Powered by You

Powered by You is a project to conserve human energy which is lost while doing various day to day activitites. Most common human activity being walking. The energy lost through the foot tap on the floor is captured & saved. This energy saved from the foot tap is used for a number of applications ranging from lighting a bulb to lighting a complete building.

This project adds to the concept of micro-generation where every individual contributes to reduce the carbon footprints. This way people can be encouraged to walk more & generate more electricity. This project can help is spreading awareness about carbon footprints & how to reduce it.

Project Brief- To build a sustainable interactive floor.

Concept

Everyday we interact with various devices & things around us. While we interact we use different postures, movements, gestures etc. All these movements require energy. We walk ,sit, run, type on our laptops many times a day. The source of energy is food we eat.
While walking on the floor, the energy of the foot tap is captured by the floor & then stored into the batteries. The energy depends on the number of foot falls on the floor. To increase the foot falls, the floor also generates different tones according to the weight & movements on the floor. This invite more people to walk on the floor to make the walk playful & fun.

Process

I studied various activities like walking, sitting, typing, running. The energy lost in these activities are maximum.
Using Pedometers & various smart phone mobile applications were used to find the energy lost in these physical activities. An energy conversion mechanism was made keeping in mind the activities of a person. The mechanism was placed on the floor. the linear energy of the footsteps could be converted into circular motion of the motor. As the shaft of the motor rotated it stored energy in the batteries. This energy was used for lighting LEDs. The foot step also generated different tones as a person walks over the floor.

Explorations

Various ways of energy capturing techniques using gears & piezo.

Final Prototype

Final prototype was a manifestation of the floor which can be places in a public space. A wooden box of 6*10*26 inches dimensions was made. A wooden plank was placed on the top of the box which could take the load of a person. As one stepped on it , it bent & the gear rotated. The energy was stored in Li-ion battery. Using Arduino different tones were generated making the path playful & enjoyable.

This can be placed in a public place as it would be requiring more number of footfalls. the floor plan will have a footprint over it representing carbon footprint & thus encouraging more people to walk over it. It will help in spreading awareness about the carbon foot printing.

Guide- Jignesh Khakhar, Ujjval Panchal, Bhaumik Nagar
Student: Annapurna Banerjee