Efficient energy storage while walking

Why is energy storage important for walking induced energy harvest and reuse?

Since energy storage is crucial for walking induced energy harvest and reuse, energy loss in the process and convenience to release energy for utilization should be concerned. Meanwhile, energy storage may involve energy form change, reducing the efficiency of both storage and discharge links.

Can human walking induced energy harvest be stored in a battery?

In the current research, energy harvested from human walking motion has to be stored in the form of electricity. Unfortunately, not enough effort has been taken on the issue within the research field of human walking induced energy harvest. Battery energy storage is not a new topic but still challenging in many applications.

Why is walking energy important?

The energy caused by the walking motion may either result from body vibration or exist as inertial energy of moving limbs, or even do work by interactions between foot and ground. It is of great significance to exploit the human walking action that keeps generating mechanical energy continually.

Can human walking induced energy be used for energy recovery?

Essentially, human walking induced energy that can be used potentially exits in the form of mechanical energy. For energy recovery, it has to convert into energy in a certain form that can be regulated freely.

How much energy is saved by walking with a backpack?

Because this savings in metabolic energy represents only 6% of the net energetic cost of walking with the backpack (492 W) (table S3) ( 17, 18 ), accurate determinations of the position and movements of the center of mass, as well as the direction and magnitude of the ground reaction forces, are essential to discern the mechanism.

Can human walking energy be used as a self-powered device?

Converting human walking motion into energy available for regulation and utilization is the first step for developing self-powered devices. Since the mechanical energy generated during human walking suffers from dramatic change, the directly captured energy usually cannot deliver in a steady state.