Modular multidisciplinary models for prototyping energy harvesting products

Abstract

Energy harvesting systems provide an alternative solution to conventional energy sources by utilizing some form of energy from the ambient environment followed by its conversion to useful electric energy. Designing an efficient energy harvester requires prior knowledge and analysis of the conditions in the location of its intended installation. Therefore, an original energy harvesting solution is needed for every application. The development process of energy harvesters could be sped up by using modular fully parametric models of the system components. These models are developed from basic physical principles in such a way, that they can be freely combined into the multidisciplinary model of the system. The modules are intended to be used for the fast prototyping, comparison of different topologies and transducer types and for prediction of the possible output energy levels. The main motivation for a derivation of such models is their future implementation to the energy harvesting course for mechatronic engineering students. That will allow students to focus on the practical issues of designing an energy harvester for real-life applications using real input data instead of building, debugging and optimizing generic models of the energy harvesting transducers.