In this work, we have experimentally studied and compared
several designs to optimize power output from a magnetic levitation
vibration energy harvester and tested the optimal device
on human subjects. When tested on 10 participants while walking
at 3 mph, the power output averaged 71 W with a standard
deviation of 30 W. When running at 6 mph, the power increased
to 342 W with a standard deviation of 86 W. The model in this
paper predicted the power on average within 14% of the measured
power output. The measurement results show that the variation
in power generated is relatively significant due to the variation in
walking and running gait styles as well as the angle of attachment
of the device. For example, when mounted at an angle of 30◦ on
an electrodynamic shaker, the power reduced by 63% compared
to vertically mounted due to increased damping. However, due to
device optimization, the power output of the optimized device was
less sensitive to the angle of mounting. Finally, as was intuitively