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Gregersen T, Wild TA, Havmøller LW, Møller PR, Lenau TA, Wikelski M, Havmøller RW. A novel kinetic energy harvesting system for lifetime deployments of wildlife trackers. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285930. [PMID: 37196042 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Wildlife tracking devices are key in obtaining detailed insights on movement, animal migration, natal dispersal, home-ranges, resource use and group dynamics of free-roaming animals. Despite a wide use of such devices, tracking for entire lifetimes is still a considerable challenge for most animals, mainly due to technological limitations. Deploying battery powered wildlife tags on smaller animals is limited by the mass of the devices. Micro-sized devices with solar panels sometimes solve this challenge, however, nocturnal species or animals living under low light conditions render solar cells all but useless. For larger animals, where battery weight can be higher, battery longevity becomes the main challenge. Several studies have proposed solutions to these limitations, including harvesting thermal and kinetic energy on animals. However, these concepts are limited by size and weight. In this study, we used a small, lightweight kinetic energy harvesting unit as the power source for a custom wildlife tracking device to investigate its suitability for lifetime animal tracking. We integrated a Kinetron MSG32 microgenerator and a state-of-the-art lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) into a custom GPS-enabled tracking device that is capable of remotely transmitting data via the Sigfox 'Internet of Things' network. Prototypes were tested on domestic dog (n = 4), wild-roaming Exmoor pony (n = 1) and wisent (n = 1). One of the domestic dogs generated up to 10.04 joules of energy in a day, while the Exmoor pony and wisent generated on average 0.69 joules and 2.38 joules per day, respectively. Our results show a significant difference in energy generation between animal species and mounting method, but also highlight the potential for this technology to be a meaningful advancement in ecological research requiring lifetime tracking of animals. The design of the Kinefox is provided open source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Troels Gregersen
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Section for Engineering Design and Product Development, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Timm A Wild
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Product Development Group Zurich (pd|z), ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Linnea Worsøe Havmøller
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peter Rask Møller
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Torben Anker Lenau
- Section for Engineering Design and Product Development, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Rasmus Worsøe Havmøller
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
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Nastro A, Pienazza N, Baù M, Aceti P, Rouvala M, Ardito R, Ferrari M, Corigliano A, Ferrari V. Wearable Ball-Impact Piezoelectric Multi-Converters for Low-Frequency Energy Harvesting from Human Motion. SENSORS 2022; 22:s22030772. [PMID: 35161520 PMCID: PMC8839351 DOI: 10.3390/s22030772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 01/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
Multi-converter piezoelectric harvesters based on mono-axial and bi-axial configurations are proposed. The harvesters exploit two and four piezoelectric converters (PCs) and adopt an impinging spherical steel ball to harvest electrical energy from human motion. When the harvester undergoes a shake, a tilt, or a combination of the two, the ball hits one PC, inducing an impact-based frequency-up conversion. Prototypes of the harvesters have been designed, fabricated, fastened to the wrist of a person by means of a wristband and watchband, and experimentally tested for different motion levels. The PCs of the harvesters have been fed to passive diode-based voltage-doubler rectifiers connected in parallel to a storage capacitor, Cs = 220 nF. By employing the mono-axial harvester, after 8.5 s of consecutive impacts induced by rotations of the wrist, a voltage vcs(t) of 40.2 V across the capacitor was obtained, which corresponded to a stored energy of 178 μJ. By employing the bi-axial harvester, the peak instantaneous power provided by the PCs to an optimal resistive load was 1.58 mW, with an average power of 9.65 μW over 0.7 s. The proposed harvesters are suitable to scavenge electrical energy from low-frequency nonperiodical mechanical movements, such as human motion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Nastro
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy; (N.P.); (M.B.); (M.F.); (V.F.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Nicola Pienazza
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy; (N.P.); (M.B.); (M.F.); (V.F.)
| | - Marco Baù
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy; (N.P.); (M.B.); (M.F.); (V.F.)
| | - Pietro Aceti
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy; (P.A.); (R.A.); (A.C.)
| | | | - Raffaele Ardito
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy; (P.A.); (R.A.); (A.C.)
| | - Marco Ferrari
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy; (N.P.); (M.B.); (M.F.); (V.F.)
| | - Alberto Corigliano
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy; (P.A.); (R.A.); (A.C.)
| | - Vittorio Ferrari
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy; (N.P.); (M.B.); (M.F.); (V.F.)
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A Review on Kinetic Energy Harvesting with Focus on 3D Printed Electromagnetic Vibration Harvesters. ENERGIES 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/en14216961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The increasing amount of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and wearables require a reliable energy source. Energy harvesting can power these devices without changing batteries. Three-dimensional printing allows us to manufacture tailored harvesting devices in an easy and fast way. This paper presents the development of hybrid and non-hybrid 3D printed electromagnetic vibration energy harvesters. Various harvesting approaches, their utilised geometry, functional principle, power output and the applied printing processes are shown. The gathered harvesters are analysed, challenges examined and research gaps in the field identified. The advantages and challenges of 3D printing harvesters are discussed. Reported applications and strategies to improve the performance of printed harvesting devices are presented.
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