Acoustic Energy Harvesting

Acoustic energy harvesting is the process by which energy is derived from external noise sources, captured, stored, and controlled for small wireless autonomous devices. Acoustic energy harvesting is not as popular as the other types of energy harvesting method since sound waves have lower power density. However, in this age of efficiency and alternative energy sources research, acoustic energy harvesting has become something that can’t be overlooked since it it one of the vastly available energy sources.

The device was modeled based on the Side Branch Helmholtz Resonator, which consists of a neck, cavity chamber, and membrane attached at the end of the chamber. The membrane is connected to piezolectric material that converts the vibrations caused by the sound into electrical energy. This energy will then be directed to a storage device that will be capable to autonomously stored. As for the storage device, we will be using CYMBET CBC EVAL 09 EnerChip CP, an energy harvesting evaluation board that can track and measured the energy generation while at the same time having the ability to store and channeled the collected energy.