If you’ve ever had trouble with your device’s batteries dying quickly and not lasting a long time, this backpack might be for you.
An international team of researchers announced that they have developed a backpack prototype that has the ability to convert energy from walking into power for portable electronics.
The backpack powers electronics as the wearer walks and is very light, making it perfect and convenient for hikers or travellers going long distances.
In a study of the backpack, the researchers explained it as “a load-suspended backpack for harvesting the wasted energy of human motion based on a triboelectric nanogenerator,” meaning mechanical energy from objects in motion is converted into electricity.
The researchers added that “backpacks are widely used in everyday life,” and that “walking or running with a heavy sack can cause back and neck pain.”
Image of the electronic backpack. (Photo: Courtesy of Courthouse News via ACS Nano 2021).
This backpack was created to make it lighter than the ordinary one, while making it more useful.
For those trekking long distances, the backpack would be able to support a GPS. “Backpackers in the wilderness areas … might wish for a bag that could harvest the mechanical energy of walking to power portable electronics,” the researchers added.
According to the researchers, more work is needed before the backpack can be used by the greater population, such as improving the backpack’s energy conversion efficiency.
As soon as the backpack reaches its fullest potential, the researchers stated that it will act as “an energy source for the wearable and portable [devices] and sensors.”
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Wiki Production Code: A0570
