For many reasons, it would be beneficial to have the capability of powering a wildlife tag over the course of multiple migratory seasons. Such an energy harvesting system would allow for more data collection and eliminate the need to replace depleted batteries. In this work, we investigate energy harvesting on birds and focus on vibrational energy harvesting. We review a method of predicting the amount of power that can be safely harvested from the birds such that the effect on their longterm survivability is not compromised. After showing that the safely harvestable power is significant in comparison to the circuits used in avian tags, we present testing results for the flight accelerations of two species of birds. Using these measured values, we then design harvesters that matched the flight acceleration frequency and are sufficiently low mass to be carried by the birds.

Date Published: 26 March 2012
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 8341, Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2012, 834103 (26 March 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.915370

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8341:
Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2012
Henry A. Sodano, Editor(s)