If you are from the 90s generation, you surely remember the novelty of sneakers with springs or those that had lights in the sole. And nothing to say about those that had skate wheels inside. The kid who wore that to school was part of the “popular” group and you know it (and if you remember all these details, maybe your knees also crack, we are getting old). Far from that, a 15-year-old Filipino teenager Angelo Casimiro has created something incredible: electric shoes. Not just any kind of shoes, wait! One that is capable of creating energy every time you take a step… It is something incredible and he has also shared it with the world through the internet so that any user can replicate it at home!
We are not talking about a school project, we are talking about something that has the potential to transform the lives of hundreds of communities that do not have good access to electricity!
How electric shoes work
This invention has worked thanks to piezoelectric materials capable of transforming pressure into energy. Casimiro integrated them into the insole and protected them with foam, so that every step taken by the wearer produces electricity without noticing anything at all, as if you were wearing a normal shoe.
During the tests, he managed to charge a 400 mAh battery after running for eight hours. Enough to turn on a light, power a radio or give life to a phone in case of emergency. In addition, the shoes can supply small low-consumption devices, such as health sensors, Bluetooth transmitters or Arduino boards, opening up a range of everyday and technological applications.
An idea that seeks to teach
Casimiro, at 15 years old, has the goal of teaching science as something useful and accessible to all his peers. That is why he published a step-by-step guide so that anyone could build their own electric shoes!
In addition, this boy wants to help communities where electricity has not yet arrived (or not as it should), and think about it, just by walking they could generate renewable energy to light their homes!
And the future?
It is an incredible invention, it has a lot of potential and not only to charge cell phones. With the advance of smart clothing, it is easy to imagine sneakers that, in addition to generating electricity, measure physical performance or synchronize data in real time thanks to the energy produced by the user himself.
That way they could integrate useful functions into everyday objects, and that is also how Casimiro demonstrates it with something as basic as a pair of shoes, turned into small portable power plants.
A young inventor
Angelo Casimiro has been inventing since he was four years old, creating his own objects, and today he participates in robotics competitions in the Philippines, he is a very, very smart young man. His career reflects how the enthusiasm and curiosity of a teenager can translate into real projects and revolutions on a large scale.
Social impact, usefulness and vision of the future, and all this has been achieved by a 15-year-old teenager who seems to have much more understanding of the current situation of the planet than many of our leaders…
Electric shoes, a curious and strange experiment but for now, it works. Maybe it is a different way of understanding daily life and the use we make of technology. Turning on a light is something we take for granted in one part of the world but it is something so special in others, that we love this idea!
Casimiro and his shoes remind us that the best ideas do not always have to come from States or great minds, sometimes looking at the future from the point of view of a teenager is the key! And in this case, the future of energy is literally, in our feet.