Hand Recharged iPod Shuffle

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Posted by Zonk on Friday March 4, 2005 @09:23PM from the ye-olde-ipod-shuffle dept.

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."

26 of 129 comments (clear)

Old idea by Spy+Hunter · 2005-03-04 21:27 · Score: 5, Informative

It was patented in 1999 (the keyboard idea). here.

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main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
1. Re:Old idea by Spy+Hunter · 2005-03-04 22:02 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Just because it was patented doesn't mean it's a good idea of course; I believe the amount of power that can be generated by this method is too small to be of much use, even at theoretical 100% efficient conversion. Instead of allocating extra space, weight, and manufacturing cost for this complex charger system, simply including a bigger battery will improve battery life more. There is some interesting discussion along these lines in the original Slashdot story about the patent (also from '99).
  
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  main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
2. Re:Old idea by Amiga+Trombone · 2005-03-04 23:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It was patented in 1999 (the keyboard idea).
  
  Actually, a crank-powered audio player was patented a long time before that. See here.
3. Re:Old idea by AndroidCat · 2005-03-05 01:22 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  There are ones even older than that, and they come with a monkey.
  
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Heard of it already by deutschemonte · 2005-03-04 21:29 · Score: 5, Informative

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.

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The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.
another use! by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-04 21:33 · Score: 5, Funny

so, there could be new ways to power porn-visual devices, eh?
1. Re:another use! by kamapuaa · 2005-03-04 21:39 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I don't want to think what sort of repetitive mechanical hand motion would be used to power such a device.
  
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2. Re:another use! by dingo · 2005-03-04 21:40 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  All our power problems would be solved with 200 teenage boys.
  
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Done before, but still cool by StratoChief66 · 2005-03-04 21:36 · Score: 5, Interesting

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.

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1. Re:Done before, but still cool by eobanb · 2005-03-04 21:42 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  But think about how much more power an iPod or laptop, or even a phone uses compared to a watch. A watch uses hardly any power at all. It has to move a little dial around very slowly over the course of the day, whereas the iPod has electrostatic controls, a backlight, a hard drive, volatile memory, a powered line out jack...all of these things, especially combined, use up a lot of power. It's a nice idea, but there's simply no way that an iPod could power itself by movement alone, nor with a hand crank (unless you wanted to crank a good part of the time). Consumers just wouldn't respond well to it.
  
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2. Re:Done before, but still cool by kanweg · 2005-03-04 21:55 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It is about the iPod shuffle, which has no
  - backlight because it has no display.
  - hard drive but a static memory chip (pay attention: this is what introduced the rumor that music from an iPod shuffle contained static).
  
  The size of the battery could be smaller to accommodate for the power-generating mechanism. Weight and size of the mechanism are less of a problem than in a watch.
  
  Motion powered flashlights exist.
  
  I still can't exclude that the idea is feasible.
  
  Bert
3. Re:Done before, but still cool by fbjon · 2005-03-04 22:20 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  But the shake/use ratio for those flashlights is quite low, and might be worse for an iPod. However, a Shuffle for jogging might be a good idea. How about a pedometer combined with a iPod shuffle?
  
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Even Better Idea... by jpiggot · 2005-03-04 21:40 · Score: 5, Funny

I'll be much more impressed when my old fashioned butter churn can store up to 12 hours of music AND play them in random order.
THEN BREAKFAST WILL BE COMPLETE !!! MWAHAHAHAHA !!

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StupidChildren...the reason jesus is crying
Puns by The+Amazing+Fish+Boy · 2005-03-04 21:49 · Score: 5, Funny

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 he needs to do is... by Yaztromo · 2005-03-04 22:00 · Score: 5, Funny

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.
1. Re:Now all he needs to do is... by skingers6894 · 2005-03-04 23:33 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I'm pretty sure Wile E Coyote or at least someone at ACME has prior art on this...
2. Re:Now all he needs to do is... by Hognoxious · 2005-03-05 03:02 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  There are solar powered streetlights in Italy.
  
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  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
"Charging the iPod" by mhotchin · 2005-03-04 22:02 · Score: 5, Funny

"What are you *doing*?"

"I'm, uh, charging my iPod. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket..."
Sorry but this won't work so well by yudan · 2005-03-04 22:24 · Score: 3, Insightful

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....
Makezine is fast becoming by BillsPetMonkey · 2005-03-04 22:38 · Score: 4, Interesting

a subscription-based slashdot without the herd mentality and GNAA trolls.

Seriously, between the BBC news site and Makezine there's nearly everything slashdot story contributors deep link to.

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Can we say Trevor Baylis here? by DrogMan · 2005-03-04 22:48 · Score: 4, Informative

Nothing new. Move along. Clockwork Radio The man himself
Bag of liquid? by chendo · 2005-03-04 22:58 · Score: 3, Interesting

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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1. Re:Bag of liquid? by Walker_Boh_Druid · 2005-03-04 23:43 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  So, you expect people to carry around bags of liquid? Im sure that in theory this would be a great idea that would work well, but I just don't think that people will carry bags of liquid with them wherever they go. A nice idea, but one that i dont think would ever work.
More Interesting Invention by eraser.cpp · 2005-03-04 23:19 · Score: 4, Funny

To hell with the IPod hand recharger, I want to know more about this 'phone laptop'.
That's not how it works by blorg · 2005-03-04 23:27 · Score: 3, Informative

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.
Is the battery life that bad? by CastrTroy · 2005-03-05 00:00 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.

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