17-08-2012, 02:00 PM
Electricity From Footsteps
[attachment=31849]
Introduction
Walking is the most common activity in day to day
life. When a person walks, he loses energy to the
road surface in the form of impact, vibration, sound
etc, due to the transfer of his weight on to the road
surface, through foot falls on the ground during
every step. This energy can be tapped and converted
in the usable form such as in electrical form.
In order to develop a technique to harness foot
step energy, a foot step electricity generating device
was developed in the Reactor Control Division,
BARC. This device, if embedded in the footpath,
can convert foot impact energy into electrical form.
The working principle is simple. When a pedestrian
steps on the top plate of the device, the plate will
dip down slightly due to the weight of the
pedestrian. The downward movement of the plate
results in rotation of the shaft of an electrical
alternator, fitted in the device, to produce electrical
energy. The top plate reverts back to its original
position due to negating springs provided in the
device.
Energy storing
The power generated by the foot step generator
can be stored in an energy storing device. The output
of the generator was fed to a 12 V lead acid battery,
through an ac-dc converter bridge. Initially, the
battery was completely discharged. Then, the FSEC
was operated by applying foot load and energy was
stored in the battery. A 100 W, 230V bulb was
connected to the battery through an inverter. The
arrangement is shown in Fig. 4. The duration of
lighting, the bulb for number of footsteps and
corresponding energy stored, are given in Table 1.
Multi FSEC unit platform
A cluster of 5 FSEC devices mounted on a wheeled
platform was developed. A view of the internal
components of a typical FSEC device used in the
cluster is shown in Fig. 5. The electrical output of
all five FSEC devices is stored in 2 batteries provided
in the platform. An electronic digital energy meter
is fitted on the platform. The energy generated in
each of the five FSEC units fitted in the mobile
platform is integrated and displayed on the energy
meter. The energy meter shows a total integrated
value of electrical energy in KJ generated in all FSECs
fitted in the platform.
[attachment=31849]
Introduction
Walking is the most common activity in day to day
life. When a person walks, he loses energy to the
road surface in the form of impact, vibration, sound
etc, due to the transfer of his weight on to the road
surface, through foot falls on the ground during
every step. This energy can be tapped and converted
in the usable form such as in electrical form.
In order to develop a technique to harness foot
step energy, a foot step electricity generating device
was developed in the Reactor Control Division,
BARC. This device, if embedded in the footpath,
can convert foot impact energy into electrical form.
The working principle is simple. When a pedestrian
steps on the top plate of the device, the plate will
dip down slightly due to the weight of the
pedestrian. The downward movement of the plate
results in rotation of the shaft of an electrical
alternator, fitted in the device, to produce electrical
energy. The top plate reverts back to its original
position due to negating springs provided in the
device.
Energy storing
The power generated by the foot step generator
can be stored in an energy storing device. The output
of the generator was fed to a 12 V lead acid battery,
through an ac-dc converter bridge. Initially, the
battery was completely discharged. Then, the FSEC
was operated by applying foot load and energy was
stored in the battery. A 100 W, 230V bulb was
connected to the battery through an inverter. The
arrangement is shown in Fig. 4. The duration of
lighting, the bulb for number of footsteps and
corresponding energy stored, are given in Table 1.
Multi FSEC unit platform
A cluster of 5 FSEC devices mounted on a wheeled
platform was developed. A view of the internal
components of a typical FSEC device used in the
cluster is shown in Fig. 5. The electrical output of
all five FSEC devices is stored in 2 batteries provided
in the platform. An electronic digital energy meter
is fitted on the platform. The energy generated in
each of the five FSEC units fitted in the mobile
platform is integrated and displayed on the energy
meter. The energy meter shows a total integrated
value of electrical energy in KJ generated in all FSECs
fitted in the platform.