A Chinstrap That Generates Energy With Every Bite And Munch

According to a group of researchers from Canada, energy can be harvested while performing the activities such as talking, chewing, and eating. To generate electricity from such jaw movements, the team has developed a novel head-mounted device called “Chinstrap” which can be used to power small-scale wearable electronic gadgets such as hearing aids, electronic hearing protectors, communication earpieces and cochlear implants also. It is estimated by the team that the device can generate energy of about seven mW of power from chewing meals alone.

PCF

The team from Sonomax-ÉTS Industrial Research Chair in In-ear Technologies (CRITIAS) at École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montreal, Canada has harvested energy by making use of a smart material known as piezoelectric fiber composites (PFC) aka active fiber composite. The PFC was the optimum choice for creating the chin strap as it consists of integrated electrodes, adhesive polymer matrix and has a high degree of structural flexibility. This piezoelectric smart material produces electric charge when it is stretched or subjected to mechanical stress. A protective layer of two thin Kapton sheets over the functional PFC acts as an electrical insulator.

flow chart

While performing the study, the researchers made the piezoelectric strap from a single layer of PFC. Then, a couple of elastic side straps were used to fix this prototype on a pair of earmuffs. The subject performed the activity of chewing for 60 seconds after wearing this strap. At the end of the study, it was found that the power output was about 10 µW. In a statement, Aidin Delnavaz, co-author of the study, mentioned that the development is at a nascent stage and further research is required for maximizing and fine tuning the performance of the device as, at present, the power level achieved is barely adequate for powering electronic gadgets. He further said that, the team wants to increase the number of piezoelectric elements in the strap and also wants to develop an improved power management circuit which will help to accommodate a small rechargeable battery into the prototype.

The research was published in the Institute of Physics journal #-Link-Snipped-#. What are your thoughts about the new invention? Share with us in the comment section below.

Source: #-Link-Snipped-#

Replies

  • ManojKiran Eda
    ManojKiran Eda
    Energy is neither created nor destroyed.
  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    MANOJ KIRAN
    Energy is neither created nor destroyed.
    Bang on.
    The energy harvested requires extra muscular effort of the jaw muscles. One may end up with a jaw ache. As Manoj Kiran implies the first law of thermodynamics does not give any free lunch to munch.

    There may be a case for a piezo electric chewing gum, which can convert such 'time pass' chewing, which otherwise goes waste.
  • Anoop Mathew
    Anoop Mathew
    #-Link-Snipped-# : Sir, I think soon it'll be time to move to options for generating energy from touch. This is the most 'used' sense of all in this era (touchscreen, touchpad, mouse scroller, keyboard, etc). Any ideas for that?
  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    The problem is the level of energy. If a membrane can be made as a piezo electric generator so that it generates a voltage when touched (pressed) anywhere, perhaps one can get somewhere.

You are reading an archived discussion.

Related Posts

Hello, my fellow engineers. I just got selected in Infosys through campus placement drive. Here i want to share my TI+HR experience or should i say "Pls tell me more...
My name is radha gupta. Currently I am doing post-graduation from computers.
Amazon has launched a new e-book reader that is fit for kings. The Kindle Voyage is the company’s most expensive e-book reader with a price tag of $199 (12,123 INR)...
After unveiling the Kindle Voyage, Amazon announced four new tablets that let users experience the latest version of Fire OS and Amazon services at affordable rates. The Fire HD 6,...
Hi! I am new here and I just want to ask about my project idea. I want to know if my idea is possible using Raspberry Pi. I want to...