Patent ID: 8866317

Claim:
A system for converting environmental vibrational energy into electrical energy for storage in at least one electrical power storage device, the system comprising: a transducer that undergoes oscillating movement in response to the environmental vibrational energy, the transducer producing an oscillating electrical signal in response to the oscillating movement; power electronics, operably coupled between the transducer and the at least one electrical power storage device, the power electronics processing the oscillating electrical signal produced by the transducer, wherein the power electronics includes at least one control element having a configuration that provides variable dampening of the oscillating movement of the transducer in response to at least one control signal supplied thereto; at least one sensor for measuring properties of the oscillations of the transducer over time; and control electronics operably coupled to the at least one control element of the power electronics and to the at least one sensor, the control electronics carrying out a control scheme that generates and supplies the at least one control signal to the at least one control element over time in a manner that controls the at least one control element to dynamically vary the dampening of the oscillating movement of the transducer over time, wherein the control scheme is based upon a predetermined parametric relation involving a plurality of variables derived from the properties measured by the at least one sensor, wherein the plurality of variables include a first variable representing excitation frequency of the transducer.