OLPC's pull-string power system going commercial

While some of the parts of the OLPC's XO laptop are still coming together (like the UI), other parts are ready to rock, commercial-style. As we previously saw in a slide showing NickNeg's pull-string power generator (pictured), the theory is that kids will be able to juice up their lappies with the tug of a string, ideally 10 minutes of use for every one minute of pulling. While no laptop with this generator is available yet, that hasn't stopped new startup Potenco from commercializing the power supply, even before the XO is ready to hit the global streets. The company recently claimed at the NEXT2006 conference in Copenhagen that a minute of pulling will yield an hour of light, 25 minutes of talk time on a cellphone, 230 minutes of iPod shuffle use, or 45 minutes on a Nintendo DS. But, as OLPC News points out, no one's really sure how many minutes of XO use that will translate into. We'll let you know how much they cost and when you can get one to charge every gadget in your life once Potenco actually starts selling 'em. Until then, you might want to start practicing with your nearest yo-yo or salad spinner.

[Via OLPC News]

Read - We Make Money Not Art
Read - Potenco

[Matt B @ Dec 15th 2006 3:05PM]

Now I can kill two birds with one stone. ;)

[lettcco @ Dec 15th 2006 3:06PM]

so it has begun...the harvesting of human energy to power the machine...00111001010110101010010101

[drivebybiped @ Dec 15th 2006 3:18PM]

Great! Hopefully there will be some way to just pull the string by tapping your foot that doesn't make me look like a complete 'tard. If so, I'd love to be able to just do something useful with my tapping foot at work or in class.

[Rus @ Dec 15th 2006 3:58PM]

Ok ... try to get my logic here without this coming off as cold and brutal ... if you have to yank on this string for a minute ... how many calories does that burn? How much more in FOOD AID will the world have to send to make up for this calorie loss?

[Moogle @ Dec 15th 2006 4:41PM]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=576+Calories+*+5%25+%2F+%281.4+volts+*++2850+milliamp+hours%29&btnG=Search

At 5% efficiency for humans, food to movement, a bigmac (no cheese) is about 8 energizer alkaline batteries.

Don't ask me who eats their bigmacs without cheese, I have no idea.

[Jeremy @ Dec 15th 2006 9:45PM]

Ahem, it's important to remember the human body is way more fficient than any battery, so ultimately you're not losing any more energy.

[bryon @ Dec 15th 2006 4:26PM]

I just hope they don't use the same type of string the Wii wrist strap uses....

[James @ Dec 15th 2006 4:36PM]

If they haven't made up their mind yet, I'd suggest the output be a USB socket -- there's about 20 million little power-adapter gadgets meant to run on USB, and it's the closest thing we have to a world power-socket standard. I already have a USB charger for my PSP, GBA (/DS, when I get one), Pocket PC, cell phone... and none of them cost me over ~15 bucks. The one thing that would kill this project dead quicker than any other design error would be to use a proprietary plug. Who's with me?

[aidan @ Dec 15th 2006 7:37PM]

i am

[Jeremy @ Dec 15th 2006 9:47PM]

OK that wasn't clear. What i MEANT to say, is we don't have to worry about the lost energy, because most of us already have too much energy stored.

Now, some people may not need to drop the cals- starving shouldn't use this. But if you eat 4 cheeseburgers, that's gonna be probably enough to keep you going and charge a laptop a couple times.

[Rex @ Dec 16th 2006 8:03AM]

oh for gods sake, u don't actually think that's the ONLY power source, do u guys?

[Rick Schilg @ Dec 16th 2006 9:47AM]

Oh great! 30 years from now, we will all be telling our kids... "Back in the day we had to crank and pull to get our laptops started!"

[SporkRocker @ Dec 16th 2006 3:21PM]

This would make 20 string pulls to power up a laptop ideal. Hopefully there will be extensions that will be capable for various electronics. Cameras, Ipod's, my 3rd party mp3 play i.e creative zen, laptop, and etc.

[Benjamin Nead @ Aug 6th 2007 4:05PM]

James wrote on Dec. 15, 2006 . . .

"The one thing that would kill this project dead quicker than any other design error would be to use a proprietary plug. Who's with me?"


Hi James . . .

Yes, this would be a deal killer. But the question remains as to what connector they ARE using. I've emailed Quanta (manufacturers of the XO) and Potenco (makers of the power supply) as well as numerous others associated with the OLPC project. It's apparent that it's an off-the-shelf barrel connector of some sort (judging by various photos) but nobody seems to know (or, for some strange reason, wants to tell anybody) what particular size connector they are using and which way they have it polarized.

Ben