Progress! Imagine a device that you can carry around with you anywhere that generates and stores your energy needs simply from you carrying it around. Best of all, its made from trash, local materials, and you can fix, upgrade and make it on your own. Heh. . . Here is my progress thus far! Version 1.8.
The prototypes you see here are now rocking and solid! Last week, as I was biking up a hill, the clasp holding the light broke (I was using it as my bike light sketchily clipped to the frame) and it fell off and bounced down the hill. I picked it up, took a deep breath, and. . . it turned it on! It still worked!
You can’t get that from a regular light, charger or generator. Best of all I picked up an empty Coke bottle from down the road and used it to upgrade the scratched casing the next day!
Currently I am working to simplify the design so that less tools are needed and toxic plastics and metals are not used (you have no idea how much toxic stuff goes into our electronics– building this has been a major eye opener). Now I am. . .
-eliminating sodder (contains lead and requires special tools and skills) by using recycled copper wire
-eliminating those wires with the plastic covers (the pvc coating is toxic)
– Experimenting with adding a wind/centrifugal generator
– Designing the enclosure for piezo electric vibration harvesting and researching the circuitry
– Adding top neodynium magnets (scavenged from used cell phone speakers) to add the awesomely pratical feature of magnetic attachment. You can snap the light to your tin roof at night or to the bars on a window for charging at day.
– working on the wiki site and instructions for replication.
