This study investigates the performance of piezoelectric energy harvesters for vibration-based power generation in manufacturing environments. Piezoelectric materials convert mechanical stress into electrical energy through the direct piezoelectric effect, enabling the development of energy-autonomous wireless sensing systems within Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications. In this work, vibrating industrial assets are equipped with piezoelectric sensors to harvest mechanical vibration energy and power low-power wireless sensor nodes deployed in hard-to-reach locations. Experimental measurements and laboratory testing are conducted to analyze the electrical characteristics and energy harvesting capability of commercial piezoelectric sensors. A generic design of a vibration-powered industrial sensor node is proposed, integrating a microcontroller, power management circuitry, and long-range communication. The study also evaluates the tradeoff between sensor sampling rate and available harvested energy to ensure continuous device operation while maintaining sufficient energy storage. Experimental results demonstrate that commercially available piezoelectric transducers can effectively power low-power IoT sensing systems in vibration-rich industrial environments.
OP et al. (Tue,) studied this question.