Elastically bounded flapping wing for energy harvesting

In this Letter, we present and discuss an energy harvesting device, based on a wing elastically bounded to a fixed support. Large amplitude and periodic oscillations can be induced when this system is subject to wind, if a few parameters are carefully set. A linear stability analysis as well as two-dimensional numerical simulations confirms the existence of instability regions in the parameter space. In order to harvest energy by using this system, different methods are considered. Preliminary results obtained by an electromagnetic coupling are presented.