Piezoelectrics could lead to voice-powered cellphones
By Darren Murph 
posted December 5th 2008 7:30AM
posted December 5th 2008 7:30AM
Just imagine -- yapping for hours on end to your dream lover could actually leave your cellphone with more juice than what it started with. This completely bizarre scenario could theoretically become a reality according to new research from a professor at Texas A&M University, and it's all thanks to the magic of nanoscale piezoelectrics. If you'll recall, we've seen this technology generate energy in wearable devices before, so it makes sense that sound wave energy could also be captured and converted into electricity. Of course, we're still a good ways away from this being ready for commercialization, but who knows how quickly this could come together if placed in the capable (albeit unpredictable) hands of Dr. Walter Bishop.[Via phonescoop, image courtesy of Rutgers]
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the battery just died on my cell .... WHAT THE F@#K! oh wait ....
Why didn't we think of this before?
"but who knows how quickly this could come together if placed in the capable (albeit unpredictable) hands of Dr. Walter Bishop."
Am I the only one who likes just about all the characters in that show (Fringe) except for the lead protagonist?
Who, Olivia? I'm pretty sure I can play a better female FBI agent, and I'm a dude.
You're right, Olivia sucks. I was thinking the same thing when I watched this last Tuesday. They'd be better off switching the focus more towards Pacey.
Yeah, you're not the only one, though the show is still great...
anyway, yeah, Dr. Bishop would have it done in an instant, but I wouldn't trust so much on the device ;)
Wow, America's energy problems solved by cell phone girls.
But....thats...NOOOOO
All depends on size of the components. That will make or break. As long as this can go in current mobile phones without the reduction of features I will welcome it with open arms.
Does'nt soundwaves contain extremely little energy?
Soundwaves having little energy?!
You, sir, are blessed without (a) a chatty girlfriend, (b) a nattering mother and/or mother-in-law, or (c) that one friend who you just can't get off the phone. I envy you.
I was speaking purely physics-wise, vibrating air is'nt very good at transferring energy.
So shouting at my phone when it dies on me could actually be advantageous after all.
Dang! There goes my idea for a arm-pit cum bum crack heat scavenging generator for mobile phone.
Does this mean that losers with no friends are condemned to dead cellphone batteries?
I'll call and tell you if not
Or people with excessively talkative friends who won't let you get a word in.
I have one. We've had multi-hour marathon discussions during which I have remained completely silent. Once I even fell asleep.
This sounds like a perfect escape to me.
Gig em! But can he coach football, that what we reallly need at TAMU!
Wow! If we put some of that Sound Wave Energy Generator in my house, I think we can solve all the energy problems in the world...since a 1000 buses per minute pass away my window :-p (Here in argentina the buses are crap, they do maintenance to them about 1 time per 20 years, no kidding)
Thats actually really cool. Its awesome knowing that people read Engadget around the world.
Dude, check out New Scientist. They had a report a few years back about scavenging energy from roads- I think it was for local devices that would be expensive to attach to the main grid, such as traffic signals...
I'm sure you'd agree though it would make more sense to make more efficient and quieter vehicles in the first place, though!
Also, Engadget could help you pick out some nice noise-cancelling/blocking headphones, but it ain't fun when busses make your room rattle. Could that Buttshaker device be used to make vibration-cancelling sofas? : D
Yes, you are right...We have to get started to have better vehicules in here, but, they guys who owns the buses companies here only cares about money...quite a few times the buses got broken, and the guys who drive them are nearly crazy..actually you can see "Flying Buses" in the street (they really jump sometimes :-p).
And I have in-ear headphones...that's a must have thing here :-p
I practially live with my windows closed if not, I got def (I can't even hear the TV), and also 2 or 3 crashes per week in the corner of my street, the guys touch the claxon all the time.
I am really looking forward to move.out from here :-)
yeah, i was thinking larger scale too, like in big cities, garbage trucks and street cleaners driving by my room at 5am could power my building
What about us losers that text more than we talk?
Fear not my friend, there are being developed a system to harness the incredible amount of energy contained within your fingers, expressed as pushes of buttons on mobile devices.
Why not make a hand-free bluetooth device with these? No more need to recharge! :D
The hands free device could charge by voice and the phone in your pocket could charge by movement you're making while doing whatever it is you were doing.
If this could be applied to a large scale, New York City could probably recycle a lot of energy with all the noise in it.
This kind of stuff is fascinating ! The applications seem endless.
yeah, piezoelectricity is how record players work...
Why would you have to talk on the phone and use minutes? My phone uses much less energy when it's not actively using the 3g radio. Can't it listen all the time, so any ambient noise could be topping off my cellphone?
I'd totally be interested in seeing a power cell that uses a combination of sound, solar, body heat and kinetic energy from movement... Get enough of these power generating devices and you'd never have to charge.
I'm reminded of a 90's ironman episode in which stark uses the sound waves generated from a kid's walkman to FULLY RECHARGE his ironman armor.
This has already been done. It's copyrighted by Monsters, Inc. Do louder yappers generate more power? Should we all start screaming into our phones in preparation for the future? *SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!!!*
Thanks for the "Fringe" reference. The idea of voice-charged devices is exciting as is, but the Dr. Walter Bishop reference made the article. :-)
Now I won't be able to use my favorite excuse to get off the phone: "I gotta go, my battery is about to die!"
On the upside, Spinal Tap may be able to power a small country.
Seems like it would produce more energy to just blow on it.
I read that energy of sound of all humans on Earth wouldn't suffice to run ONE car engine. Therefore I don't think that you would be able to charge the cellphone fast enough by talking, maybe 10 hours on a technoparty to get energy for a minute call, but not more.
All right, since there seems to be some questions I went and looked at the source material for the story. Here is what I found:
"(Tahir) Cagin and his partners from the University of Houston have found that a certain type of piezoelectric material can covert energy at a 100 percent increase when manufactured at a very small size – in this case, around 21 nanometers in thickness."
Just in case you don't know piezoelectric material is a material that gives off electricity when it is compressed or deformed. Piezoelectric devices have been in common use since the 1950's, one of the readily available devices being an electric guitar pickup. For a size comparison to the devices concerned in the article keep in mind that a human hair is approximately 100,000 nanometers wide. This means that they would not have an adverse effect on the size of the device they were to be included in. They could probably be embeded by the thousands, if not millions, throught the body of the device. So yes, the sound waves from a normal conversation could potentially create enough energy to power your device; but so would the motion of walking, squeezing, holding it out the sunroof of the car and letting the wind blow against it, you get the idea. Appearantly the size of the piezoelectric device has a lot to do with it's efficiency, there is a magic window that allows the 100 percent energy increase between 20 and 23 nanometers. Why? I have no idea...
Oh :( I only use my phone for texting, emailing and browsing the internets....
:D
Fightin' Texas Aggie crazy futuristic cell phone chargers! Whoop!
isn't piezioelectric phenomena the cause of the screeching Dell laptops?
The only problem is that the "my cell phone battery is dying, i'll talk to you later" excuse becomes obsolete.