Gizmodo: kinetic energy

Rocking Chair Powers Its Attached OLED Lamp Just by Rocking

Dan Nosowitz — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:20:00 EDT

The Murakami chair's attached lamp is powered by kinetic energy produced from the chair's rocking back and forth—deliciously simple and elegant. Oh, and that lampshade? Not a lampshade. That's the actual OLED light source, shaped like a lampshade.

The OLED lamp even senses when it's light or dark out, and if it's light, stores the energy produced by rocking in a battery pack until nightfall. The chair, designed by Rochus Jacob, rightfully shared first prize at the DesignBoom Green Life Competition, which you can read more about here. [Unpluggd]

Ulysse Nardin Chairman Kinetic "Hybrid Smartphone" Is All Kinds Of Fancy

Sean Fallon — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:18:00 EDT

We were teased with a shot of the kinetically-powered Ulysse Nardin Chairman smartphone earlier this month, but now the wraps are off—and what we are left with is truly one unique device.

Known for their watchmaking, the Ulysse Nardin has the mechanical intricacy you would expect along with a 2.8-inch multitouch screen, 5-megapixel camera, biometric fingerprint unlocking, WiFi and an email browser. It also sucks supplemental power into the battery by harvesting kinetic energy from the revolving rotor on the back. The phone is currently on display at the Baselworld watch and jewelery expo and will be available, I'm assuming, sometime in the near future for a completely absurd price. [Uncells]

M2E Developing Kinetic Cellphone Charger That is Up to 700 Percent More Effective

Sean Fallon — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EDT

This isn't the first time we have seen a cellphone charger that is powered by kinetic energy, but the difference is that M2E is working on a charger that can produce 300 to 700% more juice than current technologies. They hope this will translate into a full-on replacement for cellphone batteries somewhere down the line. According to earth2tech, M2E's short term goal is to develop a charger that will produce an hour of talk time for around six hours of normal movement. Currently, M2E is in talks with major accessories manufacturers about bringing a device to market as early as 2009. [earth2tech via Inhabitat]

The Breast Motion Power Generator is a Genius Idea

Jason Chen — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:29:00 EDT

Adrienne So over at Slate has used her natural gifts to come up with the most genius idea yet: an energy-generating bra. Instead of just holding her boobs in place and dispelling that excess kinetic energy into, I don't know, heat, why not use it to power a gadget? According to a breast specialist, a D-cup in a lousy bra moves up to 35-inches up and down during exercise. Professor Wang of Georgia Tech is working on just this problem, using nanowires inside fabric to convert that visual spectacle into something useful. But is it enough to power an average iPod? This Wang says yes. [Slate]

Dragon Power Station Harnesses Kinetic Energy From Passing Vehicles to Power Stuff

Jason Chen — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Terry Kenney's Dragon Power Station prototype works by harnessing the kinetic energy of trucks passing over plates buried in the road and turning that energy into electricity. The system he's got set up now in the Port of Oakland, with 2,500 trucks passing over it in a day, is enough to power 1,750 homes. It's a very interesting concept that can be extended to busier streets, harnessing a little bit of the energy that would otherwise be lost.

It's not all free energy, however, as these trucks slow down ever-so-slightly as they depress the plates in the road. TreeHugger supposes that this would be even better for the times when you actually do want to slow down, like going down a hill, where they could load up on these plates and slow down cars enough to not have to ride the brakes the whole way. Sounds good to us. [Treehugger]

Flying Stick Camera: Rub It Between Your Palms

Sean Fallon — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:30:42 EST

Photographers interested in taking endless shots of themselves with their arms outstretched will surely love this flying stick camera concept from designer Tsunho Wang. Just "rub the stick" between your palms and use the built up energy to send the camera whizzing into the air. Once airborne, the camera will automatically take a series of photographs at set intervals. No specs were mentioned regarding the stick cam, but seeing as how it is a concept that won't see the light of day, it probably doesn't matter all that much. [Yanko Design]