[国际新闻] 科学家发明迷你发电机 未来手机有望靠心跳充电

日月光

2007年07月23日 解放日报
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7 o* s3 Y0 O' g0 P英国科学家日前在无线供电方面取得了一项重大突破，他们成功开发出一款能将振动转化为电能的“迷你发电机”，能为心脏起搏器供电。科学家相信手机、MP3等电子设备将来也可以利用这一技术，仅靠人类的心跳就能充电，而不必再使用电池。
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. T. |& d3 d, P2 z这款“迷你发电机”与动力表的供电原理相同，都是利用在两个磁铁之间的线圈运动来产生电流。英国南安普敦大学的研究小组发现，通过把发电机调整到某个运动频率，它所产生的电量就能比动力表要多得多。
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: [$ @. ^' E/ {　　根据研究者的设计和实验，心脏病人只要安装了这个发电机，就不必再通过手术更换心脏起搏器的电池，只要靠心跳，心脏起搏器就能够运转。当然，这个发电机的前景还不止于此。按照同一原理，我们只要把手机、MP3等无线设备放在胸前口袋，心脏的跳动同样能为它们供电。 5 O$ l( ?7 I  s& ~5 t- [7 k2 V! e
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　　研究人员表示：“人身上有很多可以利用的能量，脚后跟与地板的接触产生的冲击力也能被利用。”如果说心跳、走路都能发电，那么大桥和路面在振动时产生的电能就更可观了，如果能够充分利用，或许在未来，开车或行走的人就可以边行进边给各种设备充电。 & x! s# i- p' d( j, t
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# G$ `% i7 z$ ?# h7 V$ a5 mThe future of mobiles: powered by a heartbeat人在德国 社区- v$ A* V5 Z" K
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. G+ N4 X7 z% c) xScientists have developed a generator that can produce electricity from vibrations, Richard Gray reports6 [: c) G  _% [8 [! X

& \) q( P1 c/ @( Q0 R* BMobile phones could in future be powered by their owner's beating heart after scientists developed a generator that can produce electricity from vibrations in the surrounding environment.( `8 J7 T. J" ]

" p' M' j0 i$ N! r) ^' G3 p人在德国 社区Initially developed for use in industrial machinery, the -scientists are now tweaking the design so it can be used to power pacemakers off a beating heart. It would allow patients to avoid surgery to replace batteries in their pacemaker.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de  z2 ]/ e; |" f: W
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However, researchers also hope that they will eventually be able to use the highly-efficient generators to power other portable wireless devices, including mobiles and MP3 players. It would mean that mobile users could charge their phone by simply keeping it in their breast pocket near their heart.人在德国 社区% v. I( I/ x/ o$ }* a2 Z
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Steve Beeby, a reader in electronics at Southampton University where the generator has been developed, said: "There is a big drive towards using wireless devices, but one of the challenges in supplying power to these devices is that batteries have a finite supply that needs to be replaced. We have a spin-out company that is now looking at powering pacemakers from the movement of the heart.人在德国 社区' q- A3 i% \/ L- b
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"As the power consumption of electronic devices continues to fall, the opportunity to use these devices to power them becomes more apparent. The potential is there for devices like mobile phones and MP3 players being at least augmented by vibration generators. There is quite a lot of energy available on a human such as the impact of a heel on the floor which could also be used."
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The miniature generator works on the same principles as a kinetic powered watch, which uses the movement of a coil between magnets to produce an electrical current.
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; U- x7 }1 W/ M! Y/ uThe researchers at Southampton and their company Perpetuum have found that they can tune the device to a particular frequency of movement so it will produce far more power than the devices found in watches.
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/ b: M$ }, M3 v: S  w( O人在德国 社区Mr Beeby added: "The -problem with humans is that they really don't move around that much at the kind of frequency needed to generate a sufficient amount of electricity. But we can tune our generator so that it can make the most of that resonance."
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The researchers are also hoping to use their technology to scavenge energy from the vibrations of bridges and roads. Paul Lee, the director of technology, media and telecommunications at business consultants Deloitte Research, said: "There are two strands of development in the mobile phone industry which are to either cram as many power hungry applications into a phone as possible or to make a phone as efficient as -possible.
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"It is in the latter category that power scavenging can really help, and while it may not completely replace -batteries, it can be used to help supplement power. In the developing world this kind of device will be particularly attractive. Using body -movement is one way of doing it, but there are other devices that aim to use body heat."