Omar Akkad at the Globe and Mail wrote this intriguing piece (registration may be required) about a backpack that can capture energy while the person who wears it walks. It was invented by a team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The “Suspended-load Backpack” apparently improves how you walk, but can also generate up to 7.4 watts while you do the walking — enough to power cell phones and other electronic gadgets. Think military applications.

The Globe article describes how it works:

The electricity can be used as it is generated, or stored in a lightweight rechargeable battery. The backpack takes advantage of the hip’s movement to generate electricity. When a person walks, they place one foot on the ground and vault over it with the rest of their body. This movement causes the hip to move up and down about 4 to 7 centimetres. The backpack’s load plate is mounted to the pack and suspended by springs, which allows the load to echo the hip’s movement. This drives a rack-and-pinion device, which in turn powers a motor that acts as a generator. The result is a conversion of the body’s mechanical energy to electricity.

What can I say — pretty darn cool. Now, if we could only figure out a way to capture energy from hamsters as they run on their little wheels. And what about hyperactive children? The possibilities are endless… human rights aside.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 8th, 2005 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Main Page. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.