This paper describes the methodology used to analyse oscillations of foils of a wide range of aspect ratios, 0.5 ≤ AR ≤ 4, and Reynolds numbers, 104 ≤ Re ≤ 105, for energy harvesting purposes. The foils were fixed at their trailing edge, and their dynamical behaviour was captured as the wind speed was varied. The foil response was then analysed as a function of velocity, Reynolds number, oscillation amplitude and frequency. Additionally, the forces and moments acting on the foils were measured, utilising an aerodynamic scale, designed and built in-house. An empirical power generation equation was derived to determine the foil characteristics for maximum energy harvesting production. The results show that a flexible foil with AR = 3 with oscillations in the large-amplitude regime is the most effective for energy harvesting.

In this article, a dynamically switchable ultra-wideband (UWB) planar monopole antenna employing defected ground structure (DGS) with a folded stepped impedance resonator (SIR) that can operate as either a UWB mode or the single band-notched mode is introduced. The UWB monopole antenna contains a novel whirligig-shaped radiating patch and a chambered conductor as a partial ground plane. The switchable UWB antenna uses one PIN diode as switching elements in the DGS-SIR structure without any biasing network. When the state of diode is OFF, the planar monopole antenna changes to the UWB mode, and when the diode is turned ON, a frequency notch is created at 5–6 GHz. The state of diode is set to the “ON” state dynamically in the presence of a 5–6 GHz RF signal that is detected by using a wireless power management unit (PMU) that contains a broadband rectenna and a DC-DC passive booster. The rectenna consists of a novel cypress-shaped monopole antenna as a signal receiving part and two sub-rectifiers which are connected to a 3 dB branch-line coupler with a grounded isolation port. The antenna switches from UWB to single band-notched when an RF input signal (≥8.5 dBm) in the 5.25 GHz is sensed by the RF PMU with a conversion efficiency of 26% and DC output voltage of 0.36 V, and it fades immediately in real time when the external RF signal is eliminated. In the three-tone signals, the efficiency and input signal improvements are about 10% and −5.5 dBm in the low-power levels, especially, and so develop and enhance the performance of the dynamic reconfigurability.

The deployment of multi-insulator tunneling diodes has recently had more attention to be used as rectifiers in energy harvesting rectennas with good potentiality for a millimeter and terahertz range. However, with the rather complicated math to obtain the current–voltage relation, it is difficult to evaluate the design figures of merit (FOM)s such as asymmetry, nonlinearity, responsivity, and dynamic resistance and monitor the impact of changing physical parameters on them. This complicates the decision-making process for the required physical parameters. In this work, a heuristic optimization framework using genetic algorithm is suggested using the transfer matrix method to find the combination of physical parameters which satisfies the minimum required FOM set by users and weighted by their preference.

In this paper, two strategies are proposed to optimize the energy consumption of a new screw in-pipe inspection robot which is steerable. In the first method, optimization is performed using the optimal path planning and implementing the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) method. Since the number of actuators is more than the number of degrees of freedom of the system for the proposed steerable case, it is possible to minimize the energy consumption by the aid of the dynamics of the system. In the second method, the mechanics of the robot is modified by installing some turbine blades through which the drag force of the pipeline fluid can be employed to decrease the required propulsion force of the robot. It is shown that using both of the mentioned improvements, that is, using HJB formulation for the steerable robot and installing the turbine blades can significantly save power and energy. However, it will be shown that for the latter case this improvement is extremely dependent on the alignment of the fluid stream direction with respect to the direction of the robot velocity, while this optimization is independent of this case for the former strategy. On the other hand, the path planning dictates a special pattern of speed functionality while for the robot equipped by blades, saving the energy is possible for any desired input path. The correctness of the modeling is verified by comparing the results of MATLAB and ADAMS, while the efficiency of the proposed optimization algorithms is checked by the aid of some analytic and comparative simulations.

