The engineers at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering are working to harvest electricity from nature’s motions or even human actions, since these are the most abundant energy sources ever. They experimented to develop a device that could adapt to varying movements of the object or a broad range of frequencies. For example, if energy from non-linear human actions, such as walking or waving a hand, is to be harvested, it is imperative to have such devices around.
Through their experiments, they came to realize that their non-linear approach is able enough to “outperform conventional linear devices.” The device is a long cantilever (made from piezoelectric material) with an end magnet that interacts with nearby magnets. The researchers ably tuned the interactions of the system with its environment by changing the distance of the movable magnets, and thus produced electricity.
These non-linear systems are self-sustaining, so they are ideal for any electrical device that needs batteries and is in a location that is difficult to access.
Says Brian Mann, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials sciences, while he suggests the future use of these findings in electrical devices such as a pacemaker, cardiac defibrillator or a still graver application includes the spacecrafts.
Via: ClickGreen
