A Three-Dimensional Magneto-Electric Vibration Energy Harvester Based on Magnetic Levitation

A three-dimensional vibration energy harvester employing a magneto-electric (ME) transducer was developed for wireless sensor networks. It uses a magnetic levitation unit to convert ambient vibration in arbitrary directions into the motion of a central suspended magnet. The ME transducer generates output power in response to magnetic field variations. Experiments verify the feasibility of the device. For a vertical acceleration of 0.8 g, the harvester has a bandwidth of 1.9 Hz and a maximum power of 514.5 μW. The average output power varies with the angle between the acceleration and the horizontal plane. The average output power varies from 386.1 to 495.4 μW when the exciting angle increases from 30° to 60°.