Now-a-days, far-field wireless power transfer/energy harvesting is underutilized due to the unavailability of proper methodology to design efficient system for maximum radio frequency (RF) power utilization. For efficient utilization of far-field RF energy an array/grid of rectenna, i.e. rectenna panel is required to generate the power from wireless signal. To minimize the engineering design phase period (design trials), this paper mathematically derives and summarizes the approach required for optimum rectenna panel design based on power available in the environment, RF transmit source capability, receiver power requirement and the design cost. For maximum power interception through a rectenna panel, its design parameters such as -panel size, number of rectenna, rectenna arrangement pattern, and rectenna spacing has been optimized in our work. Based on the optimization required, we have proposed the compact grid pattern with heterogeneous rectenna spacing. It has been proved theoretically in this paper that if a hexagonal shape panel is designed by placement of rectenna at vertices of equilateral triangle (with side length governed by antenna aperture) then, it is capable of intercepting maximum RF energy available at its location with the least number of rectenna.

Space probes suffer from a fundamental problem, which is the limited energy available for their operation. Energy supply is essential for continuous operation and ultimately the most important sub-system for its sustainable functioning. Considering, for instance, the last space probe put on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, called “Philae”, which was sent by Rosetta (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta), to operate and to monitor comet activity, its operation was jeopardized due to the fact that it landed on a shadowed zone (no direct sunlight). Since its operational energy was only based on solar harvesters, the energy for its operation was limited by solar energy availability. In this paper a study on a viable alternative based on wireless power transmission is presented and discussed at the system level. It is proved that, using current technology, it is possible to create alternatives or supplement to existing power sources such as solar panels to power up these important space probes and to secure their operation.

We use the Energy Packet Network (EPN) to investigate an optimal energy distribution problem for the computer-communication system which is powered by intermittent renewable energy sources. The objective is to find an optimal energy distribution to minimize the proposed cost function which computes penalty costs caused by the overall average response time of jobs and the energy loss. In this EPN system, we consider the energy can be lost through storage leakages, or due to empty workstations which will consume energy even no job needs to be processed. Related numerical examples with different sets of parameter values are presented in the paper to evaluate the system performance and to examine the obtained analytical solution. Then a special case is considered to study the optimal system performance when the total energy harvesting rate is sufficiently large.

Results on the behaviour of a pendulum which is parametrically excited by large amplitude random loads at its pivot are presented, including a novel experimental case study. Thereby, it is dealt with a random excitation by a non-white Gaussian stochastic process with prescribed spectral density. Special focus is devoted to stochastic processes resulting from random sea wave elevation and the question whether random sea waves can lead to rotational motion of the parametrically excited pendulum. The motivation for such an experimental study is energy harvesting from ocean waves.

New small unmanned air vehicles designated as micro air vehicles (MAVs) are increasingly attractive for research, environmental observation, and commercial purposes. As described herein, the feasibility of a system for wireless power transmission via microwaves for MAVs was investigated. For its light weight and flexibility, a textile-based rectenna was proposed for microwave wireless power transmission of MAVs. To investigate bending effects on radiation performance, a microstrip patch antenna with a 5.8 GHz left-hand circular polarization was developed on a textile substrate. The antenna return loss, 20 dB, increased slightly with the antenna bending angle. An axial ratio <3 dB was maintained when the antenna bend angle was <30°. A rectification circuit was formed on the back side felt with sandwiched copper foil as a ground plate. Its weight per unit area was 0.08 g/m2, with maximum rectification efficiency of 58% with 100 Ω load at 63 mW input power. The average and maximum total transmission efficiency using the 5.8 GHz multiple rectenna with a 2.45 GHz retrodirective system were, respectively, 0.44 and 0.60%. The possibility and feasibility of microwave power transmission system using the textile-based rectenna were evaluated.

This paper presents a probability model of an energy-harvesting wireless sensor node, with the objective of linking quality of sensed data to energy consumption and self-sustainability. The model departs from the common energy discretization framework used in the literature, and instead uses a diffusion process modulated by discrete packet arrival and transmission processes for the detailed representation of renewable energy supply, consumption and storage. An analytical–numerical method is developed to compute the average time until the node experiences an outage, due to lack of energy, for a given workload and ambient energy characteristics, battery capacity and initial charge. The results are illustrated with numerical examples.

