Energy Harvesting From Human and Machine Motion for Wireless Electronic Devices : Practical miniature devices are becoming available for harnessing kinetic energy as a substitute for batteries in medical, and many other, low power applications

Abstract

Energy harvesting generators are attractive as inexhaustible replacements for batteries in low-power wireless electronic devices and have received increasing research interest in recent years. Ambient motion is one of the main sources of energy for harvesting, and a wide range of motion- powered energy harvesters have been proposed or demon- strated, particularly at the microscale. This paper reviews the principles and state-of-art in motion-driven miniature energy harvesters and discusses trends, suitable applications, and possible future developments.