Energy harvesting floor using sustained-release regulation mechanism for self-powered traffic management

Abstract

Energy harvesting from streets, squares, and other areas to supply power to equipment and systems in these environments is environmentally friendly and more convenient for functions requiring low power consumption. To harvest more pulsed mechanical energy and improve the quality of electrical output for immediate utilization, we propose a bidirectional energy harvesting floor with a sustained-release regulation mechanism (BEHF-SRM). The pulse and irregular excitation on the road can be converted into continuous unidirectional rotation of the working wheel and the reset motion of the system can also drive the work wheel unidirectional rotation, and the rotational kinetic energy is slowly converted into electrical energy. A dynamic model is established and validated experimentally. One person can easily light up 20 LED bulbs (rated power 1 W) by stepping on the prototype of BEHF-SRM. The prototype can continue to provide electricity for about 7 s after stepping on it. Self-powered automated pedestrian crosswalk warnings that can improve pedestrian safety was demonstrated based on BEHF-SRM. The results show that the proposed harvester has the potential to provide a sustainable, convenient, green, and zero carbon energy supply to smart transport and smart cities.