Power walking is taking on a new meaning with the development of a tool which turns footsteps into electricity.
A mechanical engineering major at Cornell University, in the United States, has embedded an air pump in a shoe which can power a small turbine.
Olivia Tolliver said the device captured the energy of human footsteps and converted it into usable electricity.
“The system embeds a compact air pump into a shoe to compress and direct airflow into a storage pouch, which then releases that air to drive a miniature wind turbine,” Ms Tolliver said.
She said her work involved designing a method and hardware to harness the air and direct it to the turbine efficiently.
“Inside the turbine, magnets are arranged in a specific pattern along with coils of wire. When the turbine spins, the motion of the magnets relative to the coils generates electricity.
“The electricity is routed to a capacitor, which is worn by the user and connected directly to a device that needs power.”
Ms Tolliver said the goal was to create a system that could be embedded in a shoe and create enough electricity to power low-energy devices like a portable EKG that recorded heart activity for 24 or even 48 hours.
