Increased energy harvesting and reduced accelerative load for backpacks via frequency tuning

In this research, a backpack-based frequency-tuneable harvesting device was developed to harvest part of the human kinetic energy during walking and to relieve part of the accelerative load of the backpack from the bearer. The harvester employed a tuning mechanism to adjust the stretch ratio of the springs to adjust the system's stiffness so that the harvesting device can work in an appropriate status to generate more power and relieve a greater load from the bearer. The analysis indicates that adjusting the stiffness harvesting system to fit well with various external excitation conditions, can not only achieve more power output but also relieve part of the accelerative load from the bearer; and the experimental results agreed with the simulation. Compared with previous work, the harvester in this work had a higher efficiency in energy harvesting and could relieve an increased accelerative load from the bearer. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.