Charge a phone while you walk

by Mark R - on August 26th, 2011

We all know that we make a lot of kinetic energy just by moving around, and we all need energy to power our mobile devices.

This is why researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison are working on a harvester that stores all the energy that we create by strolling, running, or walking.

Tom Krupenkin, a UW-Madison associate professor of mechanical engineering, says that human beings generate a kilowatt of power while sprinting. That is more than enough to power laptops, flashlights, and mobile phones.

This technology that you see in the sole of the shoe here uses reverse electrowetting. It is the process by which the energy of moving liquid is converted into electricity, and the energy generated through walking is about 20 watts of electricity.

The developers of this technology created a company called InStep NanoPower, and envision their first product as the ?Walk and Charge?. I suppose that we are looking at a future where we connect our devices to our shoe when we get to where we are going and work on our laptops, cellular phones, and other devices. According to my Source, this makes a cell phone battery last 10 times longer.

Of course, there is a problem with the cord connected to one?s shoe. Perhaps there could be a removable battery pack on the sole, but it might smell funny when placed on the table.

Source

• Email to a friend

Click Here Read More