What about new technology?

During this lesson, we read an article taken from the website newscientist.com. It was about a device designed to generate power while people walk. The idea consists in a backpack you carry and it generates a power of 7 watts, taken from the ordinary motion of our bodies. It contains fibres that produce a voltage as they are brushed together trough the natural walking movement. The person can hold a kind of leg brace too : when the legs move, the gears in the brace turn, generating a power of 5 watts.The idea is pretty good and original, but the main problem is the weight : the backpack is a very heavy ,around 38 kilograms ! But scientists are trying to optimize the system to make it easier to hold, with a better power results.

The article permits us to learn some vocabulary about mecanical physic : a brace is an orthopedical device, a gear is an ‘engrenage’ in french, a loping means you’re running taking long relax steps, and a treadmill is the device where you can run in a fitness room.

At the end of the course, we made a little oral presentation on an article about thin coatings in the industry. We had to explain the idea of the process by writing on a slide, which showed the main steps of it. The principal difficulty was to make it clear for other people, by explaining small drawings we made, showing the process advantages and problems.

Thank you.