New U-M mini generator utilizes ambient vibrations

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 | Source: Concentrate
It looks like researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with the 21st Century version of the self-winding watch.

Khalil Najafi and Tzeno Galchev, chair of U-M's Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept and a doctoral student in that department, have created a tiny generator that harnesses electricity from random, ambient vibrations. It generates enough energy to power smaller tech appliances, like a wristwatch or pacemaker.

"It will become a sizeable segment of the battery market, but I don't think it will replace batteries," Galchev says.

The Parametric Frequency Increased Generators, created in U-M's Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems, can harness kinetic energy that is usually wasted from people moving their limbs or traffic driving over a bridge.

These new devices, which measure about a centimeter tall, could be used to measure stress in bridges. The idea is to warn them if cracks develop or other things that compromise the bridges safety.

Source: Tzeno Galchev, doctoral student at the University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke
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Higher Education, Renewable Energy, Research, University Of Michigan 

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