Scientists Develop Unique Knee-Brace to generate electricity
Scientists from US and Canda have revealed that they have developed a new device that can generate ample amount of energy using the walking mechanism of human by strapping it on a knee. They say that power generated is enough for charging 10 cell phones at one time. Previous attempt of harnessing human energy for generating power have failed, like a shoe-mounted device which was not able to produce enough energy and a backpack which was successful but was bit heavy for a daily usage. Researchers say that this knee-brace is a moderate device which will produce decent amounts of energy and will be light for comfortable usage. The device can highly useful for campers, mountaineers and soldiers who at times are away from civilization and traditional sources of electricity. On the other hand researchers say that this kind of devices can be built into implantable devices which make occasional surgery for battery replacement mandatory.
In experiments where volunteers had prototypes of this device placed on their both legs generated about 5 watts of electricity while walking on treadmills at speed of 2.2mph. You can watch the video of the experiment here. These devices are light than their previous counterparts but they still weigh 1.6 Kg each (3.2 Kg for both legs), which is too heavy for practical use. However, Artur Kuo, Mechanical Engineer from a University of Michigan says that it is possible to make it smaller and more practical.
