SBIR Phase I: Electricity From Biomimetic Grass

这个SBIR一期项目将开发使用压电换能器创造一种人工植物的可行性，体现为高大的束草，它将从风中收集和储存能量。这种装置将具有美观的吸引力，并为风力涡轮机和化石燃料燃烧产生的能源提供无污染的补充。含有压电式Kynar插片的粗糙塑料叶片在风力作用下弯曲时会产生脉冲电流。电流将由每片叶子底部的二极管桥进行全波整流，并并联到智能电池充电器上。该项目的更广泛/商业影响将是利用风能生产能源，而不涉及与风力涡轮机有关的环境问题。目前，风能收集是由驱动大型电磁发电机的风力涡轮机完成的。涡轮机通常安装在农村地区的高塔上，以避免人口稠密地区典型的湍流气流，并满足风速的阈值要求。随着风力发电场的普及，人们开始关注其对野生动物、当地风力模式和附近居民健康的影响。这个项目将开发一种新的、变革性的技术，利用多年来植物与风相互作用所产生的工程解决方案。

This SBIR Phase I project will develop the feasibility of using piezoelectric transducers to create an artificial plant, embodied as tall bunchgrass, that will harvest and store energy from wind. This device will have aesthetic appeal and provide a nonpolluting supplement to energy produced by wind turbines and combustion of fossil fuels. Rugged plastic leaves containing piezoelectric Kynar inserts will generate pulses of electricity when flexed by wind. Electrical currents will be full-wave rectified by diode bridges at the base of each leaf and routed in parallel to a smart battery charger.The broader/commercial impact of the project will be to produce energy from wind without the environmental concerns related to wind turbines. Currently, wind energy harvesting is accomplished with wind turbines that drive large electromagnetic generators. Turbines are mounted atop high towers often in rural districts in order to avoid turbulent airflow typical of populated areas, and also to meet threshold wind speed requirements. As wind-farms have spread, environmental concerns have been raised about their effects on wildlife, local wind patterns, and the health of nearby residents. This project will develop a new and transformational technology that exploits engineering solutions evolved by plants over the years that they have been interacting with wind.