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Power Scheme for OLPC Project Falling Into Place
robotrachel writes "According to Technology Review, the $100 laptop intended for children in the developing world will be powered in much the same way that you might start an outboard motor on a boat. The new power system will 'make the laptop much easier to power than it would be with a hand crank, in part, because the users will be able to operate the generator in a variety of ways, including holding the device (the size of two hockey pucks) in one hand and pulling the string with the other, or clamping the generator to a desk, attaching the string to one foot, and using leg power.'" There are plenty of sewing machine treadles in the world, too -- I hope someone can figure out a way to combine them with the new design.
The next generation of geek will have massive calfs and thighs instead of a single massive forearm
"Fighting the underpants gnomes since 1998!" "Bruce Schneier knows the state of schroedinger's cat"
These machines are actually starting to sound like something some people in the US might even like. I can imagine sitting outside in some remote area, working as much as I like without even worrying about running out of batteries (and getting exercise at the same time).
What'd I'd really like to see is an inexpensive laptop which has a screen that's highly visible, even outdoors. I could get a lot of work done that way, and work on my tan at the same time. Does anyone know of any? I'd assume it'd work best with grayscale.
I am not sure if something like this is powerful enough or even cost-effective, but what about solar cell technology to power these laptops?
Was this even considered?
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Make the string the power coord and you could have a yo-yo.
Fun and power.
The best mechanical coupling design would have a open interface. A rotating bolt that can take the pullcord attachment, or a sewing machine pedal cam, or a bicycle tire clip, or a homemade windmill/waterwheel/goatwheel, or any mechanical rotation.
Then include in its desktop a link to a blog for new powerup inventions worldwide. Necessity is the mother of invention, and local materials the father. Give these kids a way to improve and share, and we'll all get the benefits of their unique insights. What better way to harness the power of global kids?
--
make install -not war
To anyone who objects, please note that this is a carbon-neutral technology and therefore won't contribute to global warming except for the hot air from 'activists.' The Free Market -- gotta love it!
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Why not just attach the string to an electric motor? That way the legs/feet would be free to operate the rudder pedals.
Aha! At least the get-rich scheme is revealed... hook them on pull-string laptops and then sell them replacement strings when the string breaks... ingenious! My hat's off to you Nicholas Negroponte!!!
http://www.pledgebank.com/100laptop
Well, maybe you can own one, but your only chance of getting one in the US is probably to sign the pledge to convince everyone it's a viable solution.
Well you know the old saying about the man and the fish.
Sure you can give them food and water, but if you also try and get them computers to learn then they might be able to pull future generations out of poverty and improve the overall living conditions of everyone in the area.
The laptops will have network capabilities. Didn't you read about them?
Whether or not there's Internet for these children doesn't matter anyways - there's no Internet without computers, and they need the computers before they can have Internet. Maybe later someone can give them Internet.
"So does anyone out there have a non-connected PC hooked up performing some life-changing work, or are they just useless when disconnected from the wwworld?"
Does anyone out there have a connected PC hooked up performing some life-changing work, or are they just useless when connected to the wwworld?
When's the last time most people have done anything life-changing with a PC, with or without the Internet? Sometimes the Internet is detrimental, too - a lot of people spend entirely too much time online, and setting down a small schoolchild and letting him use the Internet all day isn't so good.
PCs don't need to be hooked to the Internet to be useful. There were useful programs and stuff before the Internet became mainstream.
And at least when the kids do get the Internet, they'll already know how to use a computer.
www.linuxpenguin.net
In World War II in the War in the Pacific, American planes were outfitted with a special emergency device. This was a hand crank generator coupled to a Morse Code transmiter on a spindle much like a music box. As you turned the crank it would power the trasnmiter and the spindle would key the correct di di di dah dah dah di di dit (SOS) and some other information so a search plane or ships with direction finding equipment could find you.
The slang name for this box was a "Gibson Girl".
- Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Why is it that people who troll this subject can't get it through their thick skulls that these laptops aren't intended for children who don't already have food, and water.
/. Go read about the OLPC project and look at the list of countries they are going to provide computers for. Then read about those countries if you don't know what their economies/lifestyles are like.
There's one of you every damn time this subject comes up on
Yeah, they tried asking a user who had never seen a computer before to type up a set of requirements, and make some simple OS choices. Those ingrates were totally unhelpful.
Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
I agree its not the computers but whats on the computers that matter.
..fraction munchers.. number munchers.. puzzletanks.. math blaster.. logo.. that was the stuff. No internet there.
My Apple ][ GS can still give some of those poor kids a hellva education with all the software i have for it. Thats what I learnt on
I'll take you at your word that you're not trolling, and in fairness, your scepticism is phrased a lot more gently than many others'.
I think your misunderstanding stems from the assumption that we'd be skipping an essential step, when in fact what's happening is that we're moving straight to a point that other (developed) nations had to reach in small increments.
Wireless networks like the kind used in these laptops are infrastructure. They're also many times more cost-effective than laying cable into every home, and many times more versatile as well. True, they come with their own contraints and limitations (e.g. calling 911 from a tunnel) but most people in the developing world are happy to accept them. You see, there's simply no way that they could pay for the kind of infrastructure that exists in the US, for example.
There are innumerable opportunities for people all over the world to work in service industries that require only a network-connected computer and a well-educated user. People living in many developing nations can leap straight to the head of this particular queue without having to spend a generation working in the sweatshops and mines as our grandparents and parents did. IMO, that's a Good Thing.
In some ways, this actually plays to the advantage of the developing world. It means that they can immediately derive the benefits of technological change that, elsewhere in the world, was achieved in small increments, and which is restricted in important ways by what came before. A good analogue for this is England's experience in the later stages of the Industrial Revolution. England pioneered most of the technologies and processes, and had pride of place for some time. But by the time Germany, France and the US got moving, they were able to move straight to the state of the art, while England still had a huge investment in first generation systems that were not nearly as competitive.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
For those who thought about using this as a pleasant form of exercise, here is a handy guide: 8 hours of cranking at maximum speed will burn off a third of a dry bagel. Keep it up all day and night and you'll burn off an entire dry bagel. Let's just say this won't solve obesity problems quickly.
Man, you really need that seminar!