Regenerative shock absorbers developed by team at MIT
By Laura June 
posted Feb 10th 2009 11:28PM
posted Feb 10th 2009 11:28PM
A team of undergrads at MIT -- led by Shakeel Avadhany and Zack Anderson -- has produced a prototype of a shock absorber for vehicles which can harness and generate electricity back into the vehicle. The team claims that their prototype increases a vehicle's fuel-efficiency by up to 10 percent by using a "hydraulic system that forces fluid through a turbine attached to a generator." There is an active electronic system for controlling and optimizing the damping for a smoother ride than regular old shocks. The team is actively seeking to develop and commercialize the product, and have already seen interest in the prototype from the United States military and also several manufacturers of trucks, which see the most benefit from the shocks... so look for these guys on Grave Digger any day now.
US Military...
Hey, maybe we can finally get those Hybrid Hummers we have all been wanting! Anyone up for whopping 14mpg on a bumpy road?
better than the 6 they get now!
Maybe we can finally get rid of those death trap Humvee's. Oh wait, we need more tech than this to do something like that.
Something tells me these will break easy. Not good for military use.
Just install these on the bed frames of each college student. I'm sure that will generate enough electricity for the whole dorm.
Stuff like this is the key to an efficient electric vehicle that can run for a long time. Convert the energy of its movement back into electricity and feed the batteries. Use the shocks, wheels, climb, descent and anything else.
Beat me to it...
i actually thought this would have been done by now, it's not a new concept (the turbines). a similar idea for wave power involves the vertical motion of the waves forcing air through a turbine in a hollow tube.
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Power-Generating_Shock_Absorber
That patent describes a shock absorber that generates power in a totally different way that what is described in the article. The use of electromagnets seems a lot more practical, since there is no additional moving parts, but maybe they're too heavy to do any good?
Why can't it do both?
Simple idea, nice application. I look forward to seeing this in commercial vehicles.
Seen that video yesterday. Could not stop laughing :)
This has been done many, many times...Purdue University did it, BYU did it, Tufts University (as another poster noted) and countless other individuals. Everything from extracting energy from the hydraulics to adding magnetic coils....been there, done that. Engineers have been messing with this tech for years...and years....and years. Stick to consumer products, Engadget. Leave Mohr's circle to the real nerds.
The first thing I thought of when I read the title was "self-repairing shock absorbers? Neat! Also, kinda creepy."
Then I imagined a shock absorber saying "you will be assimilated."
I really need to get off the nyquil...
GGGGGGRRAVVEE DIGGER
KIDS' SEATS STILL JUST FIVE DOLLARS
ONLY THIS SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!
YOU'LL PAY FOR THE WHOLE SEAT BUT YOU'LL ONLY NEED THE EDDDGGGE!!!
also saw that yesterday, what a stupid piece of shit.
Solar panels on every square inch of available surface. Do it. Do it now.
Burn your eyes out when you look at it. look at it. look at it NOW.
What are you talking about? A little anti glare in the glass won't hurt much. You might lose half a Watt of your whole system.
If it's reflective, isn't it getting RID of light?
Aw man, I wish I thought of that.
Saw that video too, too funny. Describes the PS3 accurately though.
Sounds like an excuse for the government not to fix the roads anymore...
it's gonna be a bumpy ride!!!!
Wow. What a genious, yet simple idea. Hope it has a clean pathway to mainstream vehicles!
Would be really useful in Minnesota. Land of 10 million potholes.
Would rather have the Bose Active suspension. That has been in development for like, two decades now! Just sell the damn things to Mercedes and they will charge rich people $10,000 for it.
Would rather have the Bose Active suspension. That has been in development for like, two decades now! Just sell the damn things to Mercedes and lets get on with it!
good idea indeed!
"By up to 10%" means 10% is your best bet, 1-3% is more likely.
Any percent of the overall efficiency of the vehicle is substantial. Anything even close to 10% efficiency would be immediately noticeable.
I forsee mass confusion over discussions of "Shakeel" and "rebound".
with more and more of this tech being developed every year I really look foward to seeing to who will have the first 100% efficient car. first regenerative braking (in f1 at least), now this stuff with the shocks, just add solar and wind turbines and the Saudis will be pissing thier weird robe things
@sacapuntas - BE THERE!!!
As long as you're talking about adding the wind turbine to your house to recharge the car at night. Adding a wind turbine to a car is useless, unless it charges the car when the car is stopped, or maybe harnesses crosswinds?
Where do the springs go? Also, is this a standard height, or will they fit in trucks, SUVs, sedans, sports cars, etc with varying ride heights?
SUV's and Trucks are just the beginning. Once they crack the Pogo-Stick market; they'll be swimming in cash like Scrooge McDuck!
How much???
nice, give me some 16 inch triple bypasses in this flavor and maybe it will take a load off my alternator
Why aren't these in cars yet!
I could drive indefinitely around some of the streets here in New Orleans.
Why is "fuel-efficiency" a metric in something that produces electricity?
Hey won't have to spend so much money on road repair. The more craters the better.
Truely, I think it is a great idea...
owlvee
Actually there is almost nothing to gain by hybridising small cars. It would be nice if everyone drove a car just big enough to fit their needs but since this is not so the pick-ups, vans, trucks and SUVs are the vehicles we should hybridize. A 2 MPG from 12 to 14 MPG is equivalent to a 450 mpg improvement from 50 MPG to 500MPG in terms of gallons saved.
Racing tape a shake light to the rear axle. Has to be a lot cheaper...
Found this on the web...so you really did invent this....
Regenerative shock absorbers?
February 4, 2009
Who needs KERS when you could have a regenerative shock absorber fitted to the F1 car? the big issue is going to be the name…if they have any chance of making it to F1 they will have to start calling them dampers. Get serious will you? Story is at iCar.
The New Year has exploded unexpectedly into a hybrid war by various car manufactures doing everything to stay afloat. Even F1 surprisingly announced new rules to make the sport more entertaining with more overtaking and the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). Regenerative braking usually is one of the selling points of hybrid cars, and this technology help increase mileage and energy retention thus it is economically viable to exploit similar technologies.
Engineers at Tufts University have created regenerative shock absorbers and hopefully, there will be the new way of harnessing energy from the vertical movement of a vehicle. According to Tufts Journal, the technology is an electromagnetic linear generator, which converts energy that would otherwise be lost, into electrical energy that can help charge a vehicle’s battery.
Tufts University’s leading engineering professors Ronald Goldner and Peter Zerigian, developed this technology in the 1990’s and successfully patented the system. It is said that it could potentially increase mileage by 20% to 70% and be employed in hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and Chevy Volt.
Other technological breakthroughs made by Goldner, was a window that could transmit or deflect energy to make it darker, and a thin film battery thought to replace the current batteries in cell phones, laptops and car batteries. Development and implementation of such technologies is vital in improving the efficiency of vehicles which can help save the environment and money!