A real-time Arduino based AC-DC Boost converter for Vibration Energy Harvesting devices

IoT devices are becoming ubiquitous, spreading in several technological fields. Because of their remote collocation, their usefulness profits of power supplies based on energy harvesting techniques, rather than batteries. Vibration Energy Harvesters (VEHs) based on magnetostrictive alloys are promising because of their excellent characteristics, but the available vibrations are such that the exploitable output voltages are lower than the standards 1.6, 3.3 and 5 V. Then, an electronic circuitry is necessary to increase the output DC voltage and improve their efficiency. Conversion methods have been presented over the years for other smart devices based on piezoelectrics. However, very few or none are specialized for magnetostrictive ones. A promising technique for the latters can be a direct AC-DC Boost conversion. This paper presents the design and control of such a circuit, driven with a real-time operating Arduino board, able to self-adapt with respect to the incoming time period. Several experimental tests are presented, showing the potentiality of the circuit.