A low frequency tunable miniature inertial pendulum energy harvester

A low frequency tunable miniature inertial pendulum energy harvester for underwater mooring platforms is proposed. This apparatus is a horizontal rotational energy harvester with a rolling pendulum. Accordingly, it can harvest energy from the rotational base excitation associated with low frequency over the range of 0.1 Hz to 0.4 Hz, even with large amplitude. Moreover, the natural frequency can be adjusted by geometrical tenability, manipulating the angular orientation of the layout of the harvester, for enhancing energy harvesting. The energy harvesting performance of the device is investigated through numerical simulations and experimental measurements. The harvester proposed in this work can be utilized on miniature ocean platforms over a broad low-frequency range of 0.1 Hz-0.4 Hz.