The Soccket: Power Soccer Ball - Fun and Play Equals Electricity

The world’s most popular sport becomes more fun with the Soccket. The world’s first eco-friendly portable power generator that combines fun and play with power generation. This innovative soccer ball is equipped with a gyroscopic mechanism that captures energy in every kick, roll, bounce and with even the slightest movements of the ball. Created for developing countries who lack access to electricity, but the love for the game is so full. Believe it or not, with our current technology 1 out of 5 people in the world still live without electricity. In developing countries, a lot of families cannot afford the cost of electricity and some live too far away from the electric grid. So they use health hazardous energy and light sources, like kerosene.

This has inspired a group of Harvard students, to create a soccer ball that captures every motion into energy that can then be used as power source. A very clever concept that integrates eco-friendly technology with fun and play.

Dubbed as the “Soccket”, the ball is designed to have the same specification with a premium soccer ball and at the same time harness all game play motions possible into energy. They started by using an inductive coil mechanism, but this was only able to capture one-dimensional motion.

The most recent design is now using a gyroscopic mechanism, which captures all possible motion dimension, including the slightest movement of the ball. This improvement means more power and wider range of device it can handle. The gyroscopic mechanism produces a maximum of 24 volts, with battery operating range of 2.71 to 3.61 volts. Since voltage generated will not be constant, the system is designed to cultivate the power generated in short bursts of voltage.

The Soccket is designed to provide light on developing countries who lack access to electricity. Once charged, LED lamps or even water purifiers can be plugged in to its socket. A fun 30 minute play would provide about 3 hours of power.

With the pilot testing done in Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa from summer 2009 through summer 2010. The team has made significant improvements. Considering the rough terrains on these areas, the have made the ball more robust and durable, that it may be able to beyond the internal mechanism’s lifetime.