Analysis of the energetic potential in a staircase with hydraulic circuit: An experimental energy tests

This article describes the development of a prototype to harness energy when using stairs. The system is based on a hydraulic device that stores the energy generated by the movement of the person of 74 kg on a tilting step. The design took into account the modes of operation of the system, experimental tests were carried out to evaluate the potential energy, placing a load of 12 kg moving vertically to measure its potential energy. The results show that the device performs differently when the angle of the hydraulic actuators changes and when the place of contact with the ladder changes, that is, it depends on the contact area the averages for the tilt angles and contact zones are around 0.082 J per step. The challenges for the next stages are to be able to modulate the angle in more than three positions and to quantify the pressure and volumetric flow in the circuit.