Imagine a three part floor. The bottom layer is structural. The next layer is piezoelectric material. The top layer is a substance that allows a person to transpher the energy from their step into the piezoelectric material. No one notices that everystep they take drops into the floor. This creates energy from people walking.
If this was placed in an area with heavy traffic such as a mall there could be thousands of people transfering their energy into this material.
If the floor gives or collapses 2mm over the time span of 1 sec, then a 75kg person would transper a total of 1.5 watts into the floor.
Of course any piezoelectric generator will not be 100% efficient. However, even if it was 10% efficient it would still be a considerable amount of power.
The power will in the end be taken out of the people walking over the generator which results in people being a little more tired. So maybe you have to eat another power bar in the morning - so what. More energy for the use of computers or lights or whatever.-- cocoski, Dec 03 2004 Shoe version by [rayfo] Piezo_20shoes [krelnik, Dec 03 2004] Sidewalk version by [DMOSS] People_20power [krelnik, Dec 03 2004] Clothing version by [dreamchaser] our_20body_20as_20a_20energy_20source [krelnik, Dec 03 2004] Road version by [rogerdna] The_20Road_20Toaster [krelnik, Dec 03 2004] Chair version by [shapu] Piezochair [krelnik, Dec 03 2004] And who can forget this classic? Pneumatic_20battery_20charger [half, Dec 03 2004] Harvesting Energy of Crowds http://www.treehugg...ting_the_energy.phpYour idea, borrowed by MIT [Worldgineer, Jul 29 2007] PaveGen http://www.pavegen.com/Paving slabs that convert energy from people's footsteps into electricity are set to help power Europe's largest urban mall, at the 2012 London Olympics site. [ldischler, Oct 13 2011] It might not be noticeable immediately, but it would take more energy to walk since some is taken away. Not the kind of thing that you ("you" being a shopping mall merchant/owner) would want in a shopping mall. Maybe the mall would be a suitable place for an active rebound floor of some sort.-- half, Dec 03 2004 Maybe a mall wouldn't be the best place but an airport or convension center might work.-- cocoski, Dec 03 2004 We've done energy recovery schemes like this to death over the years on the bakery, unfortunately. See links.-- krelnik, Dec 03 2004 [krelnik] the difference between my idea and the shoe version is that the capacitor would have 2 be in the shoe as well as the fact that the shoe would have 2 colapse 2mm. In the floor it doesn't matter the shoe because its a universal floor for everyone.
Sidewalk and Road versions - too hard to maintain in bad wheather, ect.
Chair version - think about how much more you walk than you sit. Also, you only get 2 energy spikes from sitting - when you sit down and when you get up. In the floor there is constant step up and step down and if multipul people doing this - lots of alternating current.
Battery Charger - This gets all of its energy from the cars passing over it. The cars move by energy from the fuel. You are auctually losing energy because it has to transpher from the gas to the car then to the charger. If you just had a gasoline generator then you wouldn't even have that loss. The floor generates its energy from the people walking on it. The people get their energy from food. Food is replenishable. That is why the floor is different then the other ideas.-- cocoski, Dec 04 2004 I really doubt that this would tire you out. It would be no different from walking on a very rubberised floor. It would of course stop working almost immediately. That said I bun anything that says peizo !(Sorry guys i just had to bun it )-- PainOCommonSense, Jul 30 2007 // there could be thousands of people ... 75kg person would transper a total of 1.5 watts ... will not be 100% efficient //
1.5 watts x 5,800,000 people per day = 100 watt light bulb (or 5,800 people taking 1,000 steps each)-- marklar, Jul 30 2007 I read about this in one of PopSci's overly-hopeful technology forecasts a few years ago ('07, maybe). Nice to see somebody's finally trying it out.-- Alterother, Oct 13 2011 I miss [half] just saying...-- po, Oct 13 2011 random, halfbakery