NOV 16

What if your everyday activity of walking could be used to provide your iPod's battery the hours of life it needs to play tunes? That's the idea behind a new startup working on solutions for mobile and large-scale power generation. The company is called M2E Power and it just announced investors have put some $8 million behind its idea.

M2E (Motion to Energy) says its system of power generation works by means of a "micro-generator combined with traditional battery storage to create a system that captures the kinetic energy of normal everyday motion – human or vehicle – to generate electricity sufficient to power mobile devices." M2E sees that with a normal amount of daily movement many products will either need no recharging at all or will have a longer run time before needing to charge. The company sees its technology also being used in larger-scale generation situations like wind or ocean wave power.

The M2E idea apparently came from Department of Energy-funded research in Idaho. The inventor, Eric Yarger, worked with a team in developing the technology initially for military uses. It uses the Faraday Principle (energy produced via motion of a magnet through a wire coil), according to Yarger, but with select changes in place to provide for broad usage. The technology is still focused on military development right now but will probably find its way to consumer applications shortly.

[via GreenTech Pastures]

Comments (11)

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The picture also reminds me of
written by zupakomputer, November 17, 2007

This is fantastic news. When will we see motion-capture suits for gaming; I'm looking forward to not having to use a control stick or button for turning my game characters head / vision around.

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I like!
written by Magnulus, November 17, 2007

Well, just look at the Wii. The technology for that's been here for years. Add enough controllers to it and you could potentially control every aspect of a game just by moving around. The problem is that if you move your head to move the head of your character, then you'll be turning away from the TV. You'd need a head-mounted display to make that work, but those also exist, of course.
There's a lot that could be done with Wii games, though, if they just made games that used more than one controller for movement. Maybe they do already, I dunno. I can't afford one.

In any case, charging my iPod by walking to uni sounds like a damn fine idea, and the fact that it's being researched for military uses only means that it's more likely to actually come out. Seems to me that new stuff like this that's developed independently rarely comes to fruition, sadly.

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Chevy Tahoe
written by John Mateik, November 17, 2007

This is in regards to your story on the Tahoe, if you can show me how to tow a camper or a good sized boat with anything else other than an Suv or a heavy duty pickup (maybe a Honda ?)then I'm open to suggestion. Possibly you would like to outlaw boating and camping as recreational sports and we can all sit at home gaze at the stars and do nothing, interesting life.

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Okay, let's do this.
written by Magnulus, November 18, 2007

What size boat do you HAVE?! And don't you have somewhere to place it that's near the water? Maybe we're just spoiled with our endless coastlines in Norway, but here, it's pretty much a given if you get a boat that you're also getting a space to put that boat that's in or by the water, and as long as you don't have to haul the boat with every single trip (A MASSIVE drain of energy, by the way) I don't see why you'd need to OWN an SUV for the rest of the year. Obviously, if you can afford to have both a massive boat and an SUV, you can afford to pay for a port for that boat and a rental car twice a year for moving the boat.
I personally think it's interesting that you have such a limited imagination that you can't do anything unless you can take your SUV to go camping. Last I heard, a four-person tent needed little more than a regular-sized car to fit the tent, the people and all the baggage in.
Your move, Mr. Mateik.

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Chief Executive Officer, Acorn Cabinet
written by TG, November 18, 2007

Rent or lease your boat. Had a 32 ft. lobster fishing boat at Shediac NB ...hard lesson.

M2E sounds promising for small stuff. Guess there is a question of scale.. 27 foot tides in the bay of Fundy?

E8.. debate… Exxon loves it..Debate and procrastinate.

Similar to Global Warming debate..

Debate is a diversion. Exxon,Chevron et all, love it.

Time for practical clean-up actions. News tip…

Canadian government refuses to grant domestic sales licenses to both Zenn [Quebec] and Dynasty EV manufacturers.

The Zenn vehicle is an award winner in other countries.

CBC video news clip.. [Mansbridge]

http:TonyGuitar.blogspot.com

======================

Bio-fuels have some merit …

Canada has two stations serving more than one grade of bio fuel…[Whoop-de-do].[/sarc]

A UN approved campaign to retro-fit thousands of coal-gen plants with various clean technology would make vastly more improvement.

North America is 96% dependent on one single vehicle fuel .. OIL. [Brazil =75% Bio-fuel.] [Which is the banana republic now?]

A swing to battery, compressed air and clean coal-gen would really reduce pollution. [Paris taxis and Tata motors India= cars on compressed air.]

…would lower the value of oil.

…would lower tensions in the M.E.

…would reduce health hazard smog in cities.

…would lead to a kiosk road tax collection system

…would enrage Exxon, Chevron and GM, financial backers of both Dems and Reps; Libs and Conservatives, not to mention the wrath of Alberta and Texas.

…would lead to unemployment and tax losses during transition.

…would be the correct an honorable thing to do. = TG

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Hobby making cabinets
written by TG, November 18, 2007

Guess the asterisks keyed HTML BOLD. Really, I didn*t raise my voice at all. = TG

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The Tug
written by zupakomputer, November 18, 2007

I wasn't aware that only fossil-fuels used in internal combustion engines provide enough torque to tow heavy loads. And to think all along people have been designing the engines and chassis themselves for those kinds of uses.

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''they're going mad!''
written by zupakomputer, November 18, 2007

This would also be great for clubs - real clubs where you can buy weed legally and smoke it there too.

The more dancing, the louder the sound system can get.

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...
written by Magnulus, November 18, 2007

Where did you get the idea that weed gets people to dance MORE?!

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...
written by zupakomputer, November 20, 2007

The two aren't directly synonymous; I was ensuring that no-one got the idea that clubs as they are as of now are ok in the recreational narcotic area. If you prefer, substitute MDMA or any other drugs in place of weed there.

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...
written by screen printing machine, November 16, 2009

to think all along people have been designing the engines and chassis themselves for those kinds of uses.

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