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 the 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
- Chargers' 2024 offensive depth chart update, draft strategyon April 22, 2024 at 12:39 am
With the draft just days away, now is a good time to review the Chargers’ depth chart and highlight potential targets at each position.
- 10 Best Mobile Car Battery Chargerson April 21, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Advanced Design - Our most advanced car battery charger jump starter ever. Featuring high-discharge lithium technology for safe operation in any climate. A rugged and water-resistant enclosure ...
- 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.
- All-terrain exoskeleton turns your body into a superhuman e-hikeron April 16, 2024 at 1:19 am
This new recreational adventure exoskeleton welcomes anyone to high-level hiking, scrambling and climbing, upgrading your anatomy with an extra 900 W of leg power. It shoulders up to 83 lb of load, ...
- The Best Car Battery Charger of 2024on April 5, 2024 at 11:59 pm
then a car battery charger is a valuable tool. They come with alligator clamps that connect to the positive and negative terminals on the battery and will get the battery levels charged.
- Is It OK To Leave A Ryobi Battery On Its Charger? Here's What You Should Knowon March 22, 2024 at 9:15 am
Like many other cordless tool brands, Ryobi battery charge times can vary based on the model, the charger, and the combination of both of those factors. Since there's no uniform metric ...
- The 7 Best Power Banks to Keep Your Gadgets Goingon March 4, 2024 at 10:03 pm
Also known as mobile chargers or battery packs, these nifty gadgets serve as a lifeline to your dying electronics by recharging battery power when needed. Even if they’re not a daily necessity ...
- Portable Jump Starter vs Battery Charger: what's the difference and which is best for you?on November 18, 2023 at 10:37 am
there are two approaches to take – a portable jump starter or a battery charger. Both of these products bring your battery (and car) back to life by feeding energy back into a dead battery.
- The Best Portable Laptop Chargeron September 25, 2023 at 8:16 am
It keeps up with MacBook Pros and other powerful laptops, it has a compact size and shape, and its battery life is as good as any we’ve tested. This portable charger has an AC outlet ...
- Kinetic Green Flexon March 7, 2023 at 11:35 pm
Kinetic Green Flex is an electric scooter with a range of 120 km . Kinetic Green Flex is priced at Rs. 1.09 Lakh onwards. The Charging time of Flex is 3 hr. It is available in 4 colours and is ...
via Bing News