In 2005-2007 Max Donelan and Andy Hoffer received a grant from the NSERC I2I (Idea to Innovation) program to develop a proof-of-concept human power harvesting device that converts movement energy into electrical energy, at little or no additional metabolic cost to the user. In collaboration with Dr. Qingguo Li we successfully designed, constructed and tested a novel harvester prototype mounted on a knee brace that generates about 5 watts of continuous power during level walking. In 2006 we submitted patents and in 2007 a paper to Science (published 8 Feb 2008) and founded a new SFU spin-off company, Bionic Power Inc. to develop commercial harvesters. Anticipated fields of use include portable battery-powered electronic devices and biomedical devices (wearable and implanted). |
