Over the last decade, safety and sustainability issues are regarded as important elements of transportation systems. Preservation of natural resources and utilization of renewable energy resources are influential factors to sustainability and in certain cases would lead to safety improvement. Energy harvesting from roadways has demonstrated a great potential to generate electrical power for roadway networks. The electromagnetic technology is known as one of the most promising implemented technologies in field of energy harvesting. In this study, an electromagnetic energy harvesting device is introduced, which utilizes linear generator mechanism. The harvester prototype is designed to be similar to a speed bump. Laboratory experimental tests were conducted to examine the performance of the device in terms of generating power. A universal testing machine (UTM) was used to simulate the traffic loading conditions. Results demonstrate that the device can generate output power of 81 mW. Regarding the small parts employed in the device at this stage of design, the output power is considerable. The achieved output power is sufficient to operate sensors and LEDs in roadways. The resulting illumination by the LEDs will be useful for promoting safety in roadways in addition to speed control feature of the device. In addition, the embedded sensors can monitor the traffic and pavement structural condition continuously. Continues monitoring provides useful data for both pavement and traffic management and structural analysis of the pavement under environmental and traffic conditions.
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