Energy recovery

[P4g4nite]

We all know about the recovery of energy some cars have that generates power when the brakes are used.
Is there any reason this cannot be applied to the shock absorbers?
I don't think the system is all that bulky, but it might compromise ride quality.

What do you think?

[BjD]

Regenerative braking is a technique used in hybrid cars. The brakes themselves arent used, the electric motor is coupled to the wheels, and therefore acts as a generator. This converts the kinetic energy into electrical, charging the battery and removed energy from the cars motion.

The dampers work with a linear motion, and you'd have to come up with a way to use that to generate an electric current. Although it would be possible, and it is a source of energy that is otherwise wasted, do the shocks generate enough energy to make it worthwhile? Unless you're offroad (or driving on the roads around here ) they wouldnt move that much.

[fpv_gtho]

might be possible through a complex system of gears and stuff to convert the linear motion into rotary motion like a crankshaft and piston, but the extra weight, complexity and cost doesnt seem worth it

[whiteballz]

if your talking electrical current...

moving two opposite charged metals across eachother charges abit.. the gain isnt much though..

so maybe if you had super charged copper in a spiral crossing an equaly conductive metal you might be able to get some..

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

not much, considering the full movement of the shock is like ... what 6 inches at most?

the work done to move the car through that bump aint much, the power aint much, and regardless of ratios and any other type of mechanical advantage multiplier the power stays the same, def not worth the weight the system would add

[johnnyperl]

yes it is easily possible but it will not yeild much.

it could be done simply using a through-body piston (where the shaft of the piston comes out the other end of the body)(see the attached pic for the racing competition version). this would then serve as the core which would then have a outer shell (similar to the piston and body of the shock itself but they wouldnt touch) of wire wraps. when the core moved back and forth through the wire coils a current would be generated.

there are two big problems though.
1) not much energy would be generated.
2) it would add to the mass of the damper which would effectively increase the unsprung weight which reduces the ability of the spring and damper to work well. this issue is highly insigniffigant when compared to the first though.

there may be other systems that would work but this seems like the simplest. i have a flash light which has this system built into the handle.

EDIT: heres a pic of a similar light. note the two dark objects in the handle. the one on the left is the core that moves up and down through the object in the middle which is the coils of wire.

[targa]

Regenerative braking is a technique used in hybrid cars.

and Segways

[P4g4nite]

if your talking electrical current...

moving two opposite charged metals across eachother charges abit.. the gain isnt much though..

Yes electrical energy.

Yeah the gain wouldn't be much I know, but my point is that while cruising, you brake very rarely, but your shocks are always moving.
A tiny bit X a long period = a lot ..over time
A dripping tap will flood your house eventually...

The idea was to put to use some of what is otherwise lots of unwanted kinetic energy, converting it to electrical current seemed plausible.