title: Harvesting wind energy to detect weak signals using mechanical stochastic resonance.
abstract: Wind is free and ubiquitous and can be harnessed in multiple ways. We demonstrate mechanical stochastic resonance in a tabletop experiment in which wind energy is harvested to amplify weak periodic signals detected via the movement of an inverted pendulum. Unlike earlier mechanical stochastic resonance experiments, where noise was added via electrically driven vibrations, our broad-spectrum noise source is a single flapping flag. The regime of the experiment is readily accessible, with wind speeds ∼20 m/s and signal frequencies ∼1 Hz. We readily obtain signal-to-noise ratios on the order of 10 dB.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa 50112, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Breen
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa 50112, USA.
authors.forename: Jillian G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Rix
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa 50112, USA.
authors.forename: Samuel J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa 50112, USA.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lindner
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mathewson
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA.
authors.forename: Elliot R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Wainwright
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wilson