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MIT Researchers Create New Tiny Energy Harvester
RogerRoast writes "Researchers at MIT have designed a device the size of a U.S. quarter that harvests energy from low-frequency vibrations, such as those that might be felt along a pipeline or bridge. The tiny energy harvester — known technically as a microelectromechanical system, or MEMS — picks up a wider range of vibrations than current designs, and is able to generate 100 times the power of devices of similar size."
But I fear that advances in vibrator technology will leave me at even more of a disadvantage.
If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!
MEMS actually refers to any microscopic-scale electromechanical device, such as microscopic motors or other such devices, and not specifically to the device described in TFA.
Finally, through the use of a hybrid regenerative powertrain, it might be possible to make Harleys as fast as other motorcycles! :-P
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Great, I always have quarters jingling in my pocket. Now I can create energy, 'and' give my wife something else to whine about. Win-Win.
Actually, predating Tiberium, and I think much closer to what this device actually does..
Frederick Pohl's Heechee saga makes mention of piezoelectric energy generation.. if I recall things right.. which basically operated with the same concept as this device.
My memory of anything more specific is a bit shady. I last read those books nearly 20 years ago.
For the record, they're a little over the head of a 5th grader, but not by as much as you'd think.
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about.
Auto-wind wrist watches were available even earlier.
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
Build one of these into every vibrator sold and we won't need any other power source ever again.
If these devices are harnessing energy from the vibrations, wouldn't they also act to dampen the vibrations as well? So if you hooked enough up to siphon off a noticeable amount of energy, you'd also be noticeably extending the life of the pipeline or bridge section in question.
"Designed" is so much more appropriate here than "invented." Cause these "energy harvesters" have been in watches for decades now.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
Crib notes: what they have is a device that they claim generates 45 microwatts in the lab, from the same artificially efficient frequencies that they belittle other devices for relying on. They don't have a device that generates their target 100 microwatts, not even in the lab, not even at their ideal artificial frequencies.
So, short summary: they don't have a useful device, and they don't have anything beyond "plans" to make it work.
The only valid test is deployment. The only valid result is full functionality.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Michigan has been working on this very thing for a large government push to embed smarts into bridges. http://ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=7585
So, is this another kinetic watch battery, basically?
I8-D
Auto-wind wristwatches harvest energy from low frequency vibrations!?
Quote from article and /. post: "...and is able to generate 100 times the power of devices of similar size."
My addition that explains the subject of this comment: "...but we won't bother to tell you what those devices are."
WHAT devices that are similar to "that" size "generate" power?
Why this didn't go in the summary I really don't know.
Yes, from your arm/wrist movements (really low frequency, non-periodic vibrations).
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
If you equate physical motion with vibration, at it's stripped-down essence, then ostensibly, yes. Especially when swinging your arms while walking, which could be defined as an oscillation of sorts...just at a really, really, low frequency-- 1Hz or less.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
The recent trends in the industrial instrumentation world has been to go wireless for many applications. Currently the vast majority of them run on battery. Other options are external supply (so why would you go wireless), or local solar (which doesn't do very well in a dusty plant at all).
It would be pretty neat if the instrumentation on a plant can harvest their own energy. Certainly saves the maintenance nightmere of having hundreds of lithium batteries at $250 ea going flat on you.
This would be NEWS.... or is news, but not technology -- yet. Nearly the last sentence in the article states that it worked: at higher frequencies than are likely to be found and therefore useful at the vibrations available where MEMS devices normally would be used. In other words useful news that matters -- "once the lab techies make it work for real world conditions."
...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
Sure the power is low. But might be useful to add to a cellphone. This device provides some extra power. You'll still need a battery but would have to charge less.
Cool story, bro!
assuming the vibration source has infinite mass for illustrative example
Have you been to a Wal-Mart recently? I don't think finding objects of infinite mass is going to be all that hard in the United States, plus the energy released from the jiggling alone is enough to power their Rascals.
Monstar L
Researchers at MIT have designed a device the size of a U.S. quarter that harvests energy from low-frequency vibrations
- it's been around for ages. Called 'clitoris', look it up.
You can't handle the truth.
Hell, I can perfectly imagine the satisfaction from yelling at the stupid cellphone that does not want to turn on, enough to give it enough power to complete a short call. Of course, it's bothering enough to listen to people shout to their devices as it is, it will be much worse when such devices actually have use for the vibrations.
I'm eating gassy foods to recharge my pacemaker.
From the article it states "The researchers calculated that the device was able to generate 45 microwatts of power with just a single layer of PZT ". That indicates to me that they have yet to measure the output of the device. Considering the state of the art of simulations they may not even have built the actual device.
In the next paragraph they state "the MIT group will have to aim lower in the frequencies they pick up, since few vibrations in nature occur at the relatively high frequency ranges captured by the device." So as it stands it will not work in the real world. Why didn't they aim for real world frequencies first? Maybe they did and it didn't work. I love this statement; "This design allows the bandwidth to be larger, meaning the problem is, in principle, solved." I prefer problems to be in fact solved and not in principle. The target being 100 milliwatt is meaningless as well. They can have any target they want; it does not mean they will reach it.
Yet another preliminary research project that is mainly theoretical looking for funding.
... and somebody with the patent on mousetraps will probably send you a collections letter....
Hmm...interesting stuff.