South Korean designers, including Min-Goo Kim, Yun-Jin Chang and Su-Eun Park, have designed an energy harvesting wheelchair that creates and accumulates electricity to power lights on the wheels.
The wheelchair system is based on the use of a coil through which a magnet moves as the wheel rotates in order to convert kinetic energy from the rotation of the wheels into electricity. Power from movement during the day is stored for use at night when the electricity powers the LED lights on the wheels, to improve the safety and visibility to traffic of the user. The kinetic energy provided by the movement of the chair is stored in the wheel itself, and the available amount of energy is shown on the small screen in the centre of the wheel.
The energy harvesting wheelchair is still at the concept stage.
Images source DesignBlog
