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Energy From Vibrations

Posted by Hemos on from the making-better-use-of-energy dept.

JN writes "Now here's a nifty invention. What started off as a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Navy to a MIT professor has turned out to become a great mechanism that harnesses running machines' minute vibrations into energy. The possibilities are limitless. Aside from the obvious, imagine the ultimate cellphone - one that charges the battery every time it rings/vibrates, hence promising extended talktimes, and giving operators all the more reasons to get their customers to use their devices. How cool is that? Do I see 3G applications with a vibrate() call mandatory every couple minutes? "

4 of 520 comments (clear)

  1. Indeed by inertia187 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reminds me of this article. But seriously, wouldn't the daily movement of the cell phone user also be useful? Granted, it's not as vigorous as the vibrate feature, but it has to account for something.

    "Crud, I dropped my cell phone. But now I have ten more minutes of talk time! Gotta love solid state!"

    --
    A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
    1. Re:Indeed by dev_sda · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That was my thinking, too. That sort of "recharge" has been available in wrist watches for some time (no winding necessary, your wrist movements do it). For a cell phone with small power needs, it would seem a simple thing to accomplish.

      Its the same basic concept but the degree of difference between the levels of energy generated by the daily movements of a person compared to the power required by a cellphone is huge. The amount of 'vibration energy' you release on a daily basis would probably add 10 minutes of talk time to a low powered cell phone a day. I also like the submitter's misconception of general physics:

      How cool is that? Do I see 3G applications with a vibrate() call mandatory every couple minutes?

      Right. Energy for free! Unfortunately the mythical +100% efficiency machine has yet to be built (and never will). This technology only recovers percentages of energy lost due to machine inefficiency and friction. The day x amount of energy generates y amount of energy where y > x is the day the universe implodes.

  2. Not perpetual motion by Plastik · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a way to power small, low-power devices parasitically from the vibrations of a much larger engine. Actually very interesting.

  3. Re:This could be sweet. by GRH · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm in the HVAC controls industry. Many sensors are required in ventilation systems (primarily air handlers) to control them properly. This is costly, not because of the cost of the sensor, but because of the wiring and conduit required to reach the sensor. We have little choice about the location of the sensor (it has to be able to do its job).

    There has been talk of trying to build wireless sensors (some do exist) and actuators, but the killer is the power. It either needs to be brought in on wires or battery powered. Batteries are not very good because they don't last that long (these systems are designed to run for over 10 years) and some sensors are difficult to access.

    So, this could be looked at as an enabling technology, in that it could allow wireless sensors to become practical (by running off the ductwork vibration).

    In a mid-sized office building, the installation savings from this would be around $100k. Look around at how many buildings there are...

    GRH