ENERGY HARVESTING, STORING, AND CONVERSION UTILIZING SHAPE MEMORY ACTIVATION

摘要

A system for and method of harvesting, storing and converting naturally occurring energy, includes exposing an active material, and more preferably a shape memory element to an ambient activation signal or condition, harvesting a portion of the energy by pseudoplastically straining or superelastically deforming the element, storing the energy by causing a change in the element and/or engaging a locking mechanism, and converting the energy by exposing the mechanism to an activation signal and/or otherwise releasing the mechanism.