This thesis first reviews the broadband vibration-based energy harvesting
techniques currently known in some detail with regard to their merits and app licability
under different circumstances. After that, the design, fabrication, modeling and
characterization of three new piezoelectric-based energy harvesting mechanism, built
typically for rotary motion applications, is discussed. A step-by-step procedure is
followed in order to broaden the bandwidth of such energy harvesters by introducing a
coupled spring-mass system attached to a PZT beam undergoing rotary motion. It is
shown that the new strategies can indeed give rise to a wide-band frequency response
making it possible to fine-tune their dynamical response. The numerical results are
shown to be in good agreement with the experimental data as far as the frequency
response is concerned