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Scientists have created a mechanical knee brace to generate and store power.
Scientists at the Simon Fraser University in Canada have created a knee brace which generates electricity as the user walks. The mechanical device generates roughly 5 watts of power, the equivalent amount of energy it would take to charge 10 mobile phones simultaneously.
One of the uses suggested is to power prosthetic limbs. Currently, the user of a powered prosthetic limb may only have 4 hours of use before the limb would require re-charging. With the new device, the wearer's good limb could power the prosthetic one indefinitely.
A commercial version of the generator which is used with the device is expected to be completed within 5 years. More advanced versions designed for use with pace-makers and other medical devices will follow.
The device works using the same principle as a hybrid car when it applies the brakes. Hybrid cars transfer some of the energy while braking via a generator to be stored in a battery. In a standard car this energy would instead be transferred into heat. The knee brace uses the same principle. When a person is walking, the hamstring muscles act like a brake to stop the leg swinging too far forward. The knee brace steps in at this point transferring about 15% of the kinetic energy to a generator and stores it in a battery.
During experiments with the device, one volunteer was asked to run with the device and managed to generate over 50 watts of energy.
In the trials, the amount of work each volunteer had to put in to generate the electricity was judged to be too much for production to start on the units. However, researchers from the University of Michigan believe they can make vast improvements in the efficiency of the device.
Dr Kuo from the University of Michigan (one of the inventors) said "There is power to be harvested from various places in the body, and you can use that to generate electricity."
"The knee is probably the best place. During walking, you dissipate energy in various places, when your foot hits the ground for example. You have to make up for this by performing work with your muscles."
"We've demonstrated proof of concept. The prototype device is bulky and heavy and it does affect the wearer just to carry. But the energy generation part itself has very little effect on the wearer, whether it is turned on or not. We hope to improve the device so that it is easier to carry and to retain the energy-harvesting capabilities."
Other research aimed at creating energy from the human body have only reached the 1 watt level so far and mostly involve footwear such as the Nike and Apple iPod partnership. Georgia Tech researchers are working on fabrics made from a flexible fibre coated with zinc oxide nanowires that can convert mechanical energy into electricity. The fibres are able to harvest any kind of vibration or motion for electric current.
