Toyota Motor Corporation

Vti Technologies Oy

Anna-Maija Karkkainen

Heikki T Kuisma

Leif Roschier

A device () harvests energy from vibration and/or strain and utilizes both capacitive () and piezoelectric elements (). The principle of operation is out-of-plane capacitive harvester, where the bias voltage for the capacitive element is generated with a piezoelectric element (). The device utilizes a thin dielectric film () between the capacitor plates () maximizing the harvested energy and enabling the harvester operation in semi-contact mode so that short circuits are prevented. For example when utilized in a wheel or the like, the capacitor is closed and opened at every strike or every turn of a wheel being thus independent of the harvester's mechanical resonance frequency.

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Helsinki, Finland

Anna-Maija Karkkainen