A boy from PH invents shoes that charge smartphones

Angelo Casimiro, a 15-year-old student from the Philippines did a little science experiment to charge smartphones or any portable device by simply walking.

Using piezoelectric transducers, Angelo Casimiro came up with a system that can harness the energy produced with each step made. He developed this idea and turned it into a project that he submitted at the 2014 Google Science Fair.

Basically, he attached a powerbank to some old sneakers together with diodes and transducers to come up with a pair of “smart shoes” that has the energy needed to power up a smartphone. There’s a list of everything he used if you want to try it out yourself. You can also watch the video for a more detailed explanation on how it works.

Update: It has come to our attention that there were three students from Philippine Science High School who first did this project, and in fact won an award at Project Tuklas around February of 2013. There must have been a conflict of sources.

{Source}

Kevin Bruce Francisco

Kevin Bruce Francisco is the Senior Editor and Video Producer for YugaTech. He's a Digital Filmmaking graduate who's always either daydreaming of traveling or actually going places on his bike. Follow him on Twitter for more tech updates @kevincofrancis.

http://www.yugatech.com

36 Comments

Hen-Sheen says:

11 years ago

The Smart Shoe is just only the beginning. He could make Smart wearables in a few years time; the next Steve Jobs is on the move today!
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juan says:

11 years ago

Dude really your comparing smart humans to a copy cat named steve jobs, he didnt even do anything there are other people who are much important than jobs like the man who created c++ programing Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie who died in the same month as jobs but received little attention. It was very sad that a person who contributed more to the development of society isnt even remembered by the public but a copy cat was remembered, even had special mentions in various shows ,who didnt do anything.
SpiderWak says:

11 years ago

It was Stroustrup who developed C++ from Ritchie’s C.

franchesca says:

11 years ago

is’t really awesome
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Bitter says:

11 years ago

Inggit ka lang…
His parents must be proud…
Ampalaya says:

11 years ago

Nabaliktad nya lang yung t and s. Para kang engot sa comment mo!

is says:

11 years ago

considering our weather and baha/puddle situation, would be safer to mount the device higher on a person. Perhaps a bag-carried one. One good splash is all it’ll take and your battery is fucked up.
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hay naku says:

11 years ago

di mo ba alam na ang movement ng paglalakad o ang galaw-galaw ang nag aactivate ng device na yan para mag bigay charge sa powerbank/cp?

kung ilagay mo yan sa bag o sa baywang mo para mataas katulad ng sabi mo eh di wala masyadong movement dun.

pwera na lang kung bading ka na pag lumakad ay pa giwang-giwang, di ba?

manuel says:

11 years ago

still open for improvements. you could have powerbank that you could remove after charging instead of having the ipod attaching to your feet. you could also find a way to somehow hide the battery since prolong exposure to the sun would kill the battery
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hay naku says:

11 years ago

pahabain mo lang ang wire nyan e hanggang sa bulsa mo, di ba?

pang visual lang ang ginawa niya para makita ang buong project niya in 1 close up picture.

tsk

andrew says:

11 years ago

you got a lot of critics, why don’t you do one, this is a boy not a man were talking here,
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Welsh says:

11 years ago

I agree!!!!! Too many negative comments….

simon says:

11 years ago

angelo is fiddling with tech toys since 10 i think. he had some instructable.com tutorials
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Mang Tomas says:

11 years ago

http://solepowertech.com/
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RaGe says:

11 years ago

Why are you using my Twitter username?

JC says:

11 years ago

nge.. I heard an Indian did this first early this year. Nakalimutan ko lang kung saan ko nabasa.
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Miss Call says:

11 years ago

Good for him and all the best to him, but this is nothing new nor innovative at this point.
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SpiderWak says:

11 years ago

clap clap clap.. keep it up boy.. I’m sure you’ll have more ideas in the future.
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Gibs says:

11 years ago

MUST READ: Angelo stated this several times that he only DEVELOPED the project and not invented it. Want proof? Read it on his tutorial on instructables and on his Google science Fair Entry. The problem with the media is that they exaggerate the title too much.

To All Critics:
Don’t judge this kid, if I’ve seen his projects, it will blown you away. Clearly he is a genius, he has built his own CNC machine at the age of fourteen, note that CNC machines are built by engineering graduates.

Kuragane says:

11 years ago

Buti nlang walang nag-sabing ” I am proud to be Pilipino”
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bern says:

11 years ago

meron, ikaw! :D

alfonso punong bayan says:

11 years ago

okay na sana pero yung kuko…
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hay naku says:

11 years ago

lamo alfonso kung masyadong puno ang ulo mo ng mga ideas di mo na mapapansin ang mga kuko mo,

kung ikaw ang tipong napapansin palagi ang mga kuko mo, tatlong bagay lang yan,
1. mas importante sa yo ang kuko kaysa project mo
2. may pagka feminine ka
3. manikurista ka

gadgeteer says:

11 years ago

Being an electrical engineer, looking at the above comments, Right, this isnt something new. in fact, every movement in the body can be converted into electrical energy, now the problem is efficiency. with today’s power hungry devices, it would take something like a whole day’s running to power a cellphone for 30 mins. not really practical isnt it? but hey, who knows, maybe he can also invent a way to make his invention efficient enough to power a cellphone for 1 hr in 1 hour of walking/running, NOW that would be a real NEWS!
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oldbank says:

11 years ago

admirable but yeah nothing new… but i guess its because he’s a kid? mebbe?

the Indian kid from March 2014
http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/12th-class-indian-boy-builds-a-waterproof-shoe-that-charges-phones-as-you-walk-220187.html

American Students from 2013
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2331550/The-SHOES-charge-iPhone-walk.html

some Indian guy from 2012
http://techaloo.com/shoe-charger-innovator-mr-mandar-tulankar/
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john dela cruz says:

11 years ago

mga Pilipino talaga… crab mentality pa rin ang dumadaloy sa dugo.
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Justin says:

11 years ago

25 years from now, he’ll be the REAL 40-year-old virgin.
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hay naku says:

11 years ago

alam na alam ah,

is this coming from real experience?

gogo says:

11 years ago

patent mo na agad yan. power shoes ang bagay tawag dyan.
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Denephew says:

11 years ago

Sa hitsura pa lng ng batang ito pwede siyang maka imbento ng koopal commenter virus dito sa Yuga. Make a koopal comment and the virus is released destroying the PC. Mga koops okay ba?

SAGOT!
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Deniece says:

11 years ago

Mukha mo kups!
Denephew says:

11 years ago

Hi Deniece andyan ka pala. Hindi ka naman namumulikat dyan sa city jail?

SAGOT!

Mr A says:

11 years ago

Sometimes it is not about the first person who invented matters. It is the drive to solve everyday problems in the most ingenious ways. While his idea isn’t new, his attitude in finding a solution to problems makes him a cut above the rest. It is not something everybody has, particularly in this country.

On the other hand, his idea does have its uses. It’s just not in the capacity he claims. It is not practical to charge a smartphone or tablet device with his idea. But if we pair it with in a low-powered senor, ala fitbit device, or a go-pro style smartwatch (maybe e-ink instead of LCDs), then it becomes practical.

Last but not the least, the kid is cute.
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Jes says:

11 years ago

Ang masasabi ko ay “Good Job!”. Keep it up. :D
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abuzalzal says:

11 years ago

Bagay na bagay to sa Cherry Mobile phone ko. Astig! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOL
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