Vibration energy harvesting: A basis for novel technologies.

At the forefront of the art of vibration energy harvesting are devices capable of harvesting at a rate measured in milliwatts. At this level the energy harvested in a reasonable time is a vanishing percentage of the total energy in the vibrating structure. The applications for such energy harvesters are to power small sensors and micro‐computers. Looking forward, one might ask: Is an energy harvester capable of harvesting a significant percentage of the energy available in a vibrating structure technically feasible? What would be the behavior characteristics of such an energy harvester? And, to what uses could the harvester be put? In this presentation, the challenges to harvesting at the level envisioned are identified, the outlines of a device described as a “meta‐material vibration energy harvester” are described, and several novel technologies made possible by the availability of the device are discussed. Among these novel technologies would be one based on designing structures for the purpose of capt...