Google creates an energy-harvesting walkway in Berlin

Google is taking its reputation for coming up with tech-savvy bright ideas to the next level via a new collaboration with U.K.-based energy and data-harvesting pioneer Pavegen. As part of Berlin’s 2017 Festival of Lights, a 10-day event which takes place in October, the two companies created an interactive energy-harvesting walkway (the largest of its kind) and light show. The 26-square-meter installation involves a smart floor and 176 colored light panels. As visitors walk on the floor, their footsteps trigger a synchronized lighting display. The more energy that’s generated, the more responsive the wall becomes. “The generator technology is electromagnetic, like a bicycle dynamo, and converts the kinetic energy from your footstep into off-grid electricity,” Archie Wilkinson, project lead and head of Pavegen Live, told Digital Trends. “As you step on the Pavegen floor, the top surface flexes by 5-10mm, creating a rotation in the electromagnetic generators below. Each step produces around 3 joules of energy, which is about 5 watts for the duration of each step. The walkway has already generated over 100,000 joules of energy since launch on Wednesday, October 10.”


Read more here: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/energy-harvesting-walkway-berlin/