Design and development of a kinetic energy harvester device for oceanic drifter applications

Abstract

A novel electronic energy harvester (EH) has been developed for oceanic undrogued drifter applications. First, spherical body motion simulation has been performed at sea environment in Orcaflex. Results help to understand the acceleration and forces applied on the drifter where the device will be placed. Second, the design of the EH is presented, consisting on a gyroscope pendulum system capable to transform the oscillations into rotation on a flying wheel. This rotation is converted into a DC current by a micro generator and further processed by a power management unit (PMU). Both, the generator and the PMU are characterized. Preliminary results in a water tank show that an average power of 0.22 mW can be produced. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed harvester is assessed as a backup power of a drifter using SigFox for coastal communications at low tracking rates.