A Rack and Pinion Driven Mechanical Footstep Power Genarator

The kinetic energy produced by human footsteps during movement is commonly wasted. By using a nonconventional way, it is possible to convert this energy into electrical energy. Due to the exponentially growth in populations, the energy consumption has reached its crisis level while the fossil fuel is depleting significantly for years. Hence, the energy which is going to be wasted when humans are walking, can be harvested to provide a promising solution to this issue economically and affordably. In such a scenario, a mechanical footstep power generator has been proposed to transfer the kinetic energy of the human footsteps into useful electrical energy. In this research, some modifications have been implemented to further refine the performance and the efficiency of a footstep power generator studied previously and works on the same principle of rack and pinion. To justify and evaluate the feasibility of the proposed concept, a prototype which only applying the rack and pinion mechanism principle has been fabricated and tested. In this system, the power is generated when force is applied as a result of the weight of a person walking on the top plate, and causing the rack and pinion mechanism to rotate a dynamo and to store the produced electrical power in a battery. Individuals with weight ranging from 35kg to 75kg have been invited to participate in the experiments by stepping and jumping onto the top plate. The results are acquired to compare with the theoretical results. When it is compared to the conventional energy sources, the power generation from human footsteps can be considered continual, environmental friendly and also it can be easily accessed.