= Mechanical energy harvesting
<Mechanical energy harvesting> converts supplied motion or deformation into recoverable <energy> in an electrical load. A vibrating support can drive a moving magnet, a variable capacitor or a device using <piezoelectricity>. These are different transducers coupling a mechanical input to an electrical load.
A small generator attached to a vibrating beam provides a useful experiment: measure both the electrical output and the change in the beam's motion as the load is varied. Extracting energy introduces a resisting force or effective <damping>, so the transducer can change the vibration that drives it. Available average <power>, response frequency and losses all matter. A large open-circuit voltage alone does not establish useful output power; the device must deliver <energy> to a specified load while an external source sustains the mechanical motion.
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