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Hand-Powered Hardware?
quiddity writes "Following the Goofy USB Devices post, one has to know what can be self-powered when the batteries all die. You can handcrank your Gameboy, recharge your cellphone or pda (even grandpa), wind up a webserver (with minions, a beowulf..), see in the dark, and project a movie. What else can we propel through the next blackout/apocalypse?" Some of these devices have have been on Slashdot before; what cool hand-powered tech hasn't been and should be?
http://slashdot.org/articles/02/07/24/1628214.shtm l m l
http://slashdot.org/articles/01/06/18/1953203.sht
Freeplay are a company that specialise in wind-up electronic toys including a mobile phone charger.
I have this radio, designed by Freeplay that has a wind-up charger and solar panel. Works on FM, MW, SW and LW with a 30 station memory. Its not bad, works well and with good sound quality. It also doesn't look dorky like some of their earlier models.
From the depths of someone's truly twisted imagination. What would be more relaxing than a hand charged version of the Hello Kitty Vibrator?
Whew! This water sure is cold!
A well-trained human body can produce around 100 W of motion effect for a couple of hours. (bicycle style)
...without display.
So don't even think p4 ok?
maybe an via mini-itx or something
Warning: This sig contains a small bug. ==> *
here
thinkgeek sells them, too
(it's a shake-up, not wind up, but close enough)
How about pedal-powered aircraft as the ultimate human-powered tech-toy?
One problem is the low power budget for human-powered systems. The average fit adult can only crank out about 75 W. (No specs on the power output of the average computer user). Even a athletic cyclist only puts out about 200W.
A cyclist should be able to power a laptop, but running much more than that would be difficult.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Somebody forgot to check the geek's survival store.
Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
There isn't much you can't power with this type of setup.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
Here is a link to an article about the bike-and-linux powered computer they developed. It is pretty cool.
Here is a link to a previous slashdot story on the machine. There were a lot of dumb comments previously on this story for some reason.
Here is a link to a page on the Jhai Foundation's website about the concept. Last I heard, the project was hung up in Laotian red tape, waiting for some bureaucrats to give it the green light. I have no idea why a project like this would pose any threat to the government of such a country, however. Hopefully these problems have been resolved.
oo difficult to convert energy in the form of pressure into something the device can use. This is the same reason we don't "hook batteries up to lightning rods", as many electricity novices suggest. The equipment required to convert from a megavolt spark to a sustained output at a reasonable voltage is too expensive and inefficient to make it cost effective. The energy output from button mashing isn't enough to overcome the losses you'd incur converting it from erraticly pulsed, short-throw kinetic energy to steady, usable voltage.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
Why don't you get a converter that allows you to use the car-charging port on a normal wall outlet? My dad has one, I've used it with my gameboy before. Not sure how much they cost, though.
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Never criticize religion on Slashdot. You will be modded down for "Troll" no matter how factual it is.
Thinkgeek has the Forever Flashlight that uses Faraday's Principle of Induction to generate power for superbright LEDs.
here
:)
That radio was distributed in war zones and refugee camps.
By the way that's a great article on subject, i.e. personally powered devices
Geostationary... you mean, stationary relative the earth?
That's not gonna do much.
You'd need some kind of anchor which stays with the earth but not with the earth's rotation, and, er, those don't exist, not without some other huge mass to push against.
Conservation of angular momentum and all that.
How about this?
It'll work if you have dry tinder, basically it is a iron and flint thingy. I remember using them as a kid trying to light paper; took awhile, but could be made to work. The flint wears out eventually, though. I think a Zippo would be easier.
And why does this thread remind me of a Prodigy song?
Fellowship 9/11
Are there any broadcast stations on MW and LW? I wasn't aware of any - maybe it's just where I live though...
Where do you live? The US?
There are quite a lot of MW stations in the UK; BBC Radio 5 Live, some commercial stuff using old BBC frequencies (for BBC stations where FM coverage is now almost universal); and there are also local stations which nowadays use their FM and MW bands for totally different services (local MW tends to the MOR/retro stuff, FM for more modern music).
LW is... not much used, except for BBC Radio 4. Sometimes LW Radio 4 broadcasts different stuff to FM; they use it for cricket commentary for example. Atlantic 252 (kHz)- a pop/rock station- started in the late 80s; that frequency was sold at some stage to a talk station, but it seems to be silent now.... so Radio 4 is all alone again.
I'd guess most UK radios support MW (usu. labelled as 'AM'), but less than 50% have LW, and very few ordinary radios have SW.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
The original LUFO hurricane lamp-powered radio was designed as an alternative to hand-cranked radios with the added benefit of providing heat and lighting.
I've tried the Sidewinder cell phone charger once. After that, the battery emptied in less than half the time it originally took (a single day instead of more than two). The measly instructions accompanying the product did indeed warn against its actual use. Should have RTFM'd before I tried, huh?
JeR
2 cycle? What are you talking about? Those little Honda jobs? Even these are 4 cycle. This is what I have.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
Gas powered generators should be illegal. Do you know how much 2cycle (which most generators are these days) engines pollute?
I spend a huge number of weekends (and weeks) in the desert, where at least half the people have generators. I have never heard or seen a 2-stroke generator. I've been around engines my entire life, and know the difference.
I hate generators, and we have an unspoken rule with our group of friends - generators are only to be used for running tools. Generators have baffles (sheets of plywood) to block sound to us, and send it off in a less offending direction. They are never used to run musical equipment, lights and other things that have 12V replacements, and never "luxury" items like A/C, refridgerator, etc...
I have an extra battery in my truck (for a toal of three) used only for 12v lights, music, etc...
Tackett