Electra

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Our project, Electra, is a self-heating sidewalk system designed to tackle winter safety challenges. Inspired by the need for eco-friendly snow and ice removal, Electra uses Peltier plates to generate heat, piezoelectric plates to harvest energy from footsteps, and an ultrasonic sensor to monitor snow buildup. Built with an Arduino microcontroller, the system automatically adjusts heating based on real-time data, ensuring efficient and sustainable operation.

We faced challenges like balancing energy efficiency, ensuring even heat distribution, and calibrating sensors for accuracy, but we’re proud of creating a functional prototype that demonstrates energy independence and smart automation. Through this project, we deepened our understanding of thermoelectric and piezoelectric principles, energy management, and sensor integration.

Looking ahead, we aim to scale Electra for real-world use, improve energy storage, add IoT connectivity, and explore commercialization opportunities. Electra represents a step toward safer, greener urban infrastructure, harnessing renewable energy to make winters more sustainable.

Built With

• arduino
• python