The Germans have done it again in their quest to be more efficient than ever before, as German researchers have managed to come up with shoe-sized devices which are capable of generating power from the everyday act of walking. This particular technology could come in handy to power wearable electronic sensors, all without the need for additional batteries, although one would wonder just how much walking is required for that to happen. The process will require a pair of separate devices, one – a “shock harvester” which generates power when the heel strikes the ground, and the other would be a “swing harvester” that produces power as the foot swings.
Such “partnership” might prove useful to be the base of a self-lacing shoe for the elderly, who might find it difficult to tie their shoelaces, let alone slip laces into a pair of shoes no thanks to ailments such as arthritis and the like. Ah well, there is always the cheaper alternative – to use velcro.
Klevis Ylli from HSG-IMIT, a research centre in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, shared, “We have tried to power a wireless transmitter and to power a simple sensor. One application we are working on is indoor navigation which means we have sensors within the shoe that measure the acceleration of the foot, the angular velocity – whether you’re turning the foot or not – and the magnetic field. From the data from these sensors, you could calculate how far you have travelled and in which direction. So imagine a rescue unit walking into a building they don’t know. They could then track which way they went on their handheld device.”
It looks like there are many practical applications that could be associated with such an invention. Exciting times are certainly ahead of us.