eMate powered by human energy
I'm not sure if this is the most appropriate place to post this... anyhow, I found it interesting:
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/12/make_your_own_100_laptop.html
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Roberto Giannotta
Trieste, Italy
I don't think you guys quite conceptually realize how much energy is in a modern battery pack. My cell phone battery has the equivalent of 1/6th horsepower of evergy in it.
I'm not saying human-powered devices are worthwhile, but there is a link to one that seems to have worked. There's been discussions of powering computers from exer-cycles in my local LUG, and they had basically glossed over how long you'd have to ride, each and every day, to generate a couple hundred watts of power for one machine. For something small and low power I could see it being doable but not necessarily practical.
How about converting an iPod crank charger into a lappy charger? He's already got it fully working, but of course an iPod eats much less power...
I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. - Fritz Perls