Human power-based energy harvesting strategies for mobile electronic devices

Abstract

Energy problems arise with the proliferation of mobile electronic devices, which range from entertainment tools to life saving medical instruments. The large amount of energy consumption and increasing mobility of electronic devices make it urgent that new power sources should be developed. It has been gradually recognized that the human body is highly flexible in generating applicable power from sources of heat dissipation, joint rotation, enforcement of body weight, vertical displacement of mass centers, and even elastic deformation of tissues and other attachments. These basic combinations of daily activities or metabolic phenomena open up possibilities for harvesting energy which is strong enough to power mobile or even implantable medical devices which could be used for a long time or be recharged permanently. A comprehensive review is presented in this paper on the latest developed or incubating electricity generation methods based on human power which would serve as promising candidates for future mobile power. Thermal and mechanical energy, investigated more thoroughly so far, will particularly be emphasized. Thermal energy relies on body heat and employs the property of thermoelectric materials, while mechanical energy is generally extracted in the form of enforcement or displacement excitation. For illustration purposes, the piezoelectric effect, dielectric elastomer and the electromagnetic induction couple, which can convert force directly into electricity, were also evaluated. Meanwhile, examples are given to explain how to adopt inertia generators for converting displacement energy via piezoelectric, electrostatic, electromagnetic or magnetostrictive vibrators. Finally, future prospects in harvesting energy from human power are made in conclusion.

Keywords

mobile electronic device / human power / energy harvesting / micro/miniaturized generator / battery / green energy

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50776097).

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