Hip-mounted electromagnetic generator to harvest energy from human motion

Abstract

A type of electromagnetic hip-mounted generator (EHG) is proposed to harvest energy from human hip motion to generate electricity. Based on the law of electromagnetic induction, the EHG generator can convert the kinetic power of the thigh swing into electrical energy during walking or running. To demonstrate the feasibility of the present method, a prototype of the EHG has been designed and fabricated. A theoretical analysis has been conducted to interpret the working behavior of this prototype. In addition, the performance of the system has been experimentally tested through a rotary motor and human body motion. When driven by the rotary motor at a rotation speed of 100 r/min, the open-circuit voltage of this prototype is 2.5 V. Further, a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 1 V and a maximum output power of 284 μW could be produced respectively when walking with an EHG at a speed of 1.47 m/s. This handy renewable energy technology is promising as a pervasive electricity generation system for a group of wearable or implanted sensors, actuators and mobile electronics.

Key words： human power harvesting; pervasive energy; electricity generation; wearable energy; renewable and sustainable energy; mobile electronics

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