Jonathan Perlman                                   

The project is my Capstone Project for Pitt's Engineering 0716 class: The Art of Making. We had 6 weeks to design, survey, and prototype a project, and present at Pitt's Senior Design Expo (as freshman!). Our project used a magnet/coil induction system to produce a current that would then charge a cellphone. So we could keep the phone's battery safe, we made a circuit containing a boost converter, capacitor, AC/DC converter, Li-Poly battery, and an on off switch, which would regulate the voltage to 5V and store charge in the capacitor that could then be discharged by the switch. Two neodymium magnets are on either end of the coil so the magnet stays near the coil at all times allowing for easier motion of the magnet, and more efficient harnessing of ambient motion. We then 3D printed a phone case that holds all these components, and still fits in a pocket for easy everyday use. MagNEATo's current iteration charges six times slower than a wall outlet, where and hour of motion leads to around 12% of battery life; this makes the product a great way to supplement overnight charging, and serve a purpose for emergency situations when an outlet is not present.     

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Created with 5 other members from March to April 2017.