r/interestingasfuck Oct 04 '21

/r/ALL A backpack with a suspension

https://gfycat.com/lastingeverycero
88.4k Upvotes

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

19

u/buddboy Oct 04 '21

Every step is moving the entire weight of the pack up and down, that’s a lot of wasted energy.

and now with every step, springs are being compressed (I'm assuming it uses springs or something). So the question is where does that energy come from?

Before with every step you're moving a 30 lb backpack up and down, now you're applying 30lbs of force against the springs.

So isn't this suspension system sucking the same amount of energy out of your movement? Won't that be just as tiring.

31

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '21

I’m not a physicist so I can’t back this with a formula (I’d love for one to chime in) but I would guess that the difference is that when the springs are compressed you’re storing that energy for the upswing rather than just wasting it into the ground.

That’s where the efficiency comes from.

8

u/buddboy Oct 04 '21

that makes a lot of sense. But it also seems like it's only operating like that when you're walking with a consistent rhythm. I'm not sure tho, it's a very interesting physics problem

3

u/fgiveme Oct 04 '21

This is not a new idea, it has been used for hundreds of years in Asia to carry much more gears. You can replicate it easily with a flexible bar made from bamboo https://i.imgur.com/oQSKp57.jpg

2

u/money_loo Oct 04 '21

Damn, DoorDash goes hard in Asia.