This week, I created a prototype for the piezoelectric energy harvesting. I cut one of the pieces of spring steel into one inch strips, prepped the surface, and attached three of the piezo tiles to the surface at locations suggested by the paper, leaving room to attach other tiles at the angles suggested to have more voltage output upon flexion. I then hooked each tile up to an oscilloscope and studied the outputs upon flexing the spring steel small amounts at the bend angles that would be likely to be seen when wearing the watch. Additionally, I began to figure out how to attach the watch straps together so that they can be reformed for our purposes.
My progress is on schedule, as this week was dedicated to creating a prototype of the energy harvesting.
In the next week, I hope to test this prototype more and to help Carson implement the other form of energy harvesting that we are looking into.