Methodological approaches to the study of an energy harvesting system with a slider-rocker converter

A new and improving source of electrical energy is energy harvesting. This study develops a device made in the form of artificial road bumps. The device operates based on a vehicle creating a force on the pressure platform when it hits an artificial road bump, transferring kinetic energy to the road bump, which can be converted into electrical energy. This study reports on simulation modeling of a road-bump power plant to clarify the patterns of formation of power and speed parameters of the road-bump power plant system, and to test the working hypothesis and the adequacy of the mathematical description of transients during the acceleration and run-out of a road-bump power plant taking into account the intermittent nature of the operation. As a result, a block diagram was obtained and, based on this, an electrical circuit diagram of an electromechanical simulator of a road-bump power plant was developed which will be used in a follow-up physical experiment. The calculation of the torque during the passage of an average car weighing 1,600 kg, through a road power plant and the angular velocity of the rocker, at vehicle speeds: 20, 30, and 40 km/h. The torque value was 398 N∙m; the angular velocity takes on the following values: at a vehicle speed of 20 km/h - 22.3 rad/s, at 30km/h - 33.3 rad/s, at 40 km/h - 41.7 rad/s. Based on the torque and angular velocity values, the power of the drive motor of the electromechanical simulator is determined. The power value was 16.6 kW. The electrical circuit and the value of power of the drive motor will allow the simulation of the operation of a road power plant and the determination of the amount of electrical energy generated from the passage of one car weighing 1,600 kg.