Low frequency driven electromagnetic energy harvester for self-powered system

This paper describes a low frequency driven electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH) for a self-powered system. The EMEH consists of two thin flame resistant (FR-4) springs, NdFeB permanent magnets, and a copper coil. The FR-4 spring was fabricated by a desk computer numerical control (CNC) 3D modeling machine. The two FR-4 springs were used at the top and bottom sides of the device to reduce the stress on the springs and to achieve linear movement of the moving magnet. The finite element method (FEM) is used to investigate the mechanical properties of the system. The proposed EMEH can generate up to 1.52 mW at a resonance frequency of 16 Hz with an acceleration of 0.2 g (g = 9.8 m s(-2)) and a superior normalized power density (NPD) of 1.07 mW cm(-3) g(2). The EMEH attached to the engine of an automobile produced 2.4 mW of power, showing the viability of practical applications.