A Self-Powered Wireless Microphone

Authors

Joel Neff, Brigham Young University
Dr. Brian D. Jensen, Brigham Young University

Keywords

self-powered, wireless, microphone, vocal folds

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

The idea for our project was to use vibrations from the human vocal folds to harvest energy during speech. This energy would then be used to power a wireless throat microphone, which would acquire a speech signal and then transmit it to a fixed receiver for communications systems. The measurements we took estimated that human vocal folds could produce vibrations with amplitudes on the order of 1-5 m/s2 at the skin surface on the throat. One research study done by Shad Roundy at UC-Berkeley demonstrated that a device capable of producing 300 µW of power could be driven off of vibrations of only 2.25 m/s2 at 80 Hz. The device occupied a space less than 1 cm3.

Recommended Citation

Neff, Joel and Jensen, Dr. Brian D. (2013) "A Self-Powered Wireless Microphone," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 1952.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1952