Experts from the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a self-charging battery that could significantly reduce battery woes among users. The assembly looks like a unit that can simultaneously generate and store energy.
A group of researchers envisions that the technology could adequately power mobile gadgets. When the battery is subjected to some amount of stress, some power is stored. During a demonstration, the battery is placed in the sole of a shoe and the compressive kinetic energy is converted into electricity when the wearer walks or runs.
This technology is unique because usually generating and storing power are distinct from each other. It is unclear how many steps it would require to completely fill a 1500 mAh battery, but smartphones equipped with this battery should be able to run longer, making users less dependent to wall socket.
The same concept was announced by Nokia a few years ago, with kinetic energy used to power mobile device. Unfortunately phones with said phone haven’t been released by the Finnish manufacturer, which makes us doubtful whether a group of independent researchers can successfully introduce a similar technology into the industry.
