It would probably take more energy to run the equipment that converts sound into energy than the energy that could be converted. Good idea though.. may have some possibilities. Personally, I'd just put some microphones in a room where they're holding a mothers club meeting...

"Cluck Cluck Cluck"

IRM

Originally posted by InfaRedMan
It would probably take more energy to run the equipment that converts sound into energy than the energy that could be converted.

A microphone converts sound to electricity with no power consumption at all.

A microphone is a vibrating electrical generator instead of a rotating one.

I think you are on to something here.

Noise Energy recycling.

Imagine if you installed these mics on the ceiling of a Busy casino, or a Tokyo pachinko place.

Quite a lot of sound energy being output imo, it could do well to harness it somehow.

I was thinking about "feedback" from a microphone. "Feedback" is when you use a microphone to close to a speaker that is playing the sounds from the microphone. What happens is, sound from the speaker vibrates the microphone, and that sends a signal back to the speaker and an infinite loops happens. Microphone, to speaker, to air, to microphone, to speaker, to air, etc.. That's when you hear a high frequency ringing sound.

A speaker is basically a horrible microphone, it too has a magnet and a coil, and if you vibrate the speaker cone, it will create electricity, just like a microphone..

So wouldn't a "feedback loop" be perpetual motion??

If you start a sound into the microphone, it will vibrate the speaker, and the speaker will vibrate the air, and the air would vibrate the microphone again, and the loop continues...

Perpetual vibrational motion?


[edit on 19-2-2009 by ALLis0NE]

Originally posted by ALLis0NE

So wouldn't a "feedback loop" be perpetual motion??

Once again, once loaded that will reduce the output, which in turn reduces the input that generates the output due to loading, and your perpetual motion becomes motionless.



Cheers!!!!

Sound is just one form of vibration. You could mount plates under busy bridges and use the vibrations from passing vehicles to generate electricity also.

There are many opportunities for micro generation of electricity that could be put into play, and a decentralized grid is much more fault tolerant.

re: feedback being perpetual motion. A power supply is needed to create feedback from a microphone being too close to a speaker, so it's not perpetual motion as it has an external power source.

eb

You are ignoring the fact that any conductor, unless it is a super-conductor, has resistance. It is that resistance that dissipates much of the energy produced, even inside your moving coil, the coil itself has internal resistance...known as "loss".

So for 1 point of energy produced, you have at the very least .7 point loss internally to the compoenet before it even leaves the coil/generator.

So in effect you only get .3 point output of energy.

A load, such as a light, a motor, whatever runs on electricity, is basically putting resistance on the supply output...measured in watts. You have to be able to generate more wattage to run the device than what the device requires to be able to continuously run said device.

A capacitor with the sound or vibration idea would have to be very large value wise, much larger than 5 or 10 farad to be of any usefull storage device from these very weak sound/vibration energy generators, and even a 1 farad cap at 12 volts is around 200 bucks, so a 10 or higher farad would be very expensive, not to mention, very very large.

The idea is....excuse the pun....sound...but as far as being practical...its mute.


Cheers!!!!

Uhhhh. "RF"burns is an Electrical Engineer if I am not mistaken.
I am a Sr. Aerospace Engineer and he is right.
Load throws the whole thing. sorry.

I toyed with this concept for a while... worked out allot of the math, even attempted to see if resonating the mic's drum to resonate with things like bells etc.
Back then I tested many concepts, refusing to acknowledge I could be wrong...

... basically, take my advice before you do the same, you're never going to get enough movement from your daily sounds to overcome the physical resistance exerted on the mics coil from the load on the other end of the circuit... even if all that load is, is you charging a small battery.


The E.E and A.S.E on this forum are correct.
It's a noble thought, but sound just isn't a workable source of energy, not at any natural amplitudes anyhow.

If you want to work with vibrations, I would suggest thinking of how to use the constantly changing weight distribution on bridges for energy.




I know why it is this aggravates you. I've been there, hundreds of times.
The E.E and A.S.E have likely been there as well.
You get a concept ticking around in your head and you want to be right about it... you become almost obsessed with the idea.
Obsessed enough that you begin denying thoughts that you might be wrong about it. Desperately wanting to prove yourself right.

Been there friend.
What hurts worse than asking yourself "am I wrong?" is getting to the end only to find out you've forced yourself to admit defeat.

Best thing to do is let it go, and begin thinking about your next idea.
Keep going, and you'll come up with something good!

[edit on 20-2-2009 by johnsky]

That would be a waste of time and energy.

Quite possible the lowest yield system which would ever exist, extremely unprofitable.

If a system doesn't generate more output than input, whats the point?

Beyond that, not even 100% conversion efficiency would generate enough energy for the system to even be self-operating.

I could think of a more improved version of what you're describing though, without the use of a mic.

Mics really aren't necessary in the first place.