Doorator

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Doorator: Generate Electricity by opening doors

Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
Year Founded:
2014
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Project Stage:
Idea
Budget: 
$10,000 - $50,000
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Doorator generates electricity via human everyday activity - opening and closing door. Each time door be opened, mechanical energy that is provided by people will be transformed into electrical energy through magnetic induction process. Doorator can be used to power up applicants in the room.

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

What if every door we open is installed with Doorator, our energy bill can be cut by
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Researches aim on carbon footprint reduction of human activities to solve the Global Warming crisis. While electricity generation is still largely depends on the burning of fossil fuel, it contributes the majority of carbon emission. Energy conservation and renewable energy exploration thus become particular focus. What we need is a new and cost-effective renewable energy source that produces energy with the least impact on human lifestyle.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Nowadays, doors in commercial buildings have a door-closer. Our idea is to redesign the door-closer into a new product which is capable of producing and storing electricity. Doorator works on the flywheel mechanism; it generates electricity from human kinetic energy, which can then be stored in an internal super-capacitor for later use. The Doorator is a universal device that can be applied to every door in your house, your office, shopping center, school and even for doors in the washrooms! Imagine if just a push could power LED lamps or charge your cell phone. It is a huge step towards the low-carbon building while low-carbon development is the path to sustainable cities!
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

Let us just take the cubicle doors in public toilets as an example. According to the World Toilet Organization, the world population use washrooms more than 6 times a day. So if all the doors in washrooms are equipped with Doorator, then the total amount of energy will be generated is at least equal to: Total Energy = 7125000000*6*33.75= 1.46 teraj/day Annual energy production = 365day* 1. 46 teraj/day = 536 terajoule per year This amount of energy generated is enough to power up 110370 households in China for one whole year!

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

The amount of energy generated is equal to the efficiency of generator multiplied by work people done when opening the door. Our goal is to achieve 75% efficiency in this transformation, the force needed for opening doors with Doorator would be 30N, and the effective distance related to this force varies from door to door. For ease of calculation, we assume 1 meter as the effective distance, the generated energy for each time opening the door would be calculated as follow: w = F.D. (Efficiceny) = 30 * 1.5 * 0.75 = 33.75 j . This electrical energy generated could be stored in internal capacitor if the Doorator works independently or can be transferred to the central battery if Doorators are used connectively.

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

Doorator could also serve as a platform for a variety of self-powered sensors. Namely user-flow sensor for space management; body temperature sensor which potentially prevent epidemic disease; RFID check-in scanner and Burglar alarm for building security. Doorator is a universal device that can be applied to every door in your house, your office, shopping centres, etc. The total amount of reduction in carbon footprint depends on users’ preference of Doorator application. Due to the simplicity of installation and low production cost, we're confident Doorator will be easily commercialised.
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

At the beginning, we have the help from our friends in the university which included electrical, electronic and mechanical engineers who are willing to give us advice and material for the invention. If funding is provided, more detail analysis will be made, the invention will be patent. . We will parner with major company in the field of green electric applicant, like Schneider Electric, to commercialise the product.

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

An invention making use of energy during the opening of revolving door had been out in the market, which is known as the Energy-Generating Revolving Door (http://inhabitat.com/energy-generating-revolving-door-by-boon-edam). However, considering that revolving doors is not as commonly used as ordinary doors, we decide to invent an electric generator that is universal and can be installed in any given door. As Doorator generate electricity in relatively simpler mechanism than that of the revolving door, we believe it will be even easier to commercialize and popularize our proposed project.
Team

Founding Story

We were thinking about how can energy be generated by the everyday human activity. We considered putting a generator underneath shoes that produce energy every time people step on it, but then we realised there are product very similar with our idea that had been introduced to the market just recently. In one brain storming meeting, we sat in a room and looking out to the library entrance. We were amazed how often the door is being opened and closed. "We were spending so much effort in pushing and pulling this heavy entrance door with no reason, why don't we make this energy useful?" This is why we start we started explore the possibility of electric generator in door closer and finally come up with the design of Doorator.

Team

Mohammad Hossein Tork Moghaddam
About You
Organization:
HKUST
About You
First Name

Ding LI

Last Name

(Li Ting)

About Your Project
Organization Name

HKUST

How long has your organization been operating?

Project
Organization Country

, Hong Kong

Country where this project is creating social impact
What awards or honors has the project received?
Funding: How is your project financial supported?

Friends and family, Individuals.

Supplemental
Sector

Greenhouse Gases, Sustainable Sourcing.

Audience: Who have you identified as your customer/recipient groups and do these groups value your solution for different reasons? How do you engage different customer/recipient groups to deliver your solution?

First we would like to commercialize the Doorator in most frequently used door such as cubicle doors in public toilets to guarantee the outcome of the amount of energy generated.

This will help us to build our reputation and would provide us more resources and idea to improve our design, if any flaws is spotted in the beginning stage.

Eventually the general public will be our target customer, since everyone has doors in their office, their house, etc.

Scaling the solution: How would the prize money and publicity help you to achieve your objectives over the next two years?

The prize money will mainly go into the production of the Doorator and compensate the cost that will require for patent application.

A fair portion will be placed on marketing and advertising Doorator to our potential partners.

The rest will be used for further research and development of the Doorator to improve the design and enhance the electricity generation efficiency.

Experience: Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered
Are you are eligible to attend the Accelerator event in Cambridge and subsequent events in London, UK in January, 2015?

yes

Will you require a visa to enter the UK?

Are you are a current Unilever employee?