A piezo electric and thermal harvesting method for rail-transportation systems. The method embodies a three-dimensional arrangement of piezo vertebrae configured in parallel within a track housing that is operatively associated with the rail of the rail-transportation system. Weight from rail traffic compresses the track housing and thus the piezo vertebrae, thereby generating electricity. Thermal control incorporates a chill beam within the track housing as well as a multi-wire thermal electric couple wiring scheme.

An energy producing device includes a piezoelectric layer having a first side and second side opposite of the first side, a first electrical contact arranged on the first side of the piezoelectric layer, a second electrical contact arranged on the second side of the piezoelectric layer, and a counter-layer arranged on the second electrical contact. The piezoelectric layer, first and second electrical contacts, and counter-layer form a beam having a neutral axis outside of the piezoelectric layer.

A vibration power generation device, comprising: three power generation mechanisms with energy harvesting directions the same as three directions of three-dimensional coordinates, each of the power generation mechanisms including a piezoelectric power generation part and a magnetoelectric power generation part, wherein the piezoelectric power generation part includes two M-shaped structural beams and a first permanent magnet fixed in the middle of each of the M-shaped structural beams; and the magnetoelectric power generation part includes two magnetoelectric power generation components that are arranged on both sides of the piezoelectric power generation part and are in the same axial direction as the two first permanent magnets, and each of the magnetoelectric power generation components includes a second permanent magnet, a spring with one end connected to the second permanent magnet, a sleeve that houses the second permanent magnet in a cavity, and a coil wound on a surface of the sleeve.

An autonomous implantable capsule comprises a capsule body provided with an element for its anchoring to a patient's organ. An electronic unit is powered by an energy harvesting module provided with a pendular unit comprising an inertial mass coupled to an elastic piezoelectric beam forming a mechanical-electrical transducer for converting into electrical energy the oscillations of the beam. A mobile support, integral with the clamped end of the beam and mobile in axial rotation about the axis of the capsule body, can be directed by a controllable driver to adjust the angular position of the support so as to maximize the produced electrical power converted by the mechanical-electrical transducer.

An acoustic device, comprising: a device body comprising: an acoustic membrane having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; and at least one acoustic cavity formed adjacent the first surface of the acoustic membrane; a plurality of piezoelectric beam resonators supported over the first surface of the acoustic membrane and separated from the first surface by the at least one acoustic cavity, each of the plurality of piezoelectric beam resonators having at least one different natural frequency; wherein each of the plurality of piezoelectric beam resonators is configured to oscillate in response to sound pressure waves incident at the acoustic device.

A piezoelectric energy harvester has a layered structure comprising a first electrode, a polymeric piezoelectric material, and a second electrode, the layered structure coupled to receive mechanical stress from the environment, and the first and second electrode electrically coupled to a power converter. The power converter is adapted to charge an energy storage device selected from a capacitor and a battery. The method of harvesting energy from the environment includes providing a piezoelectric device comprising a layer of a polymeric piezoelectric material disposed between a first and a second electrode; coupling mechanical stress derived from an environment to the piezoelectric device; and coupling electrical energy from the piezoelectric device.

A vibration power generation device includes a weight, beams, piezoelectric members, and a fixation member. The beams extend from the weight in directions parallel to a single plane. The piezoelectric members are disposed at respective beams. The fixation member includes at least a frame-shaped portion. The beams are fixed to the frame-shaped portion in such a manner that the weight and the piezoelectric members are positioned inside the frame-shaped portion.

This module comprises: a circuit for interfacing with the piezoelectric beam of an oscillating pendular unit, outputting a rectified signal comprising a sequence of pulses at a frequency equal to a multiple of the oscillation frequency of the pendular unit; a buffer capacitor charged by the successive pulses outputted by the interface circuit; and a converter regulator adapted to convert a capacitor discharge current into a stabilized power supply voltage, and controlled by a feedback control stage of the Maximum Power-Point Tracking (MPPT) type. A comparator detects the conduction of a blocking diode interposed between the interface circuit and the capacitor, in order to produce a signal representative of the current value of the duty cycle of the detected conduction and non-conduction periods. This signal is compared with a predetermined optimum duty cycle value in order to enable or disable the coupling of the capacitor to the converter regulator so as to control either the capacitor discharge towards an input of the converter regulator, or the continuation of its charging.

An optical detector system includes a light source configured to emit light having a frequency spectrum and modulated in time, and an optical detector configured to detect an intensity of the light at a wavelength range within the frequency spectrum. The optical detector includes a piezoelectric layer, a first metal layer coupled to a first surface of the piezoelectric layer, a second metal layer coupled to a second surface of the piezoelectric layer, and a plasmonic metasurface coupled to the first metal layer and configured to absorb the light at the wavelength range, the plasmonic metasurface including metal structures and a dielectric layer disposed on the first metal layer. The optical detector system further includes a voltage detector coupled to the first metal layer and the second metal layer, the voltage detector configured to detect a voltage at a frequency of the modulated light.

An energy harvesting tape comprising a plurality of flexible layers. The plurality of flexible layers includes a solar cell layer configured to capture solar energy, a thermoelectric layer configured to capture thermal energy, one or more piezoelectric layers configured to capture mechanical energy; and an electrode layer configured to capture radiofrequency energy and to transmit a radiofrequency signal. The energy harvesting tape also includes one or more processing units on at least one of the plurality of flexible layers. The one or more processing units are configured to use the captured energy from the plurality of flexible layers to transmit the radiofrequency signal. The energy harvesting tape has a length, a width, and a thickness, where the length is greater than the width, and the width is greater than the thickness.