The team concedes that this is just the first step towards a viable trickle charger that could be used to keep medical devices, monitors and sensors trickle charged while a person goes about their normal lives
New technology to capture the kinetic energy of our everyday movements, such as walking, and to convert it into electrical energy has come a step closer thanks to research to be published in theĀ International Journal Biomechatronics and Biomedical Robotics.
Researchers have for many years attempted to harvest energy from our everyday movements to allow us to trickle charge electronic devices while we are walking without the need for expensive and cumbersome gadgets such as solar panels or hand-cranked chargers. Lightweight devices are limited in the voltage that they can produce from our low-frequency movements to a few millivolts. However, this is not sufficient to drive electrons through a semiconductor diode so that a direct current can be tapped off and used to charge a device, even a low-power medical implant, for instance.
Now, Jiayang Song and Kean Aw of The University of Auckland, New Zealand, have built an energy harvester that consists of a snake-shapes strip of silicone, polydimethylsiloxane, this acts as a flexible cantilever that bends back and forth with body movements. The cantilever is attached to a conducting metal coil with a strong neodymium, NdFeB, magnet inside, all enclosed in a polymer casing. When a conductor moves through a magnetic field a current is induced in the conductor. This has been the basis of electrical generation in power stations, dynamos and other such systems since the discovery of the effect in the nineteenth century. Using a powerful magnet and a conducting coil with lots of turns means a higher voltage can be produced.
In order to extract the electricity generated, there is a need to include special circuitry that takes only the positive voltage and passes it along to a rechargeable battery. In previous work, this circuitry includes a rectifying diode that allows current to flow in one positive direction only and blocks the reverse, negative, current. Unfortunately, the development of kinetic chargers has been stymied by current diode technology that requires a voltage of around 200 millivolts to drive a current.
Song and Aw have now side-stepped this obstacle by using a tiny electrical transformer and a capacitor, which acts like a microelectronic battery. Their charger weighing just a few grams oscillates, wiggling the coil back and forth through the neodymium magnetic field and produces 40 millivolts. The transformer captures this voltage and stores up the charge in the capacitor in fractions of a second. Once the capacitor is full it discharges sending a positive pulse to the rechargeable battery, thus acting as its own rectifier.
The team concedes that this is just the first step towards a viable trickle charger that could be used to keep medical devices, monitors and sensors trickle charged while a person goes about their normal lives without the need for access to a power supply. The system might be even more useful if it were embedded in an implanted medical device to prolong battery life without the need for repeated surgical intervention to replace a discharged battery. This could be a boon for children requiring a future generation of implanted, electronic diagnostic and therapeutic units.
The Latest on: Kinetic battery charger
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Kinetic battery charger” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Kinetic battery charger
- Leviton’s Newest EV Series Smart Home Chargers Offer Added Convenienceon April 27, 2024 at 4:08 am
An industry leader in innovative design, Leviton just upgraded its popular electric vehicle chargers for ultimate user convenience. We’re sharing the scoop.
- Lowe’s Will Give You Two Free Batteries and a Charger When You Buy This DeWalt Impact Wrenchon April 26, 2024 at 8:27 am
Lowe’s offer saves you $129, which is a decent chunk of change you can put toward other cordless power tools. Batteries are a notoriously expensive part of building out your toolkit, so getting a free ...
- TechInsights Teardown: Asus Rog Allyon April 26, 2024 at 5:39 am
The SSD contains the main memory functions for the Asus Rog Ally. The electronic components found on the SSD include Micron’s 512 GB 3D TLC NAND flash multichip memory, Silicon Motion’s PCIe Gen 4.0 ...
- Los Angeles Chargers draft picks: Grades for selections in 2024 NFL Drafton April 25, 2024 at 5:50 pm
The Los Angeles Chargers have the No. 5 pick and a lot of needs offensively heading into the 2024 NFL Draft. LA could use another quality offensive lineman to protect Justin Herbert as well as a top ...
- A New Battery Warns Parents if Their Child Has Swallowed Iton April 25, 2024 at 4:50 pm
The new battery by Energizer, with “color alert technology,” comes nearly two years after a report warned that more children were swallowing batteries.
- Mercedes-Benz Electric G-Class G580 –Off Road Crawl & G-Roaron April 24, 2024 at 5:03 pm
First launched 45 years ago, the G-Class, which takes its name from Geländewagen meaning off-road vehicle, formed its reputation globally as a sought-after brand icon. With its rugged durability, 80 ...
- 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 is a no-compromise EVon April 23, 2024 at 7:34 pm
The GMC Hummer EV might have bragging rights as the first uber all-electric SUV, but the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ technology blends 40 years of Geländewagen history with cutting-edge electric ...
- My first time driving the Tesla Cybertruck went haywire. A Ford dealership rescued me.on April 23, 2024 at 9:19 am
I spent three days with Tesla's Cybertruck. Some foolish oversight and a silly design flaw almost left me up a creek without a charge.
- Kinetic Green E Luna review: Still relevant today?on April 19, 2024 at 6:30 pm
The original Kinetic Luna was a utilitarian and inexpensive workhorse that, despite going off sale over two decades ago, has now gained cult status amongst small circles of classic enthusiasts.
- This company makes an AI exoskeleton to give people superhuman poweron April 17, 2024 at 3:23 pm
A new AI exoskeleton can turn your body into that of a superhuman, allowing you to hike with better efficiency.
via Bing News