Biomechanical energy harvesting from human motion: theory, state of the art, design guidelines, and future directions
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Biomechanical energy harvesting from human motion presents a promising clean alternative to electrical power supplied by batteries for portable electronic devices and for computerized and motorized prosthetics. We present the theory of energy harvesting from the human body and describe the amount of energy that can be harvested from body heat and from motions of various parts of the body during walking, such as heel strike; ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and elbow joint motion; and center of mass vertical motion. METHODS: We evaluated major motions performed during walking and identified the amount of work the body expends and the portion of recoverable energy. During walking, there are phases of the motion at the joints where muscles act as brakes and energy is lost to the surroundings. During those phases of motion, the required braking force or torque can be replaced by an electrical generator, allowing energy to be harvested at the cost of only minimal additional effort. The amount of energy that can be harvested was estimated experimentally and from literature data. Recommendations for future directions are made on the basis of our results in combination with a review of state-of-the-art biomechanical energy harvesting devices and energy conversion methods. RESULTS: For a device that uses center of mass motion, the maximum amount of energy that can be harvested is approximately 1 W per kilogram of device weight. For a person weighing 80 kg and walking at approximately 4 km/h, the power generation from the heel strike is approximately 2 W. For a joint-mounted device based on generative braking, the joints generating the most power are the knees (34 W) and the ankles (20 W). CONCLUSIONS: Our theoretical calculations align well with current device performance data. Our results suggest that the most energy can be harvested from the lower limb joints, but to do so efficiently, an innovative and light-weight mechanical design is needed. We also compared the option of carrying batteries to the metabolic cost of harvesting the energy, and examined the advantages of methods for conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy.
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The main technologies used for harvesting kinetic energy of walking through the floor are based on piezoelectric and electrical induction generators, and electrostatic generators based on EAPs.
“The main technologies used for harvesting kinetic energy of walking through the floor are based on piezoelectric and electrical induction generators, and electrostatic generators based on electroactive polymers (EAPs) [19].”
From A review of walking energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials (2017) · cites this paper as [19]
The Discussion section, “Method for energy conversion,” identifies piezoelectrics, EAPs, and electrical induction generators as the main technologies in current use. But the paper discusses harvesting energy with devices on the body or shoe, including heel-strike devices; it does not establish that these are the main technologies for harvesting walking energy through the floor. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe amount of energy used by the human body per day is 1.07×107 J, equivalent to around 800 AA (2500 mAh) batteries.
“the amount of energy used by the body per day, is 1.07×107 J [18], an amount equivalent to around 800 AA (2500 mAh) batteries [19].”
From A review of walking energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials (2017) · cites this paper as [19]
The technology of EAPs for heel-strike devices has the most power output.
“according to Riemer and Shapiro [19] the most power output refers to the technology of EAPs for heelstrike devices.”
From A review of walking energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials (2017) · cites this paper as [19]
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“Harvesting kinetic energy of walking using piezoelectric harvesters in the floor The main technologies used for harvesting kinetic energy of walking through the floor are based on piezoelectric and electrical induction generators, and electrostatic generators based on electroactive polymers (EAPs) [19].”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialEngineering the Comfort‐of‐Wear for Next Generation Wearables
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- Authors
- Riemer, R., & Shapiro, A.
- Affiliations
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Riemer, Raziel
- Venue
- Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
- Published
- 2011
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 22
- ISSN
- 1743-0003 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3098156
- OpenAlex
- W2127384336
- Cited by
- 379
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 14.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Innovative Energy Harvesting Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics
- Keywords
- biomechanical energy harvesting, human movement, walking, heel strike, joint movement, body heat, mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion, portable electronics, metabolic cost
- MeSH terms
- Algorithms, Ankle, Bioelectric Energy Sources, Biomechanical Phenomena, Elbow Joint, Energy Transfer, Equipment Design, Hot Temperature, Heel, Hip, Humans, Knee, Metabolism, Movement, Shoulder, Walking, Guidelines as Topic
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