I wrote my Master’s Thesis on modelling Shape Memory Alloys for use as dampers, basically the opposite of power generation. They currently use these things all over in this regard (in high end washing machines and dryers), and use them for their ability to reform to a preset shape (like in underwire bras) or as actuators (there were a few on some Mars landers), but they just are not good at transferring a heat differential into work on a scale large enough to produce usable power.
I have seen some ideas for embedding them in clothing to recover some of the body’s energy and turn it into a low-power generation system for personal gadgets, but these are ones that work off of EMF, not heat, like Nitinol.
Just a quick THANK YOU to everyone who posted in this thread.
I’m a non-engineer trying to figure out how to build myself the robotic exoskeleton I need, & have grown quite weary of the ‘too technical for anyone other than engineers to understand’ data sources that seem to be standard fare (but are usually the only sources I can find that contain the info I need).
Nitinol as a power source(?)/mechanism(?) for a pulley-controlled (intended-to-be) robotic exoskeleton was mentioned in a YouTube video (by MrTeslonian, I believe), & I was not looking forward to slogging through pages upon pages & links upon links of doctoral-level engineering-ese as I tried to parse out a basic, simple understanding of what it is, how it works, why the person thought it might work for robotics, & if it was something worth considering for my design & build or not.
And then I found this thread, which has not only given me more information than the oodles of links & research I’ve crawled through thus far, and in an extremely understandable format and manner, but has been HIGHLY entertaining to boot.
There aren’t words to adequately to convey just how much all of the contributions to this thread have helped me, in not just knowledge gain, but also in making this race against time as I strive to create a suit to give me back some modicum of my physical abilities (before I lose what’s left) a little bit easier, & DEFINITELY more enjoyable.
So I shall just say this -
The information, links, understandable explanations, & conversations/responses posted here are GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
And to everyone who posted here-
A VERY HEARTFELT THANK YOU!!!