You know what it’s like, when you need to make that all important call whilst out shopping or when your car breaks down, and all of a sudden you’re the battery on your mobile is flat as a pancake.
There are many methods available for charging our mobile phones – from plug in chargers for our homes, adapters we can plug into the cigarette lighters in our cars, and even small pre-charged devices that give your battery a small burst of temporary power when you need it most.
But now there could be a new method of recharging in the works, one which taps into the most freely available source of energy on the planet, kinetic – or people power.
Already there are variety of devices that are charged using kinetic energy – such as watches and wind-up radios. But charging a mobile phone by simply walking?
It sounds a crazy concept, but it’s a concept that has been the subject of scientific research into generating energy efficient prosthetics for many years.
And now scientists at a university in the United States have developed a brace that could potentially generate the power needed to charge small electronic devices, such as mobile phones.
The design is based around an orthopaedic knee brace, the unit currently weighs around 3.5 pounds, with the generator located by the side of the knee itself.
The generator works by harvesting kinetic energy from the movements of the knee in much the same way as a hybrid electric car, which generates energy from the braking process and transfers it back to the engine, where the energy is converted and stored.
It is predicted that such a device could one day help to power mobile phones and a variety of other electronic devices – from sat navs to laptops, and even pacemakers.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Changing phones
By: krispdx71 | 12-07-2008
use my sims in a tmoble phone im atnt
Searching for an inexpensive texting phone, made by metro for my preteen
By: Michael | 09-07-2008
I am looking for a cell for my daughter. One with the ability for easy texting. Do you know of any off the top of your head that you could refer me to?
How to start a business
By: aronov | 08-07-2008
how to start a business a tmobile athorized dealer .. i have a place a location where but i dont know the details where to go what to do to get it started
Will metro pcs sell nokia phones any time soon ?
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will metro pcs sell nokia phones any time soon ?
Why is it taking so long for my boyfriend and i to ...
By: Leslie | 06-07-2008
Why is it taking so long for my boyfriend and i to recieve each others text messages. I am in Texas and he is in Pennsylvania.
I am from Trinidad and Tobago. Yesterday i bought ...
By: presciouz | 05-07-2008
I am from Trinidad and Tobago. Yesterday i bought a samsung SGH L600 cell phone...but i am having problems with the volume and the ringtones....the highest volume is 7 and when i choose a ringtone it beeps once then lights up although i have already profiled it for melody...can u help me please?
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