Design of an air-core linear generator drive for energy harvest applications

Vibration-based energy harvest is of interest in numerous applications. In this research, a focus has been on the design of air-core permanent magnet based energy harvest systems. To facilitate design, a toolbox has been derived that enables one to rapidly evaluate the performance of alternative magnet geometries, coil structures, energy storage devices, and circuit topologies. As an example, the toolbox has been applied to optimize the design of a hand-powered flashlight. Through this example, it is shown that coil structure and magnet length have a significant effect on energy harvest performance.