Scientists from both the US and Canada have managed to develop a brand new accessory that generates energy which could be used to power portable devices in the future, and this very accessory must be strapped onto the knee. Sounds like a no-brainer to help keep your BlackBerrys and PSPs juiced up at all times if you’re the type who tends to do a whole lot of walking. This modified knee brace comes equipped with a drive train that is capable of converting mechanical energy into electricity, collecting lost energy whenever a person brakes the knee after swinging the leg forward to take a step.

This works in a rather similar fashion as that of how regenerative braking charge batteries that are found in hybrid cars. According to Arthur Kuo, a mechanical engineer at the University of Michigan, “There is power to be harvested from various places in the body, and you can use that to generate electricity. The knee is probably the best place. During walking, you dissipate energy in various places, when your foot hits the ground, for example. You have to make up for this by performing work with your muscles. We believe that when you’re slowing down the knee at the end of swinging the leg, most of that energy normally is just wasted.”

So far initial tests have shown that a single minute of using this device will be able to produce more than enough juice to charge up to a whopping 10 cell phones simultaneously – that’s a whole lot by any standards. I believe that those who head off to the gym and love running on the treadmill won’t have any problems with flat batteries once they’re done with their daily regime. This modified knee brace might feel rather uncomfortable at first, weighing 1.6kg. Not only do you generate energy while using this, it also helps you burn more energy to lose weight simultaneously. What are some of the other more innovative ways you can think of to juice up your gadgets in a green manner?

Source: Red Orbit