Measurements of Generated Energy/Electrical Quantities from Locomotion Activities Using Piezoelectric Wearable Sensors for Body Motion Energy Harvesting
Antonino Proto,
Marek Penhaker,
Daniele Bibbo,
David Vala,
Silvia Conforto,
Maurizio Schmid
Affiliations
Antonino Proto
Department of Engineering, University of Roma Tre, Via Vito Volterra, 62, Rome 00146, Italy
Marek Penhaker
Department of Cybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17 Listopadu 15, Ostrava-Poruba 70833, Czech Republic
Daniele Bibbo
Department of Engineering, University of Roma Tre, Via Vito Volterra, 62, Rome 00146, Italy
David Vala
Department of Cybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17 Listopadu 15, Ostrava-Poruba 70833, Czech Republic
Silvia Conforto
Department of Engineering, University of Roma Tre, Via Vito Volterra, 62, Rome 00146, Italy
Maurizio Schmid
Department of Engineering, University of Roma Tre, Via Vito Volterra, 62, Rome 00146, Italy
In this paper, two different piezoelectric transducers—a ceramic piezoelectric, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and a polymeric piezoelectric, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)—were compared in terms of energy that could be harvested during locomotion activities. The transducers were placed into a tight suit in proximity of the main body joints. Initial testing was performed by placing the transducers on the neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle; then, five locomotion activities—walking, walking up and down stairs, jogging and running—were chosen for the tests. The values of the power output measured during the five activities were in the range 6 µW–74 µW using both transducers for each joint.
