Thank you for opening this form! We really appreciate your feedback. Our robotics team, Assembly Required, has engineered a device that can capture the thermal energy from fires and/or ice, snow, or cold objects to charge a small battery pack that could power an LED light, low-voltage fan, or charge a phone or other USB-powered device. We believe this would be especially useful for those living in developing countries or remote areas who may not have access to a constant supply of electricity. This could also be used during natural disaster situations.
Our city, Fort Myers, FL, recently faced devastating storm surge, flooding, and wind damage from Hurricane Ian which left many without electricity for three weeks or longer. Many families used grills or fire pits to cook their food, so we saw an opportunity to capture the heat that is produced. After further development and experimentation our Power Pad device can also work with cold items such as ice or snow, in addition to grills and fireplaces. It is a small, flat, flexible mat that can wrap around objects to generate electricity from a temperature differential between the two sides and provide electricity on demand or store it for later use. Our rough cost estimate is about $30.
