Original Article from EDN Magazine Online (Link)
By Matthew Miller — EDN, 2/28/2008
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a textile-based generator that could enable garments to convert the wearer’s movement into electricity to power personal electronic devices.
The researchers coax billions of zinc-oxide nanowires to grow radially from a Kevlar fiber, yielding a structure they liken to a bottle brush. A generator features two such fibers arranged in parallel. One of the fibers gets an additional coating of gold that allows it to serve as the electrode. Employing the same basic principles as an earlier harvester, the generator creates electrical energy via the piezoelectric effect when movement causes the two fibers to rub together (see “Energy harvester generates continuous nanoampere current,” EDN, May 24, 2007).
The researchers have measured 4 nA of current and 4 mV of output voltage from a generator employing 1-cm fibers. They estimate that, with design improvements, a square meter of fabric should be able to generate 80 mW. One major barrier to commercialization remains, the team admits: Zinc-oxide is vulnerable to water, so the technology still needs a mechanism for washing-machine survival.
I was browsing around google images today. I always enjoy seeing what comes up visually with certain search terms. I was looking at “innovation” this time. Actually a word a do a lot of searching about and thinking about. I ran across this image below at loosetech.com .
This is a drawing summarizing 3 speakers talking about Innovation: Craig Sampson of IDEO, David Ormesher of Closerlook and Robin Cook, participant in the Innovation University. I drew this in real time during the talk using black pens in a variety of line widths, a silver pen and two oranges.
One thing I really like about this type of work is how it captures the essence of a subject talks. You can really see the relatedness of the conversation that went on that day. Compared to what I usually use for capturing the contents of a talk/presentation/meeting, this type of real-time graphic captures ten times the data and meaning. Below two other examples of graphic facilitation by the same artist: a talk by Tom Friedman of “The world is Flat“, and a talk by Tim Hurson about “Think Better”
I finally had a few minuted to breath and think today and what a timely arrival was the latest email from TEDTalks in my inbox. I have heard a great number of mentions on “cradle to cradle” design over the past couple of years. Most of this in a negative or absurd light as what some people consider a knee jerk reaction and unrealistic for a real manufacturing society. As I am almost never dissapointed by TED, I listened to the embedded talk below. (Click Here if your corporation blocks embedded video)
For those of you that may not be familiar with William McDonough here is an introduction from the TEDTalk site that might give you a little insight.
“Architect and designer William McDonough asks what our buildings and products would look like if designers took into account “All children, all species, for all time.” A tireless proponent of absolute sustainability (with a deadpan sense of humor), he explains his philosophy of “cradle to cradle” design, which bridge the needs of ecology and economics. He also shares some of his most inspiring work, including the world’s largest green roof (at the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan), and the entire sustainable cities he’s designing in China.”
For those of you interested in design, lifecycle, and how to couple the two, you are in luck. Check out the TEDTalk topic of “Design Like You Give a Damn“.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a textile-based generator that could enable garments to convert the wearer’s movement into electricity to power personal electronic devices.
