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Subj: Kinetic battery charging is coming soon! Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 at 09:33:43 pm EDT (Viewed 575 times) | |||
It looks like the secret to powering Anna's robot body and Yuki's cybernetic body is coming soon: http://www.ipodnn.com/articles/11/03/29/uses.bodys.own.movement.to.generate.electricity/ Scientists develop 'nanogenerators' that could power iPodsA team of scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta have developed chips that can use normal body movements to generate sufficient power to run LCD displays and diodes or transmit a radio signal, according to a report in the UK's Telegraph newspaper. Their goal is to create a method by which the body's own movement could power implantable medical devices, or the portable electronics people carry with them, such as iPods .The chip is in the very early stages of development and has only just become powerful enough to have any practical application, but further improvements could herald a vision of battery-less personal electronics, particularly for those with active lifestyles, that would make such devices even smaller and lighter than they currently are. The technology is based on zinc-oxide nanowires, which generate power when flexed. Almost any body movement -- even just the beating of the heart -- could generate power, according to the project's leader, Dr. Zhong Lin Wang.Millions of the nanowires work together in order in one nanogenerator to create current, but are so small that 500 of them could fit in a human hair. At present, five of the nanogenerators are needed to produce one micro-ampere output (at three volts) -- but this is roughly the same voltage produced by two normal AA batteries, and is a vast increase in scale over what was generated in previous versions. Further refinements are expected to increase the ability to generate power in forms that could be attached to the skin, or simply incorporated into clothing (a picture of a fabric "wire" for clothing is seen below). The technology has many implications, from medical to recreational. Pacemakers that could keep themselves recharged -- and their wearers informed about their status -- or a person could simply recharge their cell phone by engaging in normal day-to-day activities like walking or climbing stairs. Though it may be years before the technology is ready to come to market, it promises an interesting and perhaps the most eco-friendly option of generating small amounts of electricity ever invented -- by simply harnessing the kinetic energy of its users. "Our bodies are good at converting chemical energy from glucose into the mechanical energy of our muscles," Wang is quoted as saying. "These nanogenerators can take that mechanical energy and convert it to electrical energy for powering devices inside [or outside] the body. This could open up tremendous possibilities." [via The Telegraph] | |||
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