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Hand Recharged iPod Shuffle
randomErr writes "In one for the first article on the new O'Reilly MAKE magizine we see how to recharge your iPod with a crank. The "Torronesque" project was based on the idea of coming up with a project and buiding it even if it has no immediate purpose. Imagine getting a little power charge every time you press a key or open your phone or laptop."
It was patented in 1999 (the keyboard idea). here.
main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
I heard of this like 2 years ago (or more) for cell phones. They had a charger that you could crank by hand, a mini solar charger you could put on your dashboard or roof of your car, and a fan that sat on the outside of your car. Admittedly I don't remember the company, but this is really old news.
The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.
come on, this is a bit nifty, but not slashdot material, this should be on hackaday not on slashdot.
so, there could be new ways to power porn-visual devices, eh?
press a key or open your or phone laptop
What the heck are you even talking about?
I know its been done before, but I've never seen a laptop with click powering, I would find this useful as the mashing of the keyboard I do when the battery runs out would actually be productive. :)
Plus, this is especially cool in the case of an iPod. Think about it, fill it and its good, forever. No pluggin in for power, just a little crank once in a while and shes good! I would be more impressed with movement power, like those expensive watches. Don't even need to remember to crank, just to stay alive!
I didn't RTFA, but these are my thoughts.
Frylock: "We should have cloned twenties, Jackson wouldn't have given a fuck."
THEN BREAKFAST WILL BE COMPLETE !!! MWAHAHAHAHA !!
StupidChildren...the reason jesus is crying
That really turns my crank.
I don't mean to be an old crank, but I really don't think my pockets will fit this.
When you have to make your own power, you're less inclined to crank up the volume on that iPod shuffle.
The only problem is you can only listen to alternative music on it.
I'll need someone to give me a hand with this.
Looks like a fine prodcut, but how much will they charge?
Hopefully no more than an arm and a leg! I'll need at least one arm.
No fair, it's my turn!
Does this mean the iPod shuffle uses the ARM processor?
Tip your waitresses folks, they're good people! Try the buffet! I'll be here all week!
Now all the inventor needs to do is to invent some sort of electric machine that will turn the crank for you. You could take a motor, and put it in some sort of project box, with some wires coming out of it to plug into the wall, and some sort of arm to turn the crank on the cranking machine...then when you want to recharge your iPod Shuffle, plug it into the crank, and mate the crank with the crank motor, and then plug the mottor into the wall. Then you have the benefits of hand-cranking, without all the manual labour.
Genius! I'm going to go an apply for a patent on this one for sure!
Yaz.
"What are you *doing*?"
"I'm, uh, charging my iPod. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket..."
We all know that LiON batteries have limited recharge cycles (~1000). Imagine that you will open doors four times per day, then your iPod Shuffle will die in one year. Keep in mind the operating cost....
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Seriously, between the BBC news site and Makezine there's nearly everything slashdot story contributors deep link to.
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Instead of a crank, why doesn't someone get two balloon-like objects, fill one up with liquid, then stick them together with a turbine thing in the part that connects the two? Then, to generate power, simply squeeze the balloon containing the liquid, then repeat for the other one. Combined with a capacitator of some sort, it should be a faster way to generate power...
Or so I think.
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To hell with the IPod hand recharger, I want to know more about this 'phone laptop'.
Is it anything like this: http://www.forbes.com/2002/01/03/0103tentech.html.
The number of recharge cycles is measured on a nominal 'deep' discharge/recharge cycle. Partial top-ups and discharges don't count as a full cycle, and are recommended with LiIon due to the lack of a 'memory effect.' Apple have a good page explaining this.
The greater problem with LiIon is that they loose about 20% capacity per year from the date of manufacture, irrespective of whether they are used or not.
So that's what the other hand is for..
breast option?
Okay... I'll do the stupid things first, then you shy people follow.
[Zappa]
Is the battery life that bad that you actually need to recharge it by hand. My MiniDisc goes 50 hours on a single AA, and it has moving parts. It's amazing how long the battery lasts.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
ideally in ideal circumstances on an ideal day when everything is perfect in the world, new batteries such as those in the ipod and laptops can be partially charged all the time and work fine. however, that's the ideal theoretical situation, and doesn't really happen. most ipod users will have their battery crap out after a year to a year and a half mainly because of partial charges, because you have to recalibrate it which few do. charging a cell phone when you open it or whatever might be an immediate payoff... but not long term when you have to buy a new battery.
And imagine all the energy wasted by deceleration/acceleration of the vehicles you are targeting...not to mention wear and tear on said vehicles. Probably not even close to making it worthwhile.
The Minnesota Science Museum has a hands-on section that, when I was a kid, included an exercise-bike that was connected to an electric generator that generated more electricity the faster that you pedaled. In front of the bike was a series of electrical loads: a light bulb, a radio, a black-and-white TV and a color TV; that each turned on in turn as the person pedaling reached the necessary output to drive the device in question. The black-and-white TV was a workout, but the color TV could only be turned on by a few of the most athletic students in my class (of 20), and then only for less than a minute at a time. (and this was only a 13" TV!)
What is the difference between a small revolutionary change and a large evolutionary change?