piezoelectric stop light

[mr_bojangles]

ive seen some applications for piezoelectric generators, mainly aimed at people

but what i want to know is why no one has ever run over one with a car

it seems like the added weight, and the frequency of cars could yield some big numbers


my idea is to put them at stop lights (those white lines your supposed to stop "in front" of)

but i guess it would also work at random intervals down a highway


tooooo many ideas, too little time...oh yeah and money...that kinda helps

[Pirate88179]

Nice idea there.

Why not just pave a section of highway with them for, say, about a mile?  Can you imagine the output during the 2 rush hours in a place like NY or LA?  Every day?

Good thinking.

Bill

[Neo-X]

This was possible but their some problem, the piezo brittle and easily to break.

[mr_bojangles]

actually they tend to made out of material like quarts

the majority of applications tend to be things that strike or smash into it to produce a sharp burst of electricity, and the harder its struck, the more you generate, so a scaled up model wouldn't be brittle, nor are the small scale examples


edit to add::::::::::::

think of a gravel road, rocks aren't pulverized but still smashed and forced against each other

[CompuTutor]

actually they tend to made out of material like quarts

I think spell-check gave you quarts (Measurement),
instead of quartz (Natural mineral),
like in a modern butane cigarette lighter...



Maybe I'm just tired, but I find this concept funny.

Lets make the road make the electricity needed,
to power the stop light on it,
to stop us from driving on the road that made it, lol.

Is it me, or is this both ironic and funny ?



There has been various attempts to do this posted elsewhere.

Various references:
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/produce-electricity-while-you-drive/
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Dickson_Piezoelectric_Generator
http://www.gizmag.com/motionpower-kinetic-energy-capture/11409/
http://www.gizmag.com/motionpower-testing/12419/

Etc., Etc., Etc....


But the government would rather spend $11,000-12,000
PER EACH SIGN that trumpets how they are making jobs,
rather than do something like this that WOULD make them.