黑科技動動手指 就能爲手機充電

The days of having to carry a phone charger everywhere could soon be over.

隨身攜帶手機充電器的日子可能即將過去。

Michigan researchers have revealed a major breakthrough in harvesting energy from human motion.

密歇根的研究人員取得了一項重大突破, 可從人體動作中收集能量。

They say it could lead to smartphones powered for a week by the motion of a swipe being harvested.

研究人員稱，從刷手機這一動作中獲取的能量足以供智能手機續航一週。

Michigan State University's low-cost device, known as a nanogenerator, has already been tested.

密歇根州立大學的這款低成本設備，即納米發電器，已通過測試。

Scientists successfully operated an LCD touch screen, a bank of 20 LED lights and a flexible keyboard, all with a simple touching or pressing motion and without the aid of a battery.

通過簡單的觸摸或按壓，無需電池輔助，科學家們成功地在液晶觸摸屏、一排20盞LED燈以及軟鍵盤上完成操作。

The groundbreaking findings, published in the journal Nano Energy, suggest 'we're on the path toward wearable devices powered by human motion,' said Nelson Sepulveda, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and lead investigator of the project.

密歇根大學電氣和計算機工程系副教授及該項目的首席研究員納爾遜 . 塞普爾韋達表示，這項突破性的發現，表明“我們正在向人體動作爲可穿戴設備供電的研究方向發展”，這項發現已在《納米能源》期刊上發表。

'What I foresee, relatively soon, is the capability of not having to charge your cell phone for an entire week, for example, because that energy will be produced by your movement,' said Sepulveda, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation.

塞普爾韋達說道：“我預測在不久以後，整整一週都不用爲手機充電，只需做一些動作就可爲手機供電。”他的這項研究得到了美國國家科學基金會的資助。

The process starts with a silicone wafer, which is then fabricated with several layers, or thin sheets, of environmentally friendly substances including silver, polyimide and polypropylene ferroelectret.

充電過程始於一塊硅晶片，其被多層或薄薄的環保材料包裹，包括銀、聚酰亞胺和聚丙烯鐵電駐極體等。

Ions are added so that each layer in the device contains charged particles.

此外，離子的添加使設備的每一層都含有帶電粒子。

Electrical energy is created when the device is compressed by human motion, or mechanical energy.

當設備被按壓時，電能或機械能就隨之產生。

The completed device is called a biocompatible ferroelectret nanogenerator, or FENG, and is as thin as a sheet of paper.

該研究成品被稱爲生物可容性鐵電納米發電器，簡稱FENG，就如一張紙那樣薄。

The device used to power the LED lights was palm-sized, for example, while the device used to power the touch screen was as small as a finger.

向LED燈供電的設備如手掌大小，而向觸摸屏供電的設備只有手指大小。

Advantages such as being lightweight, flexible, biocompatible, scalable, low-cost and robust could make FENG 'a promising and alternative method in the field of mechanical-energy harvesting' for many autonomous electronics such as wireless headsets, cell phones and other touch-screen devices, the study says.

研究表明，FENG設備具有輕便靈活、生物相容性、可擴展、低成本、結實耐用等優點，這些優點使FENG設備在機械能收集領域前景廣闊，成爲一種替代方法。機械能收集主要針對很多自動電子產品，諸如無線耳機，手機和其他觸屏設備等。

The device also becomes more powerful when folded.

當設備被摺疊時，能夠提供更多電量。

'Each time you fold it you are increasing exponentially the amount of voltage you are creating,' Sepulveda said.

塞普爾韋達說道: “每次當你將設備摺疊時，其產生的電壓量將呈幾何級數增長。”

'You can start with a large device, but when you fold it once, and again, and again, it's now much smaller and has more energy.

“你可以首先在較大的設備上操作，但若你將它不斷地摺疊，隨着它越來越小，所提供的能量卻越來越多。”

'Now it may be small enough to put in a specially made heel of your shoe so it creates power each time your heel strikes the ground.'

“它可能小到足以放進你的特製鞋跟裏，這樣一來，你每走一步都會產生電能。”

Sepulveda and his team are also developing technology that would transmit the power generated from the heel strike to, say, a wireless headset.

塞普爾韋達和他的團隊正在研發將鞋跟觸地產生的電能傳輸到無線耳機的技術。