Project Lightfoot

Mechanical product development of an energy-harvesting system for associate carts—designed, prototyped, iterated, and piloted.

Mechanical product development for an energy-harvesting system

Lightfoot tackled a fundamental systems question: how do you harvest usable energy from associate carts in a way that is mechanically robust, maintainable, and compatible with real retail operations?

Downstream applications (e.g., powering a handheld scanner, charging a device, bridging to a Bluetooth system) and sustainability outcomes were not “side quests”—they were key enablers that justified piloting and created a measurable value narrative.

My role

Product Design Engineer (Mechanical / Systems) — owned mechanical architecture, packaging, prototyping, and iteration from early concepts through pilot hardware; partnered cross-functionally to ensure the physical system reliably generated and delivered usable power.

Mechanism & packagingPrototype → pilotDFM + durabilityField validationEnergy system integration
Pilot — deployed for real-world validation
Pilot — deployed for real-world validation

Outcomes

The primary deliverable was a mechanically validated energy-harvesting platform that could be deployed in real conditions. Secondary outcomes (device enablement + sustainability narrative) provided the “why now” and helped secure pilot traction.

Primary goal
Harvest energy
from associate cart usage
Delivery
Pilot hardware
real-world validation
Enablement
Applications
power / bridge / device support
Impact narrative

Sustainability outcomes and operational enablement were framed as measurable benefits of solving the core energy harvesting challenge—useful for stakeholder buy-in and scaling decisions.

Objective

Design and build an energy-harvesting system for associate carts that converts real cart usage into reliable, usable electrical power—packaged in a durable, serviceable form factor suitable for retail deployment.

Context

Carts are ubiquitous, high-duty-cycle assets with repeated motion and interactions. The opportunity was to turn that real-world activity into harvested energy while meeting the realities of retail: wear, impact, weathering, maintenance, and deployment constraints.

Design narrative sketch → CAD → build → pilot

The system progressed through rapid concepting and mechanical packaging, then converged through build-test-iterate cycles toward a pilot-ready configuration.

Sketch — early form factor and energy capture concept
Sketch — early form factor and energy capture concept
CAD — mechanical layout, packaging, and integration planning
CAD — mechanical layout, packaging, and integration planning
Raw build — first physical implementation
Raw build — first physical implementation
Prototype — functional energy-harvesting unit
Prototype — functional energy-harvesting unit
Iteration — mechanical refinements and durability improvements
Iteration — mechanical refinements and durability improvements
Pilot — deployed for real-world validation
Pilot — deployed for real-world validation

Constraints

  • • High-duty cycle hardware exposed to repeated impacts, vibration, and environmental variability
  • • Tight packaging constraints on carts (mounting, clearance, safety)
  • • Must be maintainable by store operations (service access, replacement strategy)
  • • Power generation and delivery must be reliable enough to enable real applications
  • • Pilot timelines required fast iteration without sacrificing field robustness

Approach

  • • Converted the “harvest energy from carts” objective into mechanical + system requirements
  • • Designed packaging and mounting to support durability, safety, and serviceability
  • • Built prototypes to validate energy generation, mechanical survivability, and integration assumptions
  • • Iterated based on observed failure modes and deployment friction
  • • Advanced toward pilot deployment with a focus on repeatability and maintainability

Key skills demonstrated

Mechanical Product Development

Took a core physics/system challenge and translated it into real packaging, mounting, and field-ready hardware.

Prototype-to-Pilot Execution

Drove build-test-iterate cycles using observed failure modes and operational realities to converge on a pilot build.

Durability + Serviceability

Designed for high duty-cycle usage with practical service access and replacement considerations.

Systems Integration

Ensured the physical system reliably generated and delivered usable power to enable downstream applications and impact.

One-line takeaway

I build mechanically robust hardware that solves a core systems constraint—then translate it into deployable value and impact.

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