This paper surveys research on mathematical models that predict the performance of digital devices that operate with intermittent energy sources. The approach taken in this work is based on the “Energy Packet Network” paradigm where the arrival of data to be processed or transmitted, and the energy to operate the system, are modeled as discrete random processes. Our assumption is that these devices will capture energy from intermittent ambient sources such as vibrations, heat or light, and capture it onto electrical energy that may be stored in batteries or capacitors. The devices consume this energy intermittently for processing and for wired or wireless transmission. Thus, both the arrival of energy to the device, and the devices workload, are modeled as random processes. Based on these assumptions, we discuss probability models based on Markov chains that can be used to predict the effective rates at which such devices operate. We also survey related work that models networks of such systems.

In this work, a high-efficiency radio-frequency energy-harvesting system that takes use of the Portuguese Digital Television signal (750–758 MHz) to obtain DC power is proposed. To be useful, it is optimized to operate at low-power conditions. For the rectifier, three different solutions are presented: a single-series diode, a single-shunt diode, and a voltage-doubler configuration. The efficiency is similar for the three rectifiers – about 54% with a sine-wave excitation and −10.5 dBm of input power. Field measurements with the voltage-doubler have shown 63% efficiency for the same input power.

This paper presents a study of Schottky diode rectenna (rectifying antenna) for radiofrequency (RF) energy-harvesting systems. These rectennas are suitable for wireless sensors with the rechargeable battery technology especially at low-power densities. A rectifying circuit is proposed with single high responsivity Schottky diode for RF–DC conversion. A matching circuit is optimized to improve not only the power transfer between the antenna and the diode, but also to reject harmonic signals. The radiating part is a monopole antenna, with a large bandwidth in the frequency domain and an omni-directional radiation pattern in the azimuthal plane. We show that antenna frequency response takes part in the improvement of the efficiency. The rectifier is integrated with the antenna on a printed circuit board, leading to 30% of size reduction with the same performance. The aim is to reach the highest efficiency with a single tone signal and a compact rectenna. This rectenna was simulated using both Agilent ADS and Ansoft HFSS software. An output DC voltage of 210 mV was measured inside an anechoic chamber which received a single tone signal of 2 µW/cm2 power density. The highest efficiency of 34% was obtained at a power density of 1.3 µW/cm2.

An efficient platform of wireless power delivery through a pair of coupling coils with a fully integrated complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) rectifier is designed and evaluated in this paper. The research is intended for inductively powered energy harvesting application of biomedical sensor network. By making use of high-performance active diodes fulfilling almost ideal switching (zero forward voltage drop) and circuit to be provided with negative resistance, the proposed rectifier circuit is able to achieve a maximum conversion efficiency of more than 90%. This makes it ultra low-loss without any special device requiring additional manufacturing procedures, thereby featuring dramatically reduced production cost. Experimental studies with respect to all aspects of its performance including that used to emulate a truly biological tissue are given as proof of concept.

This paper proposes a combined harvesting system to improve the efficiency and flexibility of autonomous wireless network nodes, supplied by means of wireless power transfer technique. In particular, a mixed system for electromagnetic (EM) and thermal energy harvesting (EH), conceived for passive nodes of wireless sensor networks and radio frequency (RF) identification tags, is described. The proposed system aims at increasing the effectiveness and the efficiency of the EH system by integrating an antenna and a rectifier with a thermo-electric generator (TEG) able to perform thermal EH. The energy provided by the thermal harvester is exploited twice: to increase the rectifier efficiency by providing a voltage usable to improve the bias condition of the rectifying diode, and to provide additional dc energy, harvested for free. Ultimately, a great efficiency improvement, especially at low incident RF power, has been observed. The design methodology and the EM performance of a quarter-wavelength patch antenna, integrated with the TEG are resumed. Then, a test campaign to evaluate the thermal EH performance has been carried out. Afterward, a rectifier with variable bias voltage, operating at the same frequency of the antenna, has been opportunely designed to exploit the harvested thermal energy to bias the diode. A measurement campaign has been then carried out to test the efficiency increment obtained and to validate the proposed solution.

A survey of the regulatory framework pertinent to wireless power transfer (WPT) systems is given. Both technical (power and frequency) considerations along with health safety radiation compliance are examined. A primer on regulatory processes is also included to facilitate the understanding of the developments. The current state is analyzed and ongoing regulatory activities across the globe are discussed. Furthermore, a review of recent radiation safety studies of WPT systems is included.