A High-Reliability Piezoelectric Tile Transducer for Converting Bridge Vibration to Electrical Energy for Smart Transportation

Abstract

Piezoelectric energy transducers offer great potential for converting the vibrations of pedestrian footsteps or cars moving on a bridge or road into electricity. However, existing piezoelectric energy-harvesting transducers are limited by their poor durability. In this paper, to enhance this durability, a piezoelectric energy transducer with a flexible piezoelectric sensor is fabricated in a tile protype with indirect touch points and a protective spring. The electrical output of the proposed transducer is examined as a function of pressure, frequency, displacement, and load resistance. The maximum output voltage and maximum output power obtained were 6.8 V and 4.5 mW, respectively, at a pressure of 70 kPa, a displacement of 2.5 mm, and a load resistance of 15 kΩ. The designed structure limits the risk of destroying the piezoelectric sensor during operation. The harvesting tile transducer can work properly even after 1000 cycles. Furthermore, to demonstrate its practical applications, the tile was placed on the floor of an overpass and a walking tunnel. Consequently, it was observed that the electrical energy harvested from the pedestrian footsteps could power an LED light fixture. The findings suggest that the proposed tile offers promise with respect to harvesting energy produced during transportation.

Wearable with integrated piezoelectric energy harvester for geolocation of people with Alzheimer's

“…This LoRa technology transceiver is connected from its RXD (3) and TXD (4) pins to the TXD/GOIO01 and RXD/GOIO02 pins of the TTGO ESP32 SIM800L respectively. The battery with the capacity of 1500 mAh was used to supply energy to the system, as seen in Figure 3(c), and a TP4056 charging circuit to connect to the lithium battery that is charged through a universal micro USB connector [27] as shown in Figure 3(d), this module will be connected to the positive and negative pin of the battery through its pins B+ and B-respectively. The charge supplied by the battery is measured by the analog input 3(e), so that when the patient begins to walk, energy is generated that can be used to increase the discharge time of the battery.…”