Power Walking: A Backpack that Charges Your iPod?

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/news/media_relations/606/

Power Walking: A Backpack that Charges Your iPod?

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OCT. 16, 2007--The stress and strain absorbed by your backpack could one day recharge your cell phone.

Researchers at Michigan Technological University have designed a strap that will capture the energy generated by the up-and-down movement of a hiker's pack and turn it into enough voltage to power small electrical devices.

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With mechanical engineering graduate students Jonathan Granstrom and Joel Feenstra, Sodano designed straps made of a piezoelectric material that can convert mechanical strain into electrical energy.

You probably wouldn't be able to plug a TV into your backpack; the system is designed for use with devices that require small amounts of electricity, such as a GPS unit. Alternatively, a hiker could charge up a headlamp while walking during the day and then turn it on after dark. Or the backpack could generate enough power to recharge a handheld computer.

The straps are made of a nylon-like polymer that produces a fluctuating, AC current that could be stored in a battery or a capacitor. The researchers teamed up with the Blacksburg, Va., company NanoSonic Inc. to develop a specialized electrode grown on the surface of the strap using nanotechnology.

The beauty of the design is that it requires no extra effort on the part of the user, unlike other devices that transform mechanical energy into electricity, such as wind-up flashlights. It's part of a new field called "energy harvesting."

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[Triana]

1. Hey this'd be cool since I walk and iPod a LOT!

Very cool.

[TheWraith]

2. I have a hard time believing this would reliably produce a decent amount of current.

Unlike, say, a shakable flashlight, the motion of walking isn't nearly as reliable or constant unless you're walking on a perfectly even surface.