Design Process
First Design
Our first idea involved the conversion of motion into electricity in a treadmill. The continuous pounding on the belt system of this exercising machine would power an electric generator that would in turn power the treadmill. This money and energy saving machine sounded practical at first, but we soon realized that few people both need and can afford treadmills, let alone energy-efficient treadmills, so our invention would not be widely used.
Second Design
Our second idea supported the deployment of kinetic energy collectors at intersections to convert the heat from rolling resistance into electricity to power the traffic lights and payphones nearby. However, before we developed a plan on how to convert heat into electricity, our idea was already facing several problems: (1) the collectors would be susceptible to damage from dirt and precipitation; (2) the roads would eventually need to be resurfaced; (3) the efficiency of the collectors would be low since the tires would be radiating heat in all directions; and (4) building a network of underground wires to distribute electricity to traffic lights and payphones would be a huge and costly national undertaking.
Third Design
Our third idea and the PTWHRS both involve the harnessing of waste heat caused by rolling resistance to power a car. In this system, the radiation from the quantum dots would be collected by antennae collectors located in the car wheel well. The antennae collectors would convert the radiation into electricity that would make its way to the car battery to propel the car. This idea seemed perfect, but the antennae collectors had not yet been invented. Our team also realized that the rubber of the tire would absorb all the radiation instead of allowing it to travel to the antennae collectors.
