The piezo industry is large and growing rapidly, and is highly technical, well beyond my abiity to understand it. But I do know one of its products is a flexible plastic sheet which produces electric power if you deform it. My halfbaked question is, would insoles of this sheet in my boots produce enough power to run toe-lights, or give an attacking dog a shock?-- rayfo, Sep 15 2000 The Electric Shoe Company http://www.theelectricshoeco.com/Sadly, this is still all future tense, and hasn't changed in a while. [jutta, Sep 15 2000] Ceramic cloth http://www.usseal.com/frames/textiles.htm [Scott_D, Sep 15 2000, last modified Oct 21 2004] After the clockwork radio... http://www.zdnet.co...000/1/ns-12558.html...walk this way to charge your cellphone. [angel, Sep 15 2000, last modified Oct 21 2004] Parasitic Power Harvesting in Shoes http://www-csl.cs.c...pers/kymissis98.pdfMagnetic motor is two orders more efficient than piezo, but piezo is pretty good already (compared to e.g. a lithium battery), and you don't have to drag the clunky motor around with you. [jutta, Sep 15 2000] Link from JKlewer http://www-white.me...ne/TR328/node6.html [jutta, Sep 15 2000] Soon, mobiles to run on your body's energy! http://www.webindia...d=44713&cat=Science"You may not need to rely on batteries to charge up your MP3s and mobile phones for soon your body may become the energy source for all these gadgets." [bristolz, Oct 04 2004] "Shoe power generator earns Louisiana Tech professor national attention" http://news.latech....national-attention/“This technology could benefit, for example, hikers that need emergency location devices or beacons,” said Kaajakari. “For more general use, you can use it to power portable devices without wasteful batteries.” [angel, Jun 03 2010] Not really piezo, but... http://blogs.discov...echarge-your-phone/ [Dub, Sep 03 2011] I thought about the possibilities of this in terms of both shoes, and even ceramic cloths, although how ceramic cloth is made, and its properties, is still a mystery to me.-- Scott_D, Sep 15 2000 What about powering mobile equipment like phones, CD players, MP3 players, or safetylights for sportsmen who like to train at night ... All would be possible in a few years I hope.
However, the problem is that current piezomaterials aren't efficient enough, or not bendable enough.
[See link. -jutta]-- JKlewer, May 03 2001, last modified May 19 2001 Baked (see link)-- angel, May 03 2001 As someone who walks for exercise about 3 miles a day, I would look into something that would power my cell phone or mp3 player instead of batteries.
In a wierd way don't they do this already with the light up shoes for kids? Every step they take lights up the LED's in their shoes.
hera you go, Hook it up to a guitar wielding musician and the taps of his feet over the course of a long show would power the entire show!-- MaddMatt, Mar 13 2003 Excellent ideas indeed in the future I cannot see us all buying batteries. Piezo crystals produce high voltage for short periods .. not much power so they can only power very low power devices. A lighter clicker for instance could power a watch. Changes in temperature and air pressure could be used to power very small devices. The headlight shoes are a great idea, LEDs have become very efficient and a flash is all you need! Perhaps decoration would be the main use though. I am a design engineer and am at present working on a device which I can't mention here but generally the future is bright for piezo energy. Brian Mac Aree, Killaloe, Ireland http://www-macaree.org-- bmacaree, Dec 15 2003 Perhaps a return to hypercolor shirts, except instead of heat, it's electric. (Dee dee dee di-dee di-di-dee-deee, dee dee dee di-doo)-- shapu, Aug 05 2004 why-- 4whom, Dec 14 2007 random, halfbakery