A new device that straps to your leg can extract enough energy from your walking motion to power ten mobile phones — and the developers say that you'll barely notice the extra effort it requires.
Max Donelan of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, and his colleagues say that their device should capture even more power, at a lower energy cost to the wearer, once it is improved beyond the current prototype.
It could eventually be used to power medical implants, eliminating the need for surgery to replace batteries. The device might also drive robotic prosthetic limbs by harnessing the movements of the wearer, and could power communications technology in parts of the world that lack electricity supplies.
Watt's new?
The knee brace is by no means the first device that scavenges energy from human movement. Wind-up flashlights and radios are now common, as are watches that are powered by everyday arm movements. Researchers have also made systems that generate electricity by compression of the soles of shoes, and 3 years ago a team at the University of Pennsylvania created a backpack that produces more than 7 watts of power as the load slides up and down on a frame1.
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http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080207/full/news.2008.558.html
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