Using the ever-popular roller shoe as a platform for development, the Heely's hack harnesses the energy of a turning wheel through a series of gears that spin an embedded generator. The voltage produced can be used for a range of low-power applications ranging from localized light and sound to charging small electronics devices to subversive urban data-mining experiments.

Attempts to modify shoes mechanically are nothing new. Much earlier experiments were aimed at reducing jarring effects to the body ( as evidenced by this 1939 news clipping about spring heels. ) There are other orthopedic products today that take a similar approach. We wanted to investigate shoes as a platform for energy harvesting, however, but these earlier mechanical examples provide some useful precedents. There has also been a lot of research done on energy harvesting shoes at MIT by Joe Paraiso. They have developed a number of prototypes that work in different ways (i.e. piezoelectric, hydrolic, mechanical.)


DIY enthusiasts, hackers, Heelys fans, children

Ideally, we would have an array of hacked Heelys sneakers for people to try on and clear open space for people to roll around generating electricity with the shoes. For the show, we would like to have a video on display showing us rolling around the city on the shoes and how we made them. Also, Christian will be wearing the shoes, demoing short rolls of 5 to 8 feet in any open directions.

The project consists of a standard pair of Heelys sneakers modified with a dremel tool, some salvaged plastic printer gears, and a stepper motor to draw electricity from the kinetic rolling motion of the shoes. The generated electricity is fed into lights and speakers on the shoe to showcase their energy production.