Elena Blokhina - Böcker

Harvesting kinetic energy is a good opportunity to power wireless sensor in a vibratory environment. Besides classical methods based on electromagnetic and piezoelectric mechanisms, electrostatic transduction has a great perspective in particular when dealing with small devices based on MEMS technology. This book describes in detail the principle of such capacitive Kinetic Energy Harvesters based on a spring-mass system. Specific points related to the design and operation of kinetic energy harvesters (KEHs) with a capacitive interface are presented in detail: advanced studies on their nonlinear features, typical conditioning circuits and practical MEMS fabrication.

This book is a single-source guide to nonlinearity and nonlinear techniques in energy harvesting, with a focus on vibration energy harvesters for micro and nanoscale applications. The authors demonstrate that whereas nonlinearity was avoided as an undesirable phenomenon in early energy harvesters, now it can be used as an essential part of these systems. Readers will benefit from an overview of nonlinear techniques and applications, as well as deeper insight into methods of analysis and modeling of energy harvesters, employing different nonlinearities. The role of nonlinearity due to different aspects of an energy harvester is discussed, including nonlinearity due to mechanical-to-electrical conversion, nonlinearity due to conditioning electronic circuits, nonlinearity due to novel materials (e.g., graphene), etc. Coverage includes tutorial introductions to MEMS and NEMS technology, as well as a wide range of applications, such as nonlinear oscillators and transducers for energy harvesters and electronic conditioning circuits for effective energy processing.