Sustainflatable: Harvesting, Storing and Utilizing Ambient Energy for Pneumatic Morphing Interfaces.
Abstract: While the majority of pneumatic interfaces are powered and controlled by traditional electric pumps and valves, alternative sustainable energy-harnessing technology has been attracting attention. This paper presents a novel solution to this challenge with the development of the Sustainflatable system, a self-sustaining pneumatic system that can harvest renewable energy sources such as wind, water flow, moisture, and sunlight, convert the energy into compressed air, and store it for later use in a programmable and intelligent way. The system is completely electronic-free, incorporating customized energy harvesting pumps, storage units with variable volume-pressure characteristics, and tailored valves that operate autonomously. Additionally, the paper provides a design tool to guide the development of the system and includes several environmental applications to showcase its capabilities.
An example Sustainflatable system which can performs self-regulating plant insulation. The wind energy is harvest through a wind pump. The thermal valves incorporated in the system can sense the ambient temperature and adjust the inflation of the windbreaker accordingly. During warm weather, the windbreaker remains deflated (a). In contrast, during cold and windy weather, the system utilizes the collected energy to inflate the windbreaker and provide insulation to the plants (b).