Ganesh Sevagamoorthy¹ and Jayabal K^2
1Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Kancheepuram, India. ² Indian Institute of Information Technology Desig

This paper presents development and experimental analysis of a piezoelectric mounted flexible beam attached with an oscillating tile that can be used to scavenge energy from footsteps in crowded places. The energy harvesting system consists of a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam inside a hollow box which connects to the ground with the help of springs. Multiple piezoelectric patches are pasted on the beam. When the foot is placed on the tile and removed, the hollow box displaces in turn causing the beam to oscillate harvesting electrical power. A prototype is developed and the performance of the piezoelectric energy scavenging tile is tested. The variations of power output for different load resistances are obtained and the optimal load resistance is suggested.

Energy harvesting, Piezoelectric material, Bi-morph cantilever beam.