Motion control system and method with energy harvesting

A motion control apparatus comprising:

• a sprinkler;
• an external energy source coupled to the sprinkler, said external energy source providing kinetic energy to the sprinkler;
• an energy conversion module mechanically coupled to the sprinkler, wherein the energy conversion module is configured to convert kinetic energy generated by the rotational motion of the sprinkler into electrical energy and the energy conversion module is configured to also provide a braking force to control the motion of the sprinkler, wherein the braking force is an electrical load;
• an electronic circuit coupled to the energy conversion module, wherein said electronic circuit comprises a microcontroller, wherein the energy conversion module and the microcontroller are located within the motion control apparatus;
• an electrical energy storage module coupled to the electronic circuit;
• at least one sensor module coupled to both the electronic circuit and the sprinkler to sense the movement of the sprinkler to determine a speed of the sprinkler and transmit the speed information to the electronic circuit;
• and
• a wireless communication module coupled to said microcontroller, wherein the wireless communication module is configured to receive commands wirelessly to control motion of the sprinkler,
• wherein said energy conversion module is an electric generator powering the electronic circuit, and a rotational speed of the electric generator is regulated by the microcontroller by applying a pulse-width-modulated signal to a N-channel field-effect transistor coupled to the electric generator and a signal conditioning circuit coupled to the microcontroller and the electric generator to condition output electrical energy from the electric generator.