IoT Enabled Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Floormat

Energy harvesting through clean energy sources has become a demand nowadays. Internet of Things (IoT) is recommended in an automation system that provides high efficiency and immediate data response. The present study presents a hardware design and software platform used for an IoT enabled piezoelectric energy harvesting floormat. The harvested energy from 16 diaphragm type piezoelectric transducers was stored in a supercapacitor. As for the IoT, the HC-05 Bluetooth module is employed. The prototype has been designed, such that when the user presses the push button, which acts as the switch of the doorbell, a buzzer will sound, and a customized LED lighting pattern will be displayed. With the IoT enabled, the output will be displayed on the PC and cell phone. From the design analysis, the average weight was calculated to be 75 kg while the average Voltage (DC) was 18.5 V and the average current was at 8.5 µA. On a bigger scale, it is projected to be able to generate 42.5 µA per m2. A typical Built-To-Order (BTO) 4-rooms flat in Singapore which is about 92 m2, will be able to generate 3.9 mA with 20 steps of a person that weighs 75 kg. Analytical prediction of 29.4 thousand steps required to charge a 250 mAh battery. Considering the average minimum steps produced by an individual is 3.5 thousand steps, it takes around 4.5 to 8.5 days to charge the battery fully.