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Energy-Generating Footwear
InStep NanoPower Shoes
Tom Krupenkin and Ashley Taylor are engineering experts and researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison, who developed a technology - “reverse electrowetting” to produce as much as 10 watts of power. They embedded two small pouches containing a metal alloy liquid, Galistan, and a rechargeable battery into the bottom of a shoe. The liquid is made up of tiny metal microdroplets. As we walk, the up and down motion of the foot will compress the pouches and force the tiny droplets through the substrate to generate a current.
The generated electricity stored in the rechargeable battery can be utilized even when the wearer is stationary and at rest. It can be used in two ways. One would be to directly charge your smartphone or laptops, with non-complicated wiring, conductive textiles or wireless inductive coupling. The other would be to install a long-range radio communicator in the heel of the shoe. This long-range radio communicator could take the role of a “middleman” between the smartphones and a wireless network. This could dramatically reduce the battery usage of our smartphones and elongate the battery’s lifespan by up to ten times longer without a recharge.
InStep Nanopower is the company started by the two researchers in a bid to commercialize their invention.
Krupenkin and Taylor assures the skeptics that the liquid used is not toxic or corrosive and will be safely contained in the pouches with high quality materials (no fluid leaks). The liquid used is also cheap. They are expecting that the cost of a basic device inserted into the shoe will not exceed the cost of the shoe itself. The wearer will also be able to walk comfortably without any “slushy” feeling when walking as the foot will never be in contact with the pouches directly. However, the researchers did not address the issue on the weight of the shoe. It is possible that the battery and liquid will add to the weight of the shoe, making it less ideal in walking.
Nonetheless, being able to harvest energy even as we walk is a big step forward into the future of wearable technology.
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