06-24-2008, 09:25 PM
I can't find my old notes, but back when I was studying to be an electrical engineer (before I took 4 years off from school while being 2 semesters from my degree and starting up my own business, which I then let fail and going back to school for 3 years to get my Management Systems degree) in our electrical machines class my professor did some discussion of creating electrical power from torsion devices. His aim was more along the lines of the stuff you are seeing talked about and experimented on in some of the gyms out there. Tracks and walkways that convert the energy of the human heel strike into electrical power. I know that isn't the same thing as storing the energy isn't the same thing as you are discussing but it was kind of one of the intermediate steps. Getting that type of mechanical energy converted to electrical.
But in the lab we actually would up springs and then controlled the release of them and worked on various ways of getting that to produce current and store that electrical power and use that power. It wasn't exactly great returns. But then he was only looking for returns that were good enough so that you could get something else out of other work that was being done anyway. The bench press machine is being used to generate some power, ect.
We looked at some stuff with fly wheels too as I recall. They generally looked more promising but a lot less safe when practical application came to mind.
The topic of mechanical storage for electrical power was brought up it never seemed better than batteries for long term or capacitors for short term. But I do recall that toy cars were brought up and some of the calculations showed that you might be able to get something where the kid could wind the springs and get 5 minutes or so of RC run out of the car. I wish I could find those notes. But I don't see them in the trunk with all my other stuff from that time.
I don't know it's a bit fuzzy. It was 12+ years ago and it's knowledge that generally never gets out and gets exercised to stay fit. :)
But in the lab we actually would up springs and then controlled the release of them and worked on various ways of getting that to produce current and store that electrical power and use that power. It wasn't exactly great returns. But then he was only looking for returns that were good enough so that you could get something else out of other work that was being done anyway. The bench press machine is being used to generate some power, ect.
We looked at some stuff with fly wheels too as I recall. They generally looked more promising but a lot less safe when practical application came to mind.
The topic of mechanical storage for electrical power was brought up it never seemed better than batteries for long term or capacitors for short term. But I do recall that toy cars were brought up and some of the calculations showed that you might be able to get something where the kid could wind the springs and get 5 minutes or so of RC run out of the car. I wish I could find those notes. But I don't see them in the trunk with all my other stuff from that time.
I don't know it's a bit fuzzy. It was 12+ years ago and it's knowledge that generally never gets out and gets exercised to stay fit. :)
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It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.
It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.