THE POWER OF PLAY : SOCCKET

SRADHA SUMAN KHUNTIA (114MM0256), Department of Metallurgical and Materials Enggineering

Fig. 1. Soccket: The energy generating soccer ball.

AbstractNowadays energy and power are the one of the basic necessities regarding this modern world. As the demand of energy
is increasing day by day, so the ultimate solution to deal with these sorts of problems is just to implement the renewable sources of
energy.This invention hybridizes ball sports, including soccer, baseball, tennis, and etc., and devices converting mechanical energy
(through impact or shaking) to produce power while playing or participating in sports. Modifications include embedding sensors into
a ball to identify the degree of kicking or hitting, or utilize them in the context of other computer or AV-based games. The energyproducing ball embeds the coiled-impact sensors and/or shake-to-charge technology, vibration, or other piezo-electric materials to
convert the mechanical energy of kicking, hitting, or bouncing into electrical energy. The energy can be stored internally, internally
on a removable device, externally, or in some hybrid. The ball can be a source of light, contain housings for light sources or batterycharging adapters, or plugged into other energy-collection/storage units. The stored energy within the ball can be used to charge
batteries, power light sources, cell phones, radios, or other electrical products.
Index Termspiezo-electric materials

I NTRODUCTION

This invention hybridizes the ubiquitous ball sports including, but

not limited to, soccer, football, baseball, tennis, and other, and devices converting mechanical energy (through impact, material deformation, or movement) to produce power while playing or participating in sports. Modifications include embedding sensors into a ball
to identify how hard it has been kicked or hit, or utilizing them in
the context of other computer or AV-based games.It was invented by
Havard University undergraduates Jessica Sara Lin, Jessica Osemudiamen Matthews, Julia Claire Silverman, Hemali Ajay Thakkar,
Aviva Presser. The energy-producing ball is fitted with one or more
of the following energy generators: one or more conductive solenoids
with one or more magnets internal to the solenoid that can move upon
movement of the ball (shake-to-charge technology), piezoelectric materials covering some or all of the ball surface or subsurface layer embedded or attached to the shell or near the outer edge of the ball that
will allow the conversion of the mechanical energy of deformation
stemming from kicking, hitting, or bouncing the ball into electrical
energy, or the inclusion of one or more eccentric rotors internal to the

ball that move as the ball moves, thus generating energy.

The energy can be stored internally, internally on a removable device (including but not limited to a battery or batteries, capacitor(s),
supercapacitor(s), some combination of those, some combination of
those and other energy storage devices, or other energy storage devices
alone or in combination), externally, or one or more of these possible
positions. The ball can itself be a source of light, contain housings for
light sources or battery-charging adapters, or it can be plugged in to
some other energy-collection/storage unit. The stored energy within
the ball can be used to charge batteries, power light sources (including
but not limited to bulbs, LEDs, or electroluminescent polymers), cell
phones, radios, or other electrical products. This can provide a mobile
source of electricity and a primary or secondary source of electricity
in areas where there may be a lack of reliable electrical grid power.
2

E NERGY H ARVESTING

Devices exist to harvest energy, such as a light generating flashlight

system device, which utilizes a large centrally located magnet to slide
past a current induction wire (U.S. Pat. No. 6,893,141), and piezoelectrics, such as a circuit which passively discharges energy from a
piezoelectric device and stores the energy in a power storage element
(U.S. Pat. No. 6,894,460), and electrostrictive polymers used to harvest electrical power from the general movement of objects such as

from human walking motion, incorporated into the soles of footwear

(U.S. Pat. No. 6,433,465). But to date there have been no balls or
other sports equipment that uses energy harvesting devices, either internally in or externally of the ball, to generate power either for use
in powering internal or attached electronic devices, or to power other
external electronic devices.
Balls with Internal Electrical Devices: Balls exist with implanted
devices, such as golf balls with embedded GPS chips designed to allow
ball localization (U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,959), balls with embedded lights
to illuminate the ball or its surroundings (U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,686),
or a speedometer to indicate the speed at which the ball was thrown
(U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,351). But to date there have been no balls or
other sports equipment that generates power either for use in powering internal or attached electronic devices, or to power other, external
electronic devices.
3

