Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) is an ongoing project pursuing alternate forms of sustainable energy for Cal Poly State University. The EHFEM project seeks to acquire user-generated DC power from exercise machines and sell that energy back to the local grid as AC power. The end goal of the EHFEM project aims to integrate a final design with existing elliptical fitness trainers for student and faculty use in Cal Poly’s Recreational Center. This report examines whether including the DC-DC converter in the EHFEM setup produces AC power to the electric grid more efficiently and consistently than an EHFEM system that excludes a DC-DC converter. The project integrates an overvoltage protection circuit, a DC-DC converter, and a DC-AC microinverter with an available elliptical trainer modified to include an energy converting circuit. The initial expectation was that a DC-DC converter would increase, when averaged over time, the overall energy conversion efficiency of the EHFEM system, and provide a stable voltage and current level for the microinverter to convert DC power into AC power. In actuality, while including a DC-DC converter in a test setup allows the EHFEM system to function with less frequent interruptions, this occurs at the cost of lower efficiency. Testing demonstrates the EHFEM project can convert user-generated DC mechanical power into usable AC electrical power. Retrofitting existing equipment with the EHFEM project can reduce Cal Poly’s energy cost.
","abstract_html":"<p>Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) is an ongoing project pursuing alternate forms of sustainable energy for Cal Poly State University. The EHFEM project seeks to acquire user-generated DC power from exercise machines and sell that energy back to the local grid as AC power. The end goal of the EHFEM project aims to integrate a final design with existing elliptical fitness trainers for student and faculty use in Cal Poly’s Recreational Center. This report examines whether including the DC-DC converter in the EHFEM setup produces AC power to the electric grid more efficiently and consistently than an EHFEM system that excludes a DC-DC converter. The project integrates an overvoltage protection circuit, a DC-DC converter, and a DC-AC microinverter with an available elliptical trainer modified to include an energy converting circuit. The initial expectation was that a DC-DC converter would increase, when averaged over time, the overall energy conversion efficiency of the EHFEM system, and provide a stable voltage and current level for the microinverter to convert DC power into AC power. In actuality, while including a DC-DC converter in a test setup allows the EHFEM system to function with less frequent interruptions, this occurs at the cost of lower efficiency. Testing demonstrates the EHFEM project can convert user-generated DC mechanical power into usable AC electrical power. Retrofitting existing equipment with the EHFEM project can reduce Cal Poly’s energy cost.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kiddoo, Cameron"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Electrical Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Electrical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["David B. Braun"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:49Z","subjects":["Energy Harvest from Exercise Machines","DC-DC Converter","Overvoltage Protection Circuit","Microinverter","EHFEM","Power and Energy"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2017.31"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2017.31","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2017.31","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1732","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["David B. Braun"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kiddoo, Cameron"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Electrical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Electrical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Energy Harvest from Exercise Machines","DC-DC Converter","Overvoltage Protection Circuit","Microinverter","EHFEM","Power and Energy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1732","10.15368/theses.2017.31"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) is an ongoing project pursuing alternate forms of sustainable energy for Cal Poly State University. The EHFEM project seeks to acquire user-generated DC power from exercise machines and sell that energy back to the local grid as AC power. The end goal of the EHFEM project aims to integrate a final design with existing elliptical fitness trainers for student and faculty use in Cal Poly’s Recreational Center. This report examines whether including the DC-DC converter in the EHFEM setup produces AC power to the electric grid more efficiently and consistently than an EHFEM system that excludes a DC-DC converter. The project integrates an overvoltage protection circuit, a DC-DC converter, and a DC-AC microinverter with an available elliptical trainer modified to include an energy converting circuit. The initial expectation was that a DC-DC converter would increase, when averaged over time, the overall energy conversion efficiency of the EHFEM system, and provide a stable voltage and current level for the microinverter to convert DC power into AC power. In actuality, while including a DC-DC converter in a test setup allows the EHFEM system to function with less frequent interruptions, this occurs at the cost of lower efficiency. Testing demonstrates the EHFEM project can convert user-generated DC mechanical power into usable AC electrical power. Retrofitting existing equipment with the EHFEM project can reduce Cal Poly’s energy cost.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines: Comparative Study of EHFEM Performance with DC-DC Converters and Dissipative Overvoltage Protection Circuit"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["David B. Braun"],"dc:creator":["Kiddoo, Cameron"],"dc:date.available":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) is an ongoing project pursuing alternate forms of sustainable energy for Cal Poly State University. The EHFEM project seeks to acquire user-generated DC power from exercise machines and sell that energy back to the local grid as AC power. The end goal of the EHFEM project aims to integrate a final design with existing elliptical fitness trainers for student and faculty use in Cal Poly’s Recreational Center. This report examines whether including the DC-DC converter in the EHFEM setup produces AC power to the electric grid more efficiently and consistently than an EHFEM system that excludes a DC-DC converter. The project integrates an overvoltage protection circuit, a DC-DC converter, and a DC-AC microinverter with an available elliptical trainer modified to include an energy converting circuit. The initial expectation was that a DC-DC converter would increase, when averaged over time, the overall energy conversion efficiency of the EHFEM system, and provide a stable voltage and current level for the microinverter to convert DC power into AC power. In actuality, while including a DC-DC converter in a test setup allows the EHFEM system to function with less frequent interruptions, this occurs at the cost of lower efficiency. Testing demonstrates the EHFEM project can convert user-generated DC mechanical power into usable AC electrical power. Retrofitting existing equipment with the EHFEM project can reduce Cal Poly’s energy cost.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1732","10.15368/theses.2017.31"],"dc:subject":["Energy Harvest from Exercise Machines","DC-DC Converter","Overvoltage Protection Circuit","Microinverter","EHFEM","Power and Energy"],"dc:title":["Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines: Comparative Study of EHFEM Performance with DC-DC Converters and Dissipative Overvoltage Protection Circuit"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Electrical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Electrical Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:49Z"}