Pressure-type generator for harvesting mechanical energy from human gait

This paper proposes a pressure-type generator that collects human mechanical energy by stepping, a prototype is finally designed and manufactured. The proposed pressure-type generator has a volume of 82.8 cm³ when subjected to pressure. The average output power can reach to 97 mW when under the walking speed of 4 km/h. As a result we can get the power density of 1.17 mW/cm³, higher than most electromagnetically powered devices. Unlike some other generators, this pressure-type generator uses magnets as the recovery device, making the durability of the device better. And also, the wearable design is completely made to let the device can be comfortable used. Finally, we did a series of tests to prove that the device can have great power output performance in the low frequency environment of the human foot movement.