In this short paper, we report a design of an energy harvesting backpack with a mechanical motion rectifier (MMR). Also, we report the experiment studies conducted on two male subjects who carry two types of energy harvesting backpacks, including the MMR-based and traditional energy harvesting backpack, while walking on a treadmill at 3 and 3.5 mph. The harvested power of the backpacks shunted with different resistors are reported with each walking speed to demonstrate the high efficiency of the MMR-based backpack harvester. During the tests, the MMR-based backpack harvest generated more power regardless of walking speeds and resistor values. Finally, a maximum average power of 4.8 Watts and instant power of 12.8 Watts were obtained by one subject, carrying the MMR-based backpack harvester and walking at 3.5 mph.
KEYWORDS: Energy harvesting, Energy efficiency, Mechanical efficiency, Reliability, Systems modeling, Motion models, Prototyping, Resistance, Mechanical engineering, Global Positioning System
In last ten years, a lot of researchers have begun to look into obtaining electricity from the movement between human and their backpack that occurs during walking. In this paper, an innovative, elastically-suspended backpack with mechanical motion rectifier (MMR) based energy harvester is developed to generate electricity with high efficiency and reliability. Up to 28 Watts peak electrical power can be produced by the MMR based backpack energy harvester. A dynamic model for the system is presented along with experimental results. Three dual mass models for different distinct harvesters: pure viscous, non MMR, and MMR, are proposed, and a comparison in the output power and human comfort between the three models is discussed.
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