The basic idea for this ring was to take a piece of a aluminum to make the ring out of, design it to fit the PCB and peltier, and create a heatsink that mounts on the other side of the peltier unit. Originally I had planed to make this a single finger ring but somewhere along the way my brain had fallen for a 2 finger design; It was much more practical, and surprisingly the PCB I made was the perfect size to fit across two fingers, leaving the heat sink on the side. Oddly enough I have a few ring sizing tools hanging around (thanks to my Grandpa having lots of random tools) so I measured the two fingers it would go on and away I went with a design.
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Monthly Archives: November 2013
Energy Scavenging Ring – Part 1 PCB Design
The moment I discovered Peltier units I was amazed. First it was at the fact of how cold something could get just by applying a current. As I extended my research, my focus turned to the other effect – or SeeBeck Effect – as it’s called, which is the process or generating a current or voltage through temperature differentials. I know this technology has been used for some time, but the average person is not aware of what electricity, or energy for that matter, really is. Every time I show someone what the peltier unit is able to do just by putting my hand on it, they are amazed. I wanted to design something that would be able to find wasted heat energy from my body and transform it into usable electrical energy. A very simple proof of concept.
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