A piezoelectric energy generator for a stadium, auditorium or other venue includes one or more tiles or mats, with each tile having one or more piezoelectric transducer devices formed therein such that voltage and current are generated when pressure is applied to the piezoelectric transducers, such as by people walking or stomping on the tiles. The tiles and piezoelectric devices are interconnected and connected to centrally located control and conditioning circuitry, which conditions the generated electricity for usage, storage, or transmission to an external power grid.

Provided is a hybrid drive device including a main power source; an auxiliary power source; a main deformation part configured to be deformable in response to receiving a voltage from the main power source; and an auxiliary deformation part configured to connect to the main deformation part and to be deformable in response to receiving a voltage from the auxiliary power source.

Aspects of self-powered weigh-in-motion systems and methods that utilize piezoelectric components for sensing load as well as powering data acquisition and analysis components. In one example, the weigh-in-motion system includes a number of piezoelectric stacks, each stack including a number of piezoelectric elements. Each stack includes one or more top or upper piezoelectric element that provides vehicle sensing data. Each stack also includes a set of piezoelectric elements used for energy harvesting. The sensing piezoelectric elements are connected to a data input of a microcontroller for vehicle classification, while the energy harvesting piezoelectric elements are connected to a power input of the microcontroller.

A field-driven electroactive polymer actuator is provided with a current sensor for sensing a current flowing to the actuator. A control circuit is used for driving the actuator which includes a voltage source. The driving of the actuator is controlled in dependence on the sensed current, thereby to provide a predetermined charge delivery for particular changes in actuation level of the actuator. This provides a combined voltage-based and current-based drive scheme for a voltage-driven EAP actuator, and it enables mechanical movements of the actuator to be more reliably repeated.

An input apparatus includes an operation interface configured to receive an input operation from a user, a piezoelectric element attached to the operation interface, and a controller configured to acquire output based on the input operation to the operation interface from the piezoelectric element and to execute different control with respect to a controlled apparatus in accordance with the output.

A piezoelectric device includes a substrate on which a plurality of recesses are arranged in a first direction, a vibration plate, and a piezoelectric actuator having a first electrode, a second electrode and a third electrode, a fourth electrode, and a piezoelectric layer, in which a plurality of active portions are provided, the second electrode and the third electrode are provided from an edge of a region facing a recess to an outside of the recess, the first electrode is formed between the second electrode and the third electrode, and the fourth electrode configures a common electrode for the plurality of active portions.

A piezoelectric device includes a substrate on which a plurality of recesses are arranged in a first direction, a vibration plate, and a piezoelectric actuator having a first electrode, a second electrode and a third electrode, a fourth electrode, and a piezoelectric layer, in which a plurality of active portions are provided, the second electrode and the third electrode are provided from an edge of a region facing a recess to an outside of the recess, the first electrode is formed between the second electrode and the third electrode, the second electrode, the third electrode, and the fourth electrode configure common electrodes for the plurality of active portions, and the first electrode configures an individual electrode provided independently for each of the active portions.

A control device that controls an electronic device including a top panel having an operation surface, a position detector that detects a position of operational input performed on the operation surface, and a first vibrating element that generates vibration in the top panel, the control device includes a first processor that outputs a first drive signal to the first vibrating element to drive the first vibrating element; a first capacitor inserted in series between the first vibrating element and the first processor; and a first differential amplifier that detects a first voltage of the first capacitor or the first vibrating element, wherein the first processor is configured to determine whether pressing operation to the top panel has been performed based on the first voltage detected by the first differential amplifier.

An array of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducers (PMUTs) has a layer of piezoelectric material that requires poling during fabrication in order to properly align the piezoelectric dipoles to create a desired ultrasonic signal. The PMUT may have an interconnected set of lower electrodes that are fabricated between a processing layer of the PMUT and the piezoelectric layer. An upper electrode is fabricated overlaying the piezoelectric layer, and a poling voltage is applied between the upper electrode and the interconnected set of lower electrodes. After poling is complete, portions of the interconnected set of lower electrodes are removed to permanently isolate permanent lower electrodes from each other.

An optical transformer includes a light source and an array of photovoltaic cells optically coupled to the light source, where at least a portion of the photovoltaic cells are connected in series. An optical connector such as a waveguide or an optical fiber may be disposed between an output of the light source and an input of the array of photovoltaic cells. Configured to generate a high voltage output, the optical transformer may be configured to power a device such as an actuator that provides a tunable displacement as a function of voltage.