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back to article Boffins power wearable tech with body static

A group of Chinese researchers reckon they're close to a practical method of harvesting the static electricity you generate when tapping and swiping the screen of your smartphone as backup power for the phone itself. As anyone who's jumped back swearing at their hand when all they wanted to do was open a door in the office can …

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  1. Elmer Phud

    "As anyone who's jumped back swearing at their hand when all they wanted to do was open a door in the office can attest,"

    Nah, it's always best to wait until somone is on the phone before doing the Carpet Shuffle.

    Then it's an approach to the ear lobe and see if the recipient keeps the converstion together.

    Yes, there will be reprisals but . . .

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  2. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Wonderful

    About 10 minutes of stroking your phone gives you enough power for a 1 second phone call.

    1 0
  3. JDX Gold badge

    They're missing a trick

    What about those caps with the little propellors on top. FREE WIND ENERGY. And if you lower your head and run around, you can generate additional power FOR FREE.

    4 2
    1. Euripides Pants
      Reply Icon

      Re: They're missing a trick

      You can lower your weight and blood pressure while lowering your carbon footprint too.

      We need a propeller-head icon...

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  4. All names Taken
    Happy

    Has any one told Durex?

    There seems good potential here for folks to generate quite a bit of energy (or not).

    See

    "Stop fondling that slab and shag, says lover rubber-glover"

    at

    http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2014/03/26/condom_earth_hour_durex/

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  5. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    200V @ 4.7uA ~= 1mW

    That one square centimetre is about the size of the finger; the contact is for perhaps a second or two... it's not going to do a lot of charging, I feel.

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    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Unhappy

      Re: 200V @ 4.7uA ~= 1mW

      "That one square centimetre is about the size of the finger; the contact is for perhaps a second or two... it's not going to do a lot of charging, I feel."

      True.

      But what about all those swiping motions on some phones?

      That's where the big power is.

      My instinct is this might be enough maintain memory during a battery replacement, but any active radio (WiFi, Bluetooth, GSM) is going to be needing watts of power

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      1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: 200V @ 4.7uA ~= 1mW

        Dynamic ram requires a fair amount of power due to the need to refresh. Static ram is a lot better, but doesn't tend to come in such usefully large chunks. The various ferro-ram variants are low power in use and zero power non-volatile, but again are restricted in size.

        Not having a phone that requires stroking, I can't comment as to how much slab-fondling actually occurs in use, but I can't help feeling this is a dead-end technology.

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    2. Frank Long
      Reply Icon

      Re: 200V @ 4.7uA ~= 1mW

      The standard current for standby on a phone is about 5mW.

      So it should keep the phone alive for about a fifth of the length of the tapping time.

      Probably not much, but better than nowt.

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  6. fridaynightsmoke

    Micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane

    The last time I saw a surface of micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane it was in the window of Ann Summers...

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    1. David Pollard
      Reply Icon

      Re: Micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane

      And the boffins get paid for this research?

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    2. Martin Budden Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Re: Micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane

      How much energy did you generate while stroking?

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      1. fridaynightsmoke
        Reply Icon

        Re: Micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane

        I didn't have time to get a good reading before I was thrown out of the shop...

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    we all know

    which a single-handed action generates enough energy to power not only a fondleslab, but a small-sized town! Bring it on!

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  8. Trollslayer
    Mushroom

    Petrol stations, anywhere with a gas leak

    See the icon

    0 0
  9. Stuart Halliday
    Mushroom

    Just rename this company to 'kaled' and we have the birth of something sinister? :)

    1 0

  10. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Perpetual mobile?

      No it's not perpetual, but at least it keeps going until you no longer need it ;-)

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  11. Dagg Silver badge

    Depends on humidity

    This will depend on the humidity. The only place I've ever had a shock from a door knob was in the Midwest of the US (Iowa) in the middle of winter when it was a dry as. In the tropics where you spend all your time sweating you can never build up any charge.

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  12. DerekCurrie
    FAIL

    Just add a hole on the side for a Winding Key

    "Billy, did you wind up your fondle slap last night? You don't want it going comatose at school, you know."

    What utterly ridiculous research. I can't believe The Register didn't go ape wild over the sexual innuendo of rubbing and fondling your device until the battery tops off. Was it as good for you…?

    Get serious China. Kick the oppressive communist habit and engender a creative Chinese culture once again. No creativity: no invention: no innovation: just more crime and imitation.

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  13. Tex Arcana

    There's the problem...

    ...they used a "STEG", when what they needed was the "STIG".

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