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New Twist on Power Walking
An anonymous reader writes "Carrying a newly designed backpack loaded with between 44 and 84 pounds of gear, users generate enough electricity to simultaneously power an MP3 player, a PDA, night vision goggles, a handheld GPS, a CMOS image decoder, a GSM terminal in talk mode, and Bluetooth."
- You're a gargoyle.
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might be worth it for over weight kids that want to power their game boy while walking for a change ...
I suppose it'll help build muscle too lol
A walking target for muggers. Or if you went on the London Underground with it, increase your likelihood of being shot by the Met Police exponentially
Not only generating power but instantly increasing your popularity with the fairer sex.
The incredible accuracy of this list of items that the backpack can power quite astounds me.
"Sorry sir, if you want to play WMAs you'll need the extended BackpackWindows version."
"Sorry sir, USB2.0 is not supported. Have you considered using BlueTooth?"
"Sorry sir, federal law requires you to wear night vision goggles while carrying this backpack. Yes, sir, I'm aware it's high noon. Regulations."
"Sorry sir, but is that GSM terminal in talk mode? It is? OK, just checking... some tourists think they can use stand-by mode."
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Sounds a lot like the energy differential shown by hopping kangaroos. Their energy consumption is remarkably low given the velocities they generate and it seems to be the result of energy stored in their lower leg tendons. In other words they are using the same benefits to get a large increase in overall energy output with a marginal increase in metabolic consumption.
"The first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is stop digging."
Great! Now I can assasinate people while listening to the Kill Bill soundtrack!
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
...carrying all that gear means that the calls you do make on the GSM device in talk mode sound like heavy breathing pervert-o-calls, and you'll get busted for harrassment :)
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While at the moment this is spawning a handful of standard amusing slashdot responses, you miss a more useful application - that of field operatives. And you can take 'field operatives' to mean soldiers and the like - being able to use all kinds of equipment that would normally require more power than is available should improve things, although bear in mind they already carry heavy packs so it wouldn't be one per person. The other kind is the more normal field operative - anyone who goes exploring/researching/hiking/prospecting... if you don't have to carry samples back to base camp for analysis, or can power *anything* enabling, then you're ddoing well with one of these. Remember that most people don't need the long list of things mentioned in the post; but for enabling people who are away from home, this looks like it could be really handy.
Browsing with +2 to insightful posts and a higher threshold makes the average post seen seem a lot more ingenious
I think that bringing 30 kg in replacement batteries should last me the entire vacation!
Carrying between 44 and 84 pounds of backpack will negate the need to carry heavy batteries. So how heavy are batteries for MP3 players and PDA's these days?
...that this was posted on the same day as the article about the robotic hand?
1 + 1 = 2 (say hello to a new era of beach voyeurism)
Three rings for the Elven-kings in the sky
Actually, it's not like the power generator weighed 50 pounds, the backpack just needs some weight to work - more weight means more power generated. If your backpack already weighs a lot, you're good to go. In other words, RTFA. ;)
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
Here's a picture http://www.heise.de/bilder/63699/0/1 . The aparatus just takes a small part of the weight. However, you have to put something in your backpack, whatever it is, to generate power.
For most applications this is a nonstarter: if it's daytime, solar would work better (since it'd work at rests too) and for many operations at nigth, simply carrying a battery is easier, because you want say your nigth-vision goggles to keep working even if you leave the backpack behind for some job.
self-winding watches have been around for many years to store energy in springs to power a watch, and Seiko and other companies have watches which store electricy in ultra-capacitors.
why a backpack?
why not use wrist- or ankle-mounted generators, which get a lot more movement, so presumably the generator could be a lot smaller and lighter?
be careful while jogging past another person wearing one with more negative electrons than yours. *ffffZZZZZZZOTTTT* *POOOOM* *smoke smoke*
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What are the chances your average /. user can even heft said backpack?
(images of futuristic schoolyard-bully style backpack swiping ensue)
It is recommended that you don't carry more 40 to 55 pounds. In a combat situation anyway. And I don't see why this doesn't apply to backpackers. External frame backpacks can also be quite heavy, so it would be interesting to see how much the backpack+motor would cut into your weight allowance.
You may generate 7 watts but if you are storing that in a battery you won't get that much back out.
It's a good idea though since a suspended load is going to be absorbing energy anyway (ie. the springy-ness), might as well use that to generate power.
However, a lot more energy could be generated by absorbing the person's weight (plus anything they carry). For example, if you could store the energy absorbed by the padding of your shoes as you walked. Now that would be some power.
The ratio of people to cake is too big
Sounds more like "Power *Stalking*" to me...
Max.
...you will be assimilated! Wait, don't run! We cannot keep up with you!
Nobody seems to get it, the load is not some extra stuff you need to put in your pack - the machine just needs some weight to swing around. So the weight can be your dirty laundry, tent, laptop, whatever is in the pack already.
It took a while but I finally found a picture of it. It doesn't look too bad, and actually does look eco-friendly.