In the film The Matrix, a world-spanning machine civilization uses humans as batteries to power itself. The machines might have done better to allow people to walk around, as that would be a far better way to generate energy for electronics.
The idea was hatched by Tom Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Krupenkin, a professor of mechanical engineering, describes in a recent Nature Communications paper an energy-harvesting technology known as "reverse electrowetting," a phenomenon discovered by the two researchers. The mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy by using a micro-fluidic device consisting of thousands of liquid micro-droplets interacting with a nano-structured substrate.
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Basically, it means you could put a layer in the sole of a shoe -- similar to the liquid-filled layers in some higher-end sneakers -- and convert the mechanical energy of walking to electricity, and then transmit that to a device such as a phone. It wouldn't replace batteries, but it would extend their lives by quite a bit. While solar power is an option for some electronics, sometimes there isn't any sunlight, and the wattage that a small solar panel can generate is ususally enough for something like a calculator, but not a smart phone.
Krupenkin says the amount of energy humans can generate this way is quite large. A sprinter puts out nearly a kilowatt, and even walking along someone could generate about 20 watts -- plenty to top up the average cell phone battery. The power could be transmitted wirelessly.
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There are a lot of places where this kind of power would be useful. The military could put it in boots and cut way back on the number of batteries a typical soldier has to carry. Right now they have to walk around with up to 20 pounds worth to power various electronic devices such as night vision goggles, laptops and GPS units.
If nothing else, this method of pwering phones might end up encouraging more people to exercise. And think of the possibilities if you run marathons.
Credit: Tom Krupenkin, J. Ashley Taylor/University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tags: Electronics, Energy, Materials Science, Wireless Energy
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