Last night, thousands of walkers and hundreds of runners in Edinburgh kicked off the Courtesy of NVA.org.uk

A bunch of research went in to creating this light up gear to meet the NVA’s head designer James Johnson’s following standards:

For the runners, the design team wanted something dramatic, so they ended up going with concentrated point source LEDs, which looked great both close and at a distance. The LEDs allowed them to mix color and adjust intensity of the lights remotely. The runners themselves had to be in tip-top shape, able to run 10 miles at a 9-10 minute pace in all kinds of weather. Therefore, as to not hinder them in their physical feat, the design team fashioned a webbing suit out of the LEDs, complete with a radio and battery pack. Check them out:

The only shortcoming of these suits was that they couldn’t be powered by the runner’s motion. After attempting to harvest energy via knee braces, they determined any impediment to the runner’s motion dramatically affects his or her performance.

For the walkers, Johnson and his team wanted to build something subtler, to provide adequate safety lighting, but not to distract from the viewing experience. They decided to go with staffs/walking sticks illuminated by a combination of electroluminescent tape, fiber optic fabric, and diffused and non-diffused LEDs. Each staff housed a micro-computer that would synch up the flashing patterns with the Orchestra’s score, with changes triggered by movement and altitude. And here they are:

The research team was able to use motion to generate power in this instance, since walking is a more leisurely, steadier movement. To harness the power of movement, two LEDs, two high power Neodymium magnets, and a copper coil go in the top of the staff, then as the walker strides along, striking the stick against the ground, one of the magnets oscillates through the coil, creating a small electrical current. One LED lights up when the magnet travels down, and the other when the magnet travels up, producing a twinkly effect.

The runners also received a smaller version of this staff in the form of a baton.

Many people have heard about power factor correction, but aren’t too sure about exactly what it means, or is. Here is some basic information about it, in very simple words. Power factor is essentially a measurement of the effectiveness with which your commercial business uses the energy that’s supplied to your location.

In an industrial setting, you are able to reduce the amount you pay as a power bill, by cutting down the power factor surcharges that show up on various electricity accounts; these show up as the peak demand charges from your power company. This is exactly the reason why there is such a huge growth in power factor correction.

Currently, many businesses are being charged via a kVA tariff, rather than a kilowatt one. This also means there is a distinct possibility that your electricity service provider is charging you for power they are supplying to you and which you aren’t really using. In short, you end up paying for power that’s going waste. The other considerations:

Every industrial setup has different power requirements, different types of equipment and tools that run on electricity; and it’s important that you connect with a company that is able to understand your requirements and provides custom solutions. Once they help set up the right kind of power correction equipment, you can benefit in a number of ways.

As a business owner, you know you want to reduce operational costs and while you are sure to have a number of other measures in place, understanding how power factor correction will help you, is one way of making a significant change. For more information, simply speak with the experts at Allround Electrical and take their advice on various aspects of power factor installation solutions. The number to call is – 1300 169 263. You can also write to us at this email address.

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