DESIGN THINKING AND INNOVATION

REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT I





POWER SHOE Body Energy Harvesting Mechanism








SUBMITTED BY:
HITESH SHARMA
ROLL NO: 1410120014

POWER SHOE Body Energy Harvesting Mechanism

Project Overview:
I am calling it as a shoe not because it has got something to do with the shoes or feet, however its
just a concept that could be extended to the other parts of the body as well. The concept is to
convert pressure or kinetic energy into the electrical energy to store or use it for multiple purposes.
Shoes seem to be the most convenient and easy way to achieve the option. Whenever we walk, we
exert force/pressure on ground. This pressure can be converted into electrical signal using piezo-
electric material. Inserting a series of piezo-electric chips into the shoe sole can generate electrical
energy every time the person wearing that Power Shoe walks. This energy can be stored into a
small battery again connected to the shoe or can be modulated to have appropriate signal strength
to be able to charge the mobile phone of the bearer.
Introduction:
The idea of the project is to use the concept of harvesting human kinetic energy. This could be
achieved by developing a device built-in to a shoe to harvest excess energy parasitically while
walking. It has been researched and found that up to 67 Watts of power is available from heel strikes
during a brisk walk (68 kg person, 2 steps/sec, heel moving 5 cm).
The AEIOU Concept:
Activities: Every time an individual is walking kinetic energy is being generated by the human body,
and so my question to myself was where does this energy go? Partially the energy is being used by
the individual itself however a part of this kinetic energy is wasted.
Environment: While walking our foot and heel comes in contact with the ground and due to that
exerted pressure kinetic energy is produced which helps us in moving ahead. So, here the
environment would be the ground, the individual who is walking & air because of which resistance is
introduced while walking.
Interactions: I have interacted with myself and also with other few people and when I asked this
question that where does the energy go which is generated while we walk then no one could answer
my question. The only answer I got was Its wasted in the environment. At that point of time I
thought to find out a way with which we could save this energy and use it further at small levels.
Objects: The objects here would be the shoes or the footwear and also the ground with which our
body comes into contact while walking.
Users: Any individual who is wearing shoes while walking would be a user for this project, as kinetic
energy gets generated while walking irrespective of the individual.
LOOK, ASK, TRY Concept:
LOOK: We daily see people walking around us and that the energy that helps us in walking is also
partially wasted.
ASK: For this reason I asked myself and also few of my friends that where does this energy go that is
not used by our body while walking? A few found it an illogical question and the others replied that
its completely used with the help of which we can walk. However I and a few more could think that
there was a part of the energy that is generated by our foot or heels but is kept unused and so it gets
wasted in the environment.
TRY: I tried giving it a thought, researched on Google to some extent and then came to the
conclusion that if given a try, it is possible to use and store the unused kinetic energy that is being
wasted while walking. When I took advice from other people then they told that if such a thing could
be developed that would save energy while we walk and could then further be used for small
applications like charging the battery of mobile, digital camera, etc. then it could be a nice invention
and also a creative one which may prove that India is one of the best countries in the technology
development world. Thus my concept is to convert pressure or kinetic energy into the electrical
energy to store or use it for multiple purposes.

Regards,
Hitesh Sharma
Student - SNU-MBA