Sustainable Footprint

Energy from footsteps

News October 2003

THE USE OF FOOTSTEPS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABLE FOOTPRINT -
-power your cell phone with your footstep-

Capturing the compression energy of a shoe heel when it strikes the ground during walking or running is a new way to generate portable electrical power. SRI engineers expect that with further development a device will be able to provide enough electricity to power a cellular phone.

Dielectrical Elastomers can produce electrical power. Deformed by an external force, the shape of the elastomer changes and with the appropriate electronics, electrical energy is generated. The energy density of these materials when used as a generator is high, which means that they can be made lighter than other technologies.
Dielectrical elastomers are well suited to applications in which electrical power comes from relatively large motions, such as those produced by wind energy, waves and human activity. Capturing the compression energy of a shoe heel when it strikes the ground during walking or running is a good way to generate portable electrical power. This energy is free it the sense that it does not place an additional burden on the wearer. SRI engineers expect that with further development a device will be able to generate about 1 watt during normal walking. A unit in each shoe should provide enough electricity to power a cellular phone, for example. Such a device is being developed for the US military to supply power to soldiers in the field, but technology has civilian uses as well.

Source: Scientific American 2003 ‘Electric Bounce in every Step’.

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