A team of MIT undergraduate students has invented what they call a shock absorber that harnesses energy from small bumps in the road, generating electricity while smoothing the ride more effectively than conventional shocks.
The team claims they can produce up to a 10% improvement in overall vehicle fuel efficiency using the regenerative shock absorbers. Renting a variety of different car models, they outfit the suspension with sensors to determine the energy potential. Their tests reveal a significant amount of energy being wasted in conventional suspension systems.
The prototype shock absorbers use a hydraulic system that forces fluid through a turbine attached to a generator and the system is controlled by an active electronic system that optimizes damping. Testing so far shows that in a six-shock truck, each shock absorber could generate up to an average of 1 kW on a standard road.
For more details, contact Elizabeth A. Thomson via e-mail at thomson@mit.edu.
MIT
web.mit.edu
Related Articles:
VIDEO: Under The Hood Of The Tesla Roadster
The Field Of Energy Harvesting Begins To Ripen
MIT, TI Develop Energy-Efficient Microchip
Energy-Harvesting Critical Success Factors
Parallels And Divergences In Energy Harvesting