Energy Harvesting Backpack Straps

A new paper titled Smart Materials and Structures presents a method for harvesting energy from backpack straps. Straps made out of Polyvinylidene fluoride(a strong, flexible material that feels very similar to nylon) has so called piezoelectric properties, meaning that an applied stress generates an electrical charge.

Simulations using a 100 pound load and a walking speed of 2-3 mph shows that the straps could generate 45.6 mW of power, enough to charge small electrical devices like headlamps and mp3 players.

via Gizmodo