Design, Modelling, and Test of an Electromagnetic Speed Bump Energy Harvester

Speed bump energy harvester, which aims to harvest energy from the passing by vehicles by absorbing their kinetic and potential energy, is designed, fabricated, simulated, and tested in this research. The proposed design is analyzed with a theoretical modelling which has then been validated with a ground test. Result reveals that the prototype has been able to produce up to 600 watts of peak power and around 150 watts of RMS power which is significant number. Further analysis has been done which theoretically suggests that the numbers could be increased up to 1 KW by optimizing the speed bump design and varying the system parameters such as electrical damping, mechanical damping, velocity and weight of the vehicles. Overall, system is able to increase the overall energy density by using Mechanical Motion Rectification (MMR) technology which would allow the increase in the power generation almost by double. Furthermore, different vehicle models have been used to analyze the effectiveness and accuracy of the harvester and also, the effect of harvester on the dynamics of the vehicle has been studied and analyzed in detail.