Exergy: A Toolkit to Simplify Creative Applications of Wind Energy Harvesting

Energy harvesting reduces the burden of power source maintenance and promises to make computing systems genuinely ubiquitous. Researchers have made inroads in this area, but their novel energy harvesting materials and fabrication techniques remain inaccessible to the general maker communities. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a toolkit that makes energy harvesting accessible to novices. In Study 1, we investigate the challenges and opportunities associated with devising energy harvesting technology with experienced researchers and makers (N=9). Using the lessons learned from this investigation, we design a wind energy harvesting toolkit, Exergy, in Study 2. It consists of a simulator, hardware tools, a software example, and ideation cards. We apply it to vehicle environments, which have yet to be explored despite their potential. In Study 3, we conduct a two-phase workshop: hands-on experience and ideation sessions. The results show that novices (N=23) could use Exergy confidently and invent self-sustainable energy harvesting applications creatively.