recharge your phone with kinetic energy

The mobile kinetic energy
charger, an invention being
developed by ITS students in
Surabaya.
Say Goodbye to Low Battery;
Recharge Phones on the Run
Surabaya. Soon you won’t have
to worry about running out of
battery on your cellphone when
out and about, even if there isn ’t
an electrical socket available.
The solution comes from a
mobile charger developed by a
team led by Harus Laksana
Guntur, an engineering lecturer
at the Sepuluh Nopember
Institute of Technology (ITS) in
East Java capital Surabaya. But
unlike solar or battery-based
chargers, this invention uses
people ’s energy to recharge
cellphones.
The innovative gadget converts
kinetic energy into electricity,
which means that charge is
generated every time you move.
The prototype comes in a clear
fiberglass box that can clip onto
a belt. When it moves, the main
components — a dynamo and
magnet built into a coil —
produce induction that
generates electricity, working
much like those shake flashlights.
An important feature is a small
rechargeable battery, which
stores the charge.
“Actually, the electricity
generated by the coil can directly
power the cellphone.
Unfortunately, the current is
unstable and tends to make the
phone hang, ” said Muhammad
Rudy Hermanto, the ITS student
who invented the charger.
It is an idea Harus wants to
develop, as he and his team of
students continue work on a
number of inventions utilizing
kinetic energy.
“ Actually, the mobile charger is
simply a prototype,” he said. “In
the future, we would like to
collaborate with the military to
develop chargers for their
communication devices. ”
Harus said such a charger was
well-suited for military purposes.
In warfare situations, he
explained, soldiers would have
difficulty recharging their
electrical equipment in the
jungle, especially when they
have to move about frequently.
A kinetic charger, however,
would make that possible, as
body movements have the
potential to produce up to 150
watts, which could power a
computer or about 70 BlackBerry
smartphones.
In one test, in which the wearer
was walking at about four
kilometers per hour, the
prototype mobile charger
completely charged a cellphone
in about five minutes.
“ The faster the wearer moves,
the faster the charging process
because their walking speed will
affect the speed of the magnet ’s
movements inside the coil
generating electricity, ” Harus
said.
The ITS team plans to eventually
make the mobile charger as
compact as a matchbox. Its
inventors are in the process of
filing for a patent and hope to
mass produce the device in the
future.
In the meantime, they are
looking for an investor to help
further development.