Design and Experimental Investigation of a Speed Bump-Based Energy Harvest

Abstract

Vehicle-road energy harvesting is challenged by the strong impact loads generated during wheel rolling and by the need to integrate harvesting devices into road infrastructure with minimal installation cost and traffic disturbance. To address these issues, this study proposes a speed bump-based energy harvester (SBBEH) featuring a novel compliant-driven energy transmission mechanism. By combining compliant structures with cable transmission, the proposed design converts wheel-induced impact excitation into smooth deformation-driven actuation, effectively filtering impact loads while maintaining sufficient driving force for power generation. Two configurations are developed and experimentally investigated: a hexagonal compliant structure driving a single generator and a re-entrant hexagonal compliant structure simultaneously driving two generators. Based on the working principle of SBBEH, the electrical response of SBBEH under different excitation was investigated experimentally. Experimental results show that the re-entrant design achieves a peak voltage of $\mathbf{1 6. 9 3 ~ V}$ and a maximum power output of 17.7 W. The harvester can be integrated into speed bumps, reducing installation costs and traffic operation interference. Demonstrations of self-powered traffic environment monitoring and traffic warning systems further verify the practical applicability of the proposed compliant-driven energy harvesting approach.