Breezes are a common source of renewable energy in the natural world. However, effectively harnessing breeze energy is challenging with conventional wind generators. These generators have a relatively high start-up wind speed requirement due to their large and steady rotational inertia. This study puts forth the idea of an autoregulatory driving arm (ADA), utilizing a stretchable arm for every wind cup and an elastic thread to provide adjustable rotational inertia and a low start-up speed. The self-adjustable rotational inertia of the harvester is achieved through coordinated interaction between the centrifugal and elastic forces. As the wind speed varies, the arm length of the wind cup automatically adjusts, thereby altering the rotational inertia of the harvester. This self-adjustment mechanism allows the harvester to optimize its performance and adapt to different wind conditions. By implementing the suggested ADA harvester, a low start-up speed of 1 m/s is achieved due to the small rotational inertia in its idle state. With the escalation of wind speed, the amplified centrifugal force leads to the elongation of the driving arms. When compared to a comparable harvester with a constant driving arm (CDA), the ADA harvester can generate more power thanks to this stretching effect. Additionally, the ADA harvester can operate for a longer time than the CDA harvester even after the wind has stopped. This extended operation time enables the ADA harvester to serve as a renewable power source for sensors and other devices in natural breeze environments. By efficiently utilizing and storing energy, the ADA harvester ensures a continuous and reliable power supply in such settings.

Breeze energy is a widely distributed renewable energy source in the natural world, but its efficient exploitation is very difficult. The conventional harvester with fixed arm length (HFA) has a relatively high start-up wind speed owing to its high and constant rotational inertia. Therefore, this paper proposes a harvester with a helix s-type vertical axis (HSVA) for achieving random energy capture in the natural breeze environment. The HSVA is constructed with two semi-circular buckets driven by the difference of the drag exerted, and the wind energy is transferred into mechanical energy. Firstly, as the wind speed changes, the HSVA harvester can match the random breeze to obtain highly efficient power. Compared with the HFA harvester, the power coefficient is significantly improved from 0.15 to 0.2 without additional equipment. Furthermore, it has more time for energy attenuation as the wind speeds dropped from strong to moderate. Moreover, the starting torque is also better than that of HFA harvester. Experiments showed that the HSVA harvester can improve power performance on the grounds of the wind speed ranging in 0.8–10.1 m/s, and that the star-up wind speed is 0.8 m/s and output peak power can reach 17.1 mW. In comparison with the HFA harvester, the HSVA harvester can obtain higher efficient power, requires lower startup speed and keeps energy longer under the same time. Additionally, as a distributed energy source, the HSVA harvester can provide a self-generating power supply to electronic sensors for monitoring the surrounding environment.