Biomechanical energy harvesting: Generating electricity during walking with minimal user effort

Science

Volumn 319, Issue 5864, 2008, Pages 807-810

  Donelan, J M ^a   Li, Q ^a   Naing, V ^a   Hoffer, J A ^a   Weber, D J ^b   Kuo, A D ^c  

^a SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BIOMECHANICS; ELECTRICITY GENERATION; ENERGY; HARVESTING; POWER GENERATION;

ARTICLE; BIOENERGY; BIOMECHANICS; CAR; CONTROLLED STUDY; DEVICE; ELECTRICITY; ENERGY TRANSFER; GENERATOR; HUMAN; HUMAN EXPERIMENT; NORMAL HUMAN; PRIORITY JOURNAL; WALKING;

BIOELECTRIC ENERGY SOURCES; BIOMECHANICS; ELECTRICITY; ENERGY METABOLISM; HUMANS; KNEE JOINT; MALE; MUSCLE, SKELETAL; WALKING;

EID: 38949118719     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: 10959203     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.1149860     Document Type: Article

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14. We have chosen terminology that distinguishes generative braking from regenerative braking because the electricity produced in regenerative braking is reused to power the motion of the hybrid automobile. In generative braking, the electricity is not reused to power walking.
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27. Supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) grant I2IPJ/326586-05 to J.M.D. and J.A.H., a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) Scholar Award to J.M.D., a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award to J.M.D., a MSFHR Postdoctoral Trainee Award to Q.L, and an NSERC Undergraduate Student Researcher Award to V.N. We thank Ossur for providing the knee braces, as well as S. H. Collins, R. Kram, A. Ruina, and the SFU Locomotion Lab for their helpful comments and suggestions. J.M.D. is chief science officer and board member of Bionic Power, Incorporated. J.M.D., Q.L., J.A.H., D.J.W., and A.D.K. have equity interest in Bionic Power, Incorporated, which performs research and development on the energy-harvesting technology reported in this paper.