Recycled Waste-made Wearable Device that Runs on Harvested Energy
Wearable devices could soon be entirely made of recycled waste materials and powered by energy harvested via human movement.
Plastics are perhaps the number one enemy of a clean, environmental-friendly earth. Thanks to the efforts by several institutions, public bodies and organisations, the growth of unsupervised plastic segregation have become slow. But more action needs to be taken. One of the efforts comes from the University of Surrey scientists who have created a wrist device made from discarded paper wipes and plastic cups. The prototype device runs on energy harvested by the wearer’s movements and can transmit Morse code. [1]
Figure 1. Recycled Waste-made Wearable Device that Runs on Harvested Energy
Figure 1 shows to overcome these issues, the use of eco-friendly materials for designing such devices is attaining much attention. Researchers at the University of Surrey have unveiled a new wrist device made of discarded paper wipes and plastic cups that runs on energy harvested by the wearer’s movements. The team is now focusing on plans to use the technology in smartwatches.
“It won’t be long until we have to ask ourselves which of the items we own are not connected to the internet. However, the current internet-of-things (IoT) revolution highlights the simple fact that our planet doesn’t have the raw resources to continue to make these devices which are in such high demand,” said Dr. Bhaskar Dudem, project lead and Research Fellow at the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI). [2]
“Our research shows that there is a road to developing sustainable technology that operates on electricity generated by us, the technology’s users.”
Surrey’s invention is “self-powered” because it is made of materials that become electrically charged when they come into touch with one another. These materials (also known as Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs)) capture energy from motion through a process known as electrostatic induction.
The inventors believe their energy-harvesting wearable gadgets might be a huge success in the consumer, medical, and security sectors in the future. [3]
References:
- https://www.electronicsforu.com/news/whats-new/recycled-waste-wearable-device-harvested-energy
- https://www.inceptivemind.com/surrey-energy-harvesting-wearable-device-made-recycled-waste/23556/
- https://www.ceoforlifeawards.com/blog/energy-harvesting-wearable-device-made-from-recycled-waste/
Cite this article:
Thanusri swetha J (2022), Recycled Waste-made Wearable Device that Runs on Harvested Energy, Anatechmaz, pp. 198