Twirling battery concept promises a quick power fix
By Donald Melanson 
posted January 10th 2010 5:35AM
posted January 10th 2010 5:35AM
We've seen plenty spinning, twirling, and wind-up gadgets from Sony and others, but nothing quite like this battery concept designed by Song Teaho and Hyejin Lee. While there's still a bit of work to be done with the actual "working" part, the concept is to simply let you twirl your cellphone battery around your finger a few times for a quick bit of juice to send a text or make a call -- the designers estimate 130 twirls will give you two minutes of talking time. Of course, the same idea could also be applied to batteries for other devices, although you'd probably have your work cut out for you trying to charge your laptop battery.
[Thanks, deej]
[Thanks, deej]
FAIL
@DarkElfa
Happens all the time with people saying the truth too soon.
@DarkElfa Love your skins if you're the same DarkElfa from FPSB
Also this thing looks pretty cool if it actually ever get used for anything.
@Wwhat
its never too early to tell the truth. its not my fault people have a hard time handling it. a costly mistake to keep quiet, case in point this company. too bad nobody told them. :-/
The should have made them like normal AA batteries but with a roller on the edge.
Everyone knows you roll the batteries in the remote to get it to work again. :D
@wyrdfish
I think I'd rather just see a concept where i can charge it with a foot pedal that I attach the battery to. That way I can pump my foot like I'm sewing something to charge it while I talk.
@Salmoncannon
So what you're saying is you want to carry a foot pedal around with you everywhere you go...
Why?
@E71
maybe he's a drummer?
I like this concept and definitely see my self purchasing the twirling batteries, though I can see myself throwing that battery all over; In addition, may not even work after all the collision damage. Yay!
@Freddark
Solution: You put it on a metal rod / stick
You you hold both ends in each hand
You twirl like your life depends on it!!!!
FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN, YOU NEED TO CALL 911!!! TWIRL FASTER >_
@Drybones5 I could definitely see that being a plot element in a B-rated horror film. Freddie's coming! KEEP TWIRLING!!!
@Drybones5 better yet have it work with a pencil or pen. Some of us old folks (in our 30s) remember rewinding cassette tapes using that method quite effectively. It could actually be faster than your tape deck.
These guys watched too much Modern Family!,
so much better than the ripcord
I'd like to see a gaping hole added to the non-removable battery MacBook Pros so I can twirl them around my arm to charge them and look stupid doing so.
@Kaz Pinkerton
If it's Apple, you won't look stupid, just cool.
@Kaz Pinkerton
God forbid you end up burning a calorie and forgo looking like PC guy, or Zune guy, or Steve Balmer...
@Kaz Pinkerton
Careful not to hit yourself in the head.
Make the hole bigger so it can be twirled on something other than the fingers...
@B3astofthe3ast
Soon on the twirl battery flyers:
"Twirl your battery with all your 21 fingers!"
@B3astofthe3ast
You spin my head ride round ride round...
@B3astofthe3ast
Hula-Hoop !
clever idea but there wouldn't be much battery left in that battery with all the charging circuits in there.
@sargentr
Why can't they just fill the hole and circuitry with more battery? that would almost double the capacity on that thing.
I know that twirling provides limitless juice, but 120 twirls? seriously?
Does anybody remember this phone?
http://www.mydigitallife.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Nokia7705Twist.jpg
I think it would go together nicely with the twirling battery tech :D
sorry, had to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ZS8kcQwlc
@Eugene Action - the asian body generates more bio-electricity spinning plates than a 120 volt battery. combined with a form of finglonger, the machines have found all the energy they would ever need.
@Ducman69 That was funny, but don't make fun of Asians!
@revoltracers - well if Eugene had posted a video of spinning basketballs or something, I would have had more options. 0=)
If people are obsessed with twisting/spinning things to charge them up, why not make them clockwork? It's well proven robust technology. Just stick an external winder on it. Why would I want to remove the battery, spin it round and then put it back in again? It's not like these batteries are a standard form or anything? AA ? AAA?
Anyway, this looks like discriminatory technology. It discriminates against us fat-fingered folks.
@iwi Such a device, a clockwork based electrical generator, actually already exists. It is called the Freeplay. Google: Freeplay Radio and see.
@Dr Yusuf AlKindi - that was the kind of the point I was making. That's why I said "It's a well proven robust technology"
Am the only one thinking of attaching this thing to a drill or car wheel?
@Shanebenn yeah next time your phone runs out , just stick it on your car's wheel !
He's giving this the index, I'd give it the middle finger, looks like a wast of time!
I think the time of the inclusion of motion-based battery charging in all aspects of our physical lives is long overdue. Think of how much energy could be saved had all of our clothes, shoes, cars, etc. included such tech. Granted, 130 twirls for 2 minutes of talk reflects the 'neglible' ammount, but when multiplied by millions of people, that negligibility becomes more and more valuable.
BTW, finished watching 12 Monkeys. It only got a cumulative 74 on Metacritic, thanks to some assholes at Time and elsewhere. Awesome movie.
@ch3burashka
A nice idea, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. You could stick kinetic capture devices everywhere, true, and it would seem like we are getting energy for nothing.... but the reality would be an increase in food sales (or we might we just get thinner!).
@OrsonX Um yeah, though I do think robbing kinetic energy from some things to harvest energy is a pointless idea, I think humans in the US, could use a bit of extra calorie robbing.
Be better if they were ball bearings to shake, rattle and roll.
You don't really need the hole. All you need is the battery and a strap you attach to the device you want to charge. You then twirl your phone round your fingers, or your Mac round your wrist, or your Prius round your leg.
Mea-Battery Spin.
You spin me right round baby right round.
Not for me; I can't get a handle on it.
Ni... owwww!!! Did you just hit me with a battery?! You little...
A good concept, I'm sure most of us have had to make a call send a text, just to find our phone battery has died. Plus you could keep on doing it, though the conversion would be rather, errrrmm, broken. That's for those of us who wouldn't need lots more battery life, otherwise just take a spare battery.
These should fit in current devices as well, but the battery would need to be ways replaceable (most phones) and the battery cover not flimsy.
Hook that thing up to a drill
they should have put it on a cord would get much more energy that way and it would be more comfortable that a finger, should it would mean more work put in but if I'm lost in a forest, I don't mind
Since we are able to generate a force many times greater than what is being harnessed by that tiny generator, it would make more sense to me that an energy capture device, like a carbon-fiber clock spring, be used instead. It could rapidly "charge" (with a twist, squeeze etc.) and discharge through a tiny rotary or linear generator.
In this particular design, rather than spinning freely around a fingertip, the device could be wound around the fingertip a few times, then left to uncoil internally, though other methods of inputting torque would seem to be far more usable, like a twist-top or lever.
I just hope that when I've run out of juice in the forest and begin twirling this thing that it doesn't fly off my finger and land in a river.
nice! if you tried this with your car's battery u'd lose weight too
First off, it's worth noting that this is a concept that hasn't even been realized with a working prototype yet.
Secondly, this could be something useful for "emerging markets". i'd much rather carry another battery or a keep chargers handy or whatever instead of removing my battery, twirling it for a couple of minutes, replacing it, and then hoping i have enough power to make a short phone call. Of course, given the size, this is obviously not for smartphones, meaning i'd never use it anyways.
I have researched a dynamo charging a battery effect where a special negative feedback system cancels out most of the electrical drag.
The generator needs to start spinning and fast over 60 turns a second, once this point is reached, the generator can be slowed and still hold almost the same watts.
However, it is a pretty good jump start, so Ive tried to build it onto a ebike.
The Electric & Kinetic Vehicle
http://www.thekpv.com