Review of Related Studies, Projects and Literature

In order to provide a clearer understanding on this proposed project, how it will work to the
optimum and foresee possible problems to provide for their early solutions, previous studies,
works and available literature although expectedly limited, were reviewed . The succeeding
paragraphs present valuable background and admonitions either implied or expressed in
designing an efficient Electricity Generating Turnstile at the Sorsogon State College (SSC) main
campus in Sorsogon City.

Available literature on the subject yielded unanimous observations that as the amount of
natural resources decline and the environmental protection movement grows in popularity, the
search for renewable energy is becoming increasingly more important. Throughout society,
many common and mundane daily activities present opportunities to capture and convert
seemingly valueless and unmemorable activities into a prolific energy conservation program.
Capturing and converting just a minute portion of human energy in large enough amounts
could generate a measurable increase of supplemental power to augment extensive electrical
grid. During everyday life, there are many such tasks that are performed without thinking about
the wasted energy that could possibly be recovered and stored for future use. This proposed
project of designing and efficient electricity generating turnstile at SSC is feasible, in order and
is of the essence.

A similar idea comes from Shibuya, Japan, where modified floor tiles in a train station are used
to create and store electricity. The turnstile design generates electricity by using the force
applied to the turnstile arms, geared-up for increased angular velocity, to spin the motor shaft
on a DC motor, and store the created electricity in a battery.

There are several available markets for which this product could be retro-fitted to include:
arenas, stadiums, transit stations, amusement parks, or any high traffic area where a large
amount of wasted human energy could be captured. In addition, each place mentioned uses a
large amount of electricity and could use the power generated by the turnstiles to help reduce
their overall electrical costs. The thousands of students at the SSC Main passing through one
turnstile by the single gate gives a good prospect for generating usable electricity for varied
purposes in the campus.

However, even though this project is a viable and achievable goal, Wayne Smith Jr. and his
group in December 2012 were rattled when problems arose during prototype energy-
generating turnstile construction that did not allow them to demonstrate a functional final
product. When machining one of the gear shafts, some of the teeth on one of the smaller gears
were destroyed, thus altering the desired total gear reduction ratio of 21.53 to 1. Smith’s group
had to quickly improvise a workaround for the broken gear which reduced the gear ratio to 4.64
to 1, which drastically reduced the maximum amount of power produced by the turnstile.
Before construction of the prototype, a preliminary design of the turnstile was created using
modeling software. Probable cause of the problem was that there are not any supports for the
gear box, motor and batteries, and consequently, that lack of design specificity became
problematic during prototype construction.

In Smith’s group project, the torque created by the user is transferred by the universal joint to
the shaft containing the drive gear. At that point, the gear reduction takes place, with the
pinion connected to the motor shaft of the DC motor. The electrical leads from the motor are
then connected to a rechargeable battery, which was the original idea for storing the energy.
There were three sets of gears used to increase the angular velocity input to the motor shaft by
a significant amount. As with most initial designs, however, the final product deviated from the
original plan to remediate unexpected problems encountered during production and
compensate for unforeseen manufacturing constraints. A couple of changes from the original
design are the number of gears used to increase the angular velocity and the method of storing
the energy. Due to unforeseen construction complications, the output power was reduced to
approximately 1/5 of the anticipated power, and therefore, displaying a working prototype
became much more complex. One adjustment made was incorporating a 1.5V DC motor to
show that the turnstile actually did generate power. Smith’s construction was rudimentary,
which led to increased friction and rotating shafts that were off- balance. This created a poor
mesh between the spur gears, which ultimately led to increased stress on the gear teeth.

Smith’s experience is a stern warning for our group in this project. Similar problem must be
prevented if ever a prototype or a final product will be constructed.

Regarding previous works, it appears there are not many products that are currently on the
market on which this project can be based or compared. Also unfortunately, the market for
regenerative power systems is still small. It is currently in more of the prototype phase than
full-scale deployment, which makes evaluating our idea against the competitors difficult due to
the lack of competition.

Sat any rate, there are a few similar ideas that harvest energy from pedestrian traffic. The most
notable example is being tested in Shibuya train station in Japan, where they have installed
floor tiles that turn the weight of pedestrian traffic into usable electricity for powering lighting
or the ticket machines. Although the tiles only generate about 0.1 watts per step there are over
2.4 million people who pass through the Shibuya station each weekday. Given the enormous
amount of foot traffic through the station each day, the aggregate amount of electricity
available for harvesting then becomes worth recovering.

In evaluating the performance of a turnstile based energy recovery system, one has to compare
energy generated per step at the Shibuya train station with the energy generated by one
person passing through a turnstile.

There is also a system being studied that would generate electricity from the footsteps of
pedestrians walking downstairs. The system is being considered for the Spinnaker Tower
viewing platform in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. The idea here is that there could be
considerable energy available from people descending the stairs of the tower that would
otherwise be wasted in the compressive action of the human body working to absorb the
impact of the heel striking the step below. Unfortunately there are no power output figures for
this system that could be compared to the turnstile idea.

A more recent, more encouraging success story is courtesy of the VIVA Design Team at
the Guangdong University of Technology in China that has designed a self powered turnstile
called “Green Pass.”

Basically their design springs from the idea that turnstiles are used thousands of times a day in
subway and train stations or shopping malls and during large events such as the Olympic
Games, wherever there are large crowds.

The team designed a Self-Powered Turnstile (Green Pass) that combines the function of a
normal turnstile which turns once when people pass through it, together with an energy
harvesting generator. The system harnesses the kinetic energy of people passing through the
turnstile to generate energy. The electricity produced is used to supply power requirements for
swiping cards, inserting coins, tickets or counting the number of people passing through the
turnstile.

The huge number of the turnstiles in the world will no longer need additional power supply,
thereby reducing energy consumption, should this concept design be used in the future.

Green Pass won the "Gold Award" at the 2010 Taiwan LITE-ON Award ceremony.

 
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

The project’s concept lends to the simple Input-Process-Output Framework . Sorsogon State
College students, teachers and personnel (input) will make entry and exit through and out of a
common gate where a turnstile is installed that generates electricity every time one passes
through it (process) which in turn will provide a back-up power source that can be used to
supply current to vital gadgets and equipment in times of power outage or service interruptions
(output) which is frequent in the city, especially in times of calamities and natural disasters.

Input Process Output

Synthesis of the State of the Art

Traditional turnstiles across reviewed literature are giving way to more complex, state-of-the-
art versions that employ high technology and amazing features on top of much improved
efficiency and power generation capability.

One such model is OP1000 of ZKTeco Middle East, an optical that maintains
a high-security level as a half-height turnstile. It replaces the
traditional physical barriers by utilizing active infrared beams to
create an invisible electronic field between two pedestals. If there are
any unauthorized entry attempts, an audible alarm will be triggered to
alert security staff.

Another impressive model is Electric 316 SS Security Flap Barrier Gate Turnstile
Gate with IR Sensor 13.56mhz Card Reader. It has a cold-rolled steel plate or 202
stainless steel or 304 stainless steel casing optional. Also have Sixteen modes for
passing through lanes. It also can be used with variety of card readers: IC / ID card
readers, bar codes, fingerprints, etc. (Access controller needed). The gate auto opens
when power off and auto close when power on, complying with fire safety requirements.
There now exists an Automatic Pedestrian Swing Gate RFID Card Reader Infrared
Sensor Security Turnstile. The Swing Turnstile can easily integrate with machine,
electronics , micro-processor control and ID identification, provides convenience for use
of card reader identification equipment, such as IC card,  ID card, bar code and
fingerprint.