People Power?

[Reaper]

What do you make of this?

 

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/crowdfarm-0725.html

 

 

Apparently, a couple of grad students at MIT proposed a way to power things by the movement of people, in what is called a "Crowd Farm". This is supposed to harness the mechanical energy of the movement of people and convert it into electricity.

 

The way its supposed to work is that you have some sort of mat that, when you step on it, it depresses slightly and this would generate power through the Dynamo Process. Ideas for use range from train stations to concert theaters.

[Rocket Man]

it makes sense.

a rock concert would probably break even.

although i get what they mean by having to integrate it into the architecture, they'd want to concentrate motion to avoid wasting tiles.

[swansont]

Human power is pretty inefficient, upon which the article briefly touches.

 

Sun --> plants --> herbivores --> carnivores

 

You lose useful energy each step of the way. Burning the plant matter is far more efficient than getting a beast-of-burden to do the work, and having an omnivourous human doing it is even worse. Not useful for meaningful power generation.

[Mag]

You lose useful energy each step of the way. Burning the plant matter is far more efficient than getting a beast-of-burden to do the work, and having an omnivourous human doing it is even worse. Not useful for meaningful power generation.

 

which is why it'd probably only power petty things like lights and signs and the like.

[Sisyphus]

I've heard this idea a few times. Before that I even had the idea in a kind of half-serious way. What it comes down to is not whether it will work (it will), but whether it will be cost efficient compared with other methods.

 

Also remember, it would necessarily make it more difficult to walk (every step would be a step up), and people would probably find that annoying.

[swansont]

I've heard this idea a few times. Before that I even had the idea in a kind of half-serious way. What it comes down to is not whether it will work (it will), but whether it will be cost efficient compared with other methods.

 

Also remember, it would necessarily make it more difficult to walk (every step would be a step up), and people would probably find that annoying.

 

And all things being equal, they will eat more to compensate for the extra calories burned, and that will end up using more energy than if the signs were powered conventionally.

[Genecks]

I'm always amazed by how people at MIT think they are doing something for the first time.

 

A responsive sub-flooring system made up of blocks that depress slightly under the force of human steps would be installed beneath the station's main lobby. The slippage of the blocks against one another as people walked would generate power through the principle of the dynamo, a device that converts the energy of motion into that of an electric current.

 

I've talked to people about this concepts years ago. Some people I've talked to talked about how some popular places in New York might have installed those flooring systems. I guess MIT put a different "spin" on it. Not really, though. Others have thought about the integration process, but the problem is that it's expensive. If something breaks, you've got to replace it.

 

I've always liked my idea of having gyms filled with this kind of technology. Put in some cable machines, some bikes, and other exercise equipment. The force a person exerts onto the weight in order to lift it will be in relation to the amount of electricity generated. So, in my view, electricity is going to be generated whenever you lift that weight. The more weight you lift, the more electricity generated.

[swansont]

I'm always amazed by how people at MIT think they are doing something for the first time.

 

I've talked to people about this concepts years ago. Some people I've talked to talked about how some popular places in New York might have installed those flooring systems. I guess MIT put a different "spin" on it. Not really, though. Others have thought about the integration process, but the problem is that it's expensive. If something breaks, you've got to replace it.

 

I'm not sure how much of it is MIT thinking they're first and how much it's the media thinking that if MIT is doing it it's new and different.

 

I've always liked my idea of having gyms filled with this kind of technology. Put in some cable machines, some bikes, and other exercise equipment. The force a person exerts onto the weight in order to lift it will be in relation to the amount of electricity generated. So, in my view, electricity is going to be generated whenever you lift that weight. The more weight you lift, the more electricity generated.

 

I've seen a few machines in the gym whose display is powered by the machine. So the idea's out there already.