I NVENTION

The aim of invention is to harvest energy from a ball or other sports

piece that faces shaking or impact during play. This energy might be
in the form of material deformation resulting from impact of the ball
on the ground, backboard, bat, foot, knee, head, or other surface, or
might result from the motion of the ball being used to pass a magnet
or magnets through a conductive coil or coils in or attached to some
surface of the ball.
The ball used in the invention might be solid, partially solid, gas or
liquid filled, an the shell of the ball might be single or multiple layers,
and might be made of rubber, leather, PVC, natural or synthetic fabric,
or other material, or some combination thereof.
One manifestation of the invention is the suspension of one or more
conductive coils in the interior of a solid or gas-filled ball such that
when the ball moves, one or more magnets pass through the coil or
coils, generating a current. In a gas-filled ball, the coils may span
from one inner surface of the ball to another, or may be suspended by
some other means in a way such that one or more ends of the coils are
not touching the inner walls of the ball. In a solid ball, the coils may
be suspended at any position within the ball.
A second manifestation of the invention is where piezoelectric material is attached or embedded in the shell of the ball and may cover
all or some part of the balls surface. The piezoelectric material may
also be embedded or attached below the surface of the ball, and may
cover some or all of the surface to which it is attached. Multiple layers
of piezoelectric material may be included in some or all of the ball
surface, and may, but need not, be separated by some other material.
A third manifestation of the invention involves the incorporation
of one or more eccentric rotors into the ball, such that when the ball
moves, the rotors turn and generate electricity.
A fourth manifestation of the invention is one where one of the first
three manifestations are implemented (or some combination of them)
and the energy produced is stored in one or more batteries, capacitors, supercapacitors, or combination of those or other energy storage
devices. These devices may be interior to the ball, attached or embedded in the surface of the ball, or on the surface of the ball, or some
combination thereof. These energy storage units may be removable or
not.
A fifth manifestation of the invention is one where the fourth manifestation is implemented and there is an outlet or outlets in or on the
ball allowing for connection to a device requiring power, such as a cell
phone, cell phone battery, portable MP3 player, light, portable computer, or other electronic device.
A sixth manifestation of the invention is one where one of the first
four manifestations are implemented (or some combination of them),
and the energy harvested is used to power a device build into or attached to the ball. This device might be an accelerometer, pressure
sensor, GPS, speedometer, speaker, or other electronic device which
may or may not have an output display.
3.1

Horizon of influence

Right now, the ball is currently being used in the Americas to provide
illumination and education, and about 100 soccer balls are produced

Fig. 2. interior design.

each week. In order to keep the new-and-improved ball in production

and manufactured in the US, and to ramp up development so that the
ball can reach even more people, SOCCKET developers are asking
for a little help via Kickstarter.They are also supplying socckets freely
to people living in Africa and sub saharan Africa with punchline of
Better hurry up and play some soccer so you can get your homework
done! where electricity is a major issue. With donations, the project
can be expanded and new technology can be implemented. In fact,
if the campaign reaches its goal of 100,000 USD,an energy tracking
device will be included with soccket.if 150,000 USD an emergency
cellphone charger will be included.Head on over to Kickstarter and
help the campaign reach its goals and make a difference. 1 .

Fig. 3. smile that Soccket has brought

C ONCLUSION

It has provided off-grid power thats good for people and good for the
earth.The products generate clean power that can lead to more education, increased income, improved air quality, environmental sustainability, and better health - especially for women and kids. It has
inspired communities to challenge how they think about energy and
electricity, and consider new ways to power their lives and use renewable sources of energy to avoid energy scarcity with more enthusiasm.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank Dr.Shehanshu Pal Sir for assigning this nice topic and
his guidance.
R EFERENCES
1.www.unchartedplay.com
2.www.kickstarter.com
3.www.google.com/patents/US20110136603backward-citations
4.IEEE Standard on Piezoelectricity, Standards Committee of the
1 Kickstarter along with Uncharted Play Inc. is trying to makes this project
successful.

IEEE Ultra Sonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society,

ANSI/IEEE Std 176-1987 (1988).
5.www.bbc.com/future/story/20120614-dawn-of-a-new-footballingpower
6.www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/03/power-playinnovation-at-harvard/