Background

Energy harvesting is the process where excess energy is derived from one source, such as an exercise bicycle, and used to power something else, such as an electrical appliance like a TV. A classic example is the automatic wristwatch, where the motion of the wearer provides energy to wind the mainspring, compared to a manual wristwatch which must have its mainspring wound by hand once a day. Energy harvesters are usually used to provide a very small amount of power for low-energy electronics, because of the challenge of converting excess energy. A typical home will have a number of sources of excess energy, such as heat from heating and air conditioning, heat in waste water, electromagnetic radiation in lighting, and the kinetic energy found in multiple sources such as rainwater on a roof or even the force of the footsteps of the home’s occupants. The challenge is to find a way to capture that energy, and then to convert it to do useful work. The goal is to use energy that is otherwise wasted to do useful work and to improve our well-being.
​​​​​​​A smart electronic device is a useful instrument, machine, or gadget that is controlled by electronic circuitry microcontroller boards, or sometimes by a single-board computer like a Raspberry Pi, and that perform only a few limited functions. We have many different kinds of devices at home, on our person, or at school to perform useful work for us, or to provide us with information, in order to increase our well-being.
 

The design brief

Design a practical energy harvesting system for the home to capture and reuse energy that is expended during normal household day-to-day activities. Your energy harvesting system ought to capture waste energy from that used to run the home itself, such as waste heat, motion, and so forth, and reuse it practically for any useful purpose in order to increase the energy efficiency of the same home. Your energy harvesting system should not capture energy from the environment, such as solar or wind power, nor should it capture energy from beyond the property boundaries. You may design any system or sub-systems of the home, or any combination thereof. Build a small-scale model of your energy harvesting system to demonstrate your design concept to your fellow students and teachers. Alternatively, you may build a computer-aided design (CAD) model of your design concept, if you prefer. Work on this project in a team with a group of your classmates.
 

The design thinking process

​​​​​​​Follow the six stages of the design thinking process to ensure that you are thorough and do everything necessary to succeed in your design project. First, you endeavour to understand the design topic and EMPATHISE with the needs of the users. With that understanding, you can DEFINE what is essential to the product or system that you are designing. Then you IDEATE, that is, you creatively come up with ideas and develop them. The next step is to PROTOTYPE your chosen design solution in a physical form and improve it through trial-and-error. Then you TEST your design idea to elicit the opinions of users. And finally, at the end of the process, you REFLECT upon your project to benefit from the experience. Use the appropriate methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website as you proceed along the design thinking process.
 

Note for teachers

Undertaking a student design project using electrical parts or microcontrollers such as Arduino requires:

• teachers who are able to supervise such a project;
• laboratories or workshops with electrical and electronic parts and tools;
• ​​​​​​​and students who are trained to work with electricity, tools, and equipment.

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the PROTOTYPE Stage for Level IV to safely supervise this design project.