Design News for Mechanical and Design Engineers

“We have an innovation in magnetic fields which allows you to capture energy as you walk around,” says Regan Warner-Rowe, business development for M2E Power, a kinetic energy company. M2E Power's battery cells were originally developed for the military and are now being deployed to the consumer market.

These power cells rely on Faraday’s law of induction and create a charge by moving a magnet through a coil. “The only problem up until now is that you didn’t generate very much [energy], so with the innovations in the alterations to the magnetic field, you suddenly get some interesting amounts of power that can charge mobile devices,” says Warner-Rowe.

One battery type for the power cells originally developed for the military is based on a standard D battery. “It’s like a mini generator,” says Warner. “It does have a battery component in it and as you move, just walking around, it picks up micro motion and translates it into a trickle-charge battery.” 

Other battery types by M2E Power include the extended-life Q battery for cell phones.