Recharge your light while caving...

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Recharge your light while caving...

Postby karst97 » Feb 8, 2008 9:40 pm

Researchers at Simon Frasier University in British Columbia have developed technology that generates electricity from the natural motion of walking. In an article published in the journal Science this month, Max Donelan, an assistant professor of kinesiology, and other team members say their biomechanical energy harvester promises to revolutionize the way people charge the batteries that power all sorts of mobile gear.

Their harvester, which straps across a knee joint just like an athletic knee brace, can generate up to five watts of electricity with little physical effort. And one minute of brisk walking can generate 13 watts -- enough to support 30 minutes of cell-phone use.
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Re: Recharge your light while caving...

Postby Mirth Beneath the Earth » Feb 8, 2008 10:07 pm

Across the knee? It better be made of some indestructible alien material. I wish my knees were.
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Re: Recharge your light while caving...

Postby Vertigo » Feb 17, 2008 8:38 pm

How much does it cost to get this technology? :kewl:
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Re: Recharge your light while caving...

Postby Mark620 » Feb 19, 2008 7:56 pm

caver86 wrote:How much does it cost to get this technology? :kewl:


Two Legs... :shrug:
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Re: Recharge your light while caving...

Postby Scott Parvin » Feb 20, 2008 12:32 pm

caver86 wrote:How much does it cost to get this technology? :kewl:


According to what I read, the product is not commercially available yet. I think it is a great idea, but it probably wouldn't hold up to caving.
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Re: Recharge your light while caving...

Postby Carl Amundson » Feb 20, 2008 12:45 pm

Here are links to a couple of articles about this device:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/us/08knees.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/207/1

It does not look ready for caving just yet...
Last edited by Carl Amundson on Feb 20, 2008 12:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Recharge your light while caving...

Postby Squirrel Girl » Feb 20, 2008 6:28 pm

Speaking of not quite ready for caving....

What ever happened to those several people who posted up here about how they were going to invent some new caving gadget that will be better than sliced bread? I seem to recall Cavechatians giving him/them a hard time about having an odd approach--like a solution in search of a problem--but they defended themselves admirably. I want to know how they were right and we were wrong and caving will sudden be so much better!
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