SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Humans are said to have evolved from an ancestor that once swung through the trees to get about, free to move through the environment in almost any direction. But today, in our modern high-rise environment, if you simply want to go up or down, it's probably fair to say we've actually devolved. Stairs, elevators, and lifts all take up precious space within buildings, and they're expensive, complicated, or require endless maintenance. Now a new human-powered system prototype dubbed Vertical Walking has been developed that requires just ten percent of the effort needed to climb stairs, but can easily move a person up a vast number of floors.
[...] Designed by the Rombaut Frieling lab in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Vertical Walking uses a system of upright rails that incorporate pulleys and a clever gripping system to allow a user to incrementally move between floors in a building. Claimed to require less than 10 percent of the effort needed to climb stairs, and with no other external energy input needed, the creators assert that the prototype has been successfully proven by a wide range of people, including an amputee and an MS sufferer.
A novel way to move between floors.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @09:46PM
I agree, the article gives no source for that 10% number. Have forwarded the link to a ME prof friend who studies walking and gait. Will report back if I hear from him, while this item is still on the main SN page.
(speculation)It could be that the motions in climbing stairs are very inefficient?
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday October 27 2016, @12:14AM
That was my most charitable interpretation.
The only problem: you can measure the power output of a physics student by having them run up a flight of stairs.
For their claim to hold water, climbing stairs would have to be 90% inefficient.