The collection of clean power from ambient vibrations is considered a promising method for\nenergy harvesting. For the case of wheel rotation, the present study investigates the effectiveness of\na piezoelectric energy harvester, with the application of stochastic resonance to optimize the efficiency\nof energy harvesting. It is hypothesized that when the wheel rotates at variable speeds, the energy\nharvester is subjected to on-road noise as ambient excitations and a tangentially acting gravity force\nas a periodic modulation force, which can stimulate stochastic resonance. The energy harvester\nwas miniaturized with a bistable cantilever structure, and the on-road noise was measured for the\nimplementation of a vibrator in an experimental setting. A validation experiment revealed that the\nharvesting system was optimized to capture power that was approximately 12 times that captured\nunder only on-road noise excitation and 50 times that captured under only the periodic gravity force.\nMoreover, the investigation of up-sweep excitations with increasing rotational frequency confirmed\nthat stochastic resonance is effective in optimizing the performance of the energy harvester, with\na certain bandwidth of vehicle speeds. An actual-vehicle experiment validates that the prototype\nharvester using stochastic resonance is capable of improving power generation performance for\npractical tire application.
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