Characterization of Micro-Generators Embedded in Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Watches for Wearable Energy Harvesting

摘要

This paper presents the characterization of the micro-generators embedded in Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) watches based on a generalized rotational energy harvester model which predicts the upper bound on energy generation given certain system constraints and specific inputs. We augment this generalized model to represent the actual micro-generator used in the Seiko Kinetic watch with realistic damping coefficients which allow us to identify optimizations to move the system output towards the upper bound. We have developed a mobile data logging platform which captures 6 DOF inertia data and the voltage output from the micro-generator simultaneously. We have asked 6 subjects to conduct a series of daily activities with the platform worn on different locations of the body. This effort not only serves as the experimental validation of our model but also provides insight into the state of the art in wearable kinetic energy harvesting devices that are commercially available. Finally we identify the opportunity for improvement on energy generation and show that we can increase the power by reducing the mechanical damping in the system, which might require an alternative mechanism with inherent lower friction.