When a reciprocatingforce was applied on the piezoelectric crystal, it mechanically
deformedand inducedcharges. This induced charges was measured as a voltage drop on the electrodes of the piezoelectric
element.
In addition, Fig.2 shows the experimental setup for the input-output characterization of VEnH and charge storage process.
Two experiments were designed to characterize input-output relationshippertaining toinput displacement magnitude, input
excitation frequency,and output voltage. The first experiment setup was presented in Fig. 2(a), and focused on characterization of
input-output relationship by magnitude variation of the input displacement. The input displacement was produced by the
vibration exciter and was gradually increased from 0mm to 18mm by amplifier gain of the function generator.The induced output
voltage was recorded and plotted in graphical representation as shown in Fig. 3(a). The second experimental setup determined
optimal operating frequency when the input displacement was held constant (Figure 2b). A Laser Dopler Vibrometer (LDV) and
dBFa Suit 4.9 software were used to measure the excitation frequency while the speed of the slider crank was increased via
microcontroller Arduino Uno. At this point, input displacement was held constant at a certain magnitude, which derived from the
first experiment.Results from this experiment wereplotted in Fig. 3(b). The same experimental setup (Fig. 2b) is used to study the
process of charge storage into 3 different mediums, i.e. a 2.5V 10F super capacitor, a 3.6V NiMH rechargeable battery and a
9.6V NiMH rechargeable battery. The experiment parameters were based on the outcomes of the first and second
experiments.Results of experiment 3 weretabulated into Table 2.
830 M.Hanif M.Ramli et al. / Procedia Technology 15 (2014) 828 – 832

Microcontroller

Fig. 1. (a)The physical VEnH prototype; (b) Piezoelectric P-876.A12layout and dimensions.

Table 1.Characteristics of Piezoelectric P-876.A12 [16].

Product type P-876.A12
Operating Voltage (V) -100 to +400
Block force (N) 265
Min. bending radius (mm) 20
Piezo ceramic height (µm) 200
Electrical capacitance (nF) + 20% 90

Fig. 2. (a) Apparatus setup of input-output characterization for the prototype; (b) Apparatus setup of charge storage process.
 M.Hanif M.Ramli et al. / Procedia Technology 15 (2014) 828 – 832 831

3. Results and Discussions

3.1. Displacement-Voltage characteristics

Fig. 3(a) presented the relationship between input displacement and output voltage.The input rangedfrom 1mm to 18 mm
under excitation frequency of 1.82Hz. There wereseveral linear regions with different gradients.This indicatedthat the
voltagewaslinearly proportional to the displacement at some point. In addition, the voltage also started to reduce when the
displacement exceeded 15 mm.This phenomenon is commonly found in smart materials and is known as saturation point. One the
smart materialsreach its saturation point,the output will stop to increase. At the saturation point, the induced voltage was found to
be about 1.63v. The most optimal region for energy generation lies in the range of 8mm to 15mm where electricity generation
wasfound to be the most favourable.

3.2. Frequency-output characteristics

Based on the results of the first experiment, the highest induced voltage was about 1.63v at 15mm of input displacement.
Therefore, the same input displacement of 15mm was used for the second experiment to find an optimal excitation frequency that
could facilitate higher output voltage.Figure3(b) charted a graph of fixed input displacement versus output voltage.The excitation
frequency was varied from in 0Hz to10Hz while themagnitude of input displacement was held constant at 15mm. Along with the
frequency increment, the output voltage was observed to have a linear relationship at some point until saturation of 4Hz was
reached. Further frequency increment resulted reduction of output voltage. This suggests that the best excitation frequencies lie
between 1.8Hz to 3.5Hz in ensuring optimum efficiency and maintaining the lifespan of the prototype.This suggestion is derived
fromthe finding in [6] wherefrequencies produce by human activities are small and reported to be in range of 1.82Hz (walking
mode) to 2.12Hz (fast walking) at speed of 4km/h to 6km/h.
The running mode offers the shortest charging rate at 10.12 seconds for each of 2.5V super capacitor, 15.17 seconds for 3.6 V
and 37.03 seconds for 9.6V battery respectively (Table 2). This phenomenon also confirmed that the optimal value of excitation
frequency is within its operational frequency. The lower the frequency, it is much longer time taken to charge a single battery
cell. In walking mode, it takes almost half an hour to charge the 2.5V Super capacitor and nearly 2 hours for 9.6V battery to be
fully charged. It is worthwhile to note that these results are from a single piezo generator with input displacement of 15mm and
adding more energy generator could significantly reduce the charging period.

Input-Output charateristic of VEnH Excitation Frequency vs. Induced Voltage

1.8 6

1.6
5
1.4

1.2 4
Output Voltage (V)

Output Voltage

1
3
0.8

0.6 2

0.4
1
0.2

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Input Displacement (mm) Frequency (Hz)

Fig. 3(a) Displacement-Voltage relationship at 1.82Hz; (b)Frequency-output characteristics under of magnitude 15mm.
832 M.Hanif M.Ramli et al. / Procedia Technology 15 (2014) 828 – 832

Table 2.Charging rate results of three different modes of excitation frequency.

Motion Frequency Charging Period (Hours)
(Hz)
Super Capacitor Rechargeable Rechargeable
(2.5V) Battery (3.6V) Battery (9.6V)
Normal 1.8 23.31 35.17 80.10
walking

Fast 2.2 20.53 31.09 75.11

walking

Runing 4.2 10.12 15.17 37.03

4. Conclusion

The efficiency of energy generation depends not only to the amplitude of input displacement but also excitation frequencies.
The optimal input displacement range is discovered to be in between 8 to15mm under excitation frequency of 4Hz. However, this
excitation frequency is not favourable due to its availability. It is achieved only when someone is in running mode and this
frequency is the system threshold. The operational input frequency is, therefore, set to be lower than 4Hz in order to increase the
life span of the system.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Ministry of Education Malaysia [Grant no.: 600-RMI/ST/FRGS 5/3/Fst-39/2011 and600-RMI/ ERGS
5/3 (13/2013)] for funding this research. The authors thank the Research Management Institute of Universiti Teknologi MARA
for managing the research funds.

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