6
$\begingroup$

New here, so forgive me if I commit a faux pas or two

So I wrote a society that, never being wealthy or organized enough to invest in rail and road networks, stuck with beasts of burden, even as the rest of the world developed. I had the idea of camels or donkeys having piezoelectric shoes that generate power as they walk; maybe merchants would invest in some as the technology got cheaper. I figured that these might power mechanical exoskeletons that the animals wear, allowing them to carry greater loads, or even chain them in a kind of a giant mechanical centipede type device that would allow them to sleep in shifts, feed them, take care of waste, etc while on the move; I suppose there might be a market for swapping spent batteries for charged ones, but there are a lot more efficient ways to charge a battery. How much power could these caravans realistically generate? Could they even power anything helpful with the energy that livestock would generate just carrying their cargo from one place to another?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
11
  • 10
    $\begingroup$ Any energy which might be generated by any kind of electrical generator powered by the movement of the animal comes from the animal, and thus reduces its strength and endurance. There is no free lunch. (But the good news is that piezo generators are extremely low power, so that the animal won't feel much of anything. The low power might be enough to power some sort of electronic watch.) $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Aug 31, 2023 at 21:07
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ P.S. Powered exoskeletons are the antithesis of low tech. We with 21st century technology cannot make a useful powered exoskeleton unless with grteat cost for extremely specialized applications, such as working very deep underwater, where no other practicable solution exists. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Aug 31, 2023 at 21:12
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @AlexP The energy that piezoelectric horseshoes would generate, is the force of the hooves hitting the ground. That energy would otherwise have been converted to heat and wasted. It wouldn't tire the animal out to wear them, unless the device was much heavier. That said I agree it wouldn't generate all that much. $\endgroup$
    – KeizerHarm
    Commented Aug 31, 2023 at 21:13
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ @KeizerHarm: If the generators generate significant amounts of power, that power must come from somewhere. If the power generated is small enough as to be irrelevant to the animal, it is irrelevant. Practical example: have you ever used one of those foot-actuated pumps for inflating inflatable things? (And force is not energy. Force times distance is energy. It's one thing for the animal to just put its foot on the ground, it is a very different thing if the poor beast has to press down for some distance in order to power a generator.) $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Aug 31, 2023 at 21:17
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @GaultDrakkor piezoelectric energy harvesters are off-the-shelf technology now. They're just used for things like powering simple, low-power remote sensors, not for running strength-augmenting powered exoskeletons. $\endgroup$
    – Christopher James Huff
    Commented Sep 1, 2023 at 3:18

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
4
$\begingroup$

Mechanical exoskeleton for camels powered by muscle power of the same camels doesn't make sense, there is a law of conservation of energy. You have two processes - power generation and power usage, both have efficiency significantly below 100%. You would be wasting most of the energy to heat the environment. The camels would be much better off without this extra weight.

Power derived from beasts of burden is very expensive - they eat, and not just grass. They were used not because they were good, there was nothing better. Transporting stuff over rivers and seas was many times cheaper than over the roads.

If your people had batteries, they would charge them using rivers and wind "for free".

"never being wealthy or organized enough to invest in rail and road networks" - they would still have roads. They can't walk over the fields and any place traveled well enough becomes a trail.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

The island of Malta has 4000-year old railway tracks. The amusing factoid that Roman chariots determined the railway gauge, and that determined the dimensions of the Space Shuttle is largely myth, but people have increased the carrying power of horses by having tracked cars or sledges. Mines used horse-drawn railways. The first Stockton to Darlington run was horse-drawn, with a stationary steam engine to run pulleys to help the carts up a particular hill. If you are not going far, then the solution seems to have always been to make the track as level and as smooth as you can. This has been re-invented lots of times.

The Silk Road probably was a collection of routes, and a particular item might change hands many times. The route itself was too long to turn into a proper road, and probably had to be re-routed whenever rocks fell, or sands shifted. So, camel trans of the sort you describe did most of the ferrying. I can also imagine people such as those in the Middle East with a nomadic tradition treasuring the ways of their forefathers. So, an oil sheikh on holiday might travel by camel, or by Lambourghini. But they probably won't want to invent a bicycle that camels can pedal, so they can go faster.

The nearest I can suggest is some generator that uses the ambient shaking when you are on a camel to power your laptop or mobile phone. This might be safer and more reliable than wires going down to the animal's hooves.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

The idea is old already. But rather than each animal wearing special tools, we can just pave the tracks with piezoelectric tiles and any foot traffic including humans will generate electricity. Each won't generate much but they all add up.

You can even make them at home fairly easily.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
6
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Even if it produced significant power (it won't), this is a society that can't even afford a normal road network. $\endgroup$
    – Christopher James Huff
    Commented Aug 31, 2023 at 23:05
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @ChristopherJamesHuff thats a first World mentality, in reality our World is full of huge infrastructure projects that the societies can not afford and sometimes don't even need. $\endgroup$
    – Kilisi
    Commented Sep 1, 2023 at 23:18
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I think saying you can make it at home is a bit of an exaggeration here - the tutorial is basically about gluing some ready-made components onto a piece of cardboard and running the right wires between them; the relevant part for this question is how easily you can manufacture the piezoelectric transducers themselves. $\endgroup$
    – IMSoP
    Commented Sep 2, 2023 at 9:02
  • $\begingroup$ @IMSoP sure, there's a bit of imagination required.... pre-requisite for any story telling I would think. Fun part is making it all work. $\endgroup$
    – Kilisi
    Commented Sep 2, 2023 at 10:02
  • $\begingroup$ Pointing out that a civilization that can't even build vast road networks from cheap pavement probably also can't make them out of vastly more expensive and high-maintenance energy scavenging devices is "a first world mentality"? What? $\endgroup$
    – Christopher James Huff
    Commented Sep 2, 2023 at 17:37
1
$\begingroup$

Piezoelectric generators don't generate much energy and might be bulky on a horse. You could use dynamos instead, a solutiin employed in some bicycles to power things like lights.

Ever seen one of thode flashlights that is powered by someone jerking it? That's a dynamo at work.

The TL;DR of how it works is that you have a magnet going in and out of a looped wire. Everytime a magnet moved through a loop, it makes current flow in the wire.

Put some dynamos over parts of a horse that shake and you have a power source.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .