Sketch Challenge 10: Human Powered Laptop Options

[Renzsu]

Ok, thanks for Travisimo for the topic of this months session:
http://www.productdesignforums.com/index.p...indpost&p=13691.

How about a laptop. Not just any laptop, this one is a good cause - meant to be $100 for distribution to children around the world

http://beta.news.com.com/The+100+laptop+mo...l?tag=nefd.lede

They already have a rough layout, but the design could go a lot of different ways.

http://beta.news.com.com/2300-1044_3-5884639-1.html
[attachment=1883:attachment]
[attachment=1884:attachment]

PS - It is not my idea (of course), I just read about it in the news and thought about this sketch forum

We're going to try to work with this basic laptop layout, meaning, some way of charging that thing with human power (winder, peddles, etc. ), a display area and an input area.
You can think of any layout you want, but try to show a convincing arrangement in your sketches (be careful with the angles that you chose so that you can emphasize what you want to show).

Have a nice (belated) session!

[ChristophiaG]

I was thinking about having a detatchable batterey which you would charge by shaking it, kind of like those new falshlights they've got now-a-days.

[Peedub]

I read a while back that someone had invented a keyboard that could convert the energy used by the typist in depressing the keys into electrical energy which is used to top up the battery.

Can't find the link at the moment tho.

[MrDoubleU]

Step charger...might be interesting

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1820425.stm

[Coppi51]

Wow, it this ironic or what! Check out one of the Studio Bullitts from Core:

http://www.core77.com/bullitts/2005/10/Des..._bullitt_id=347

[Renzsu]

Please guys, lets not turn this into a discussion thread, it's a SKETCH topic

[ScottieB]

hi , this is one possible way the laptop could work (the charger is in the rotation point) :
 Laptop.jpg ( 80.32K ) Number of downloads: 92

Anyone else got ideas?

[parel]

Nice- cool form and neat idea. I like the anodized look of the brown portions.

Attached File(s)

 compy.jpg ( 78.56K ) Number of downloads: 42

 

[Coppi51]

Nice sketches guys!

Thought I'd give it a go too. Not sure if a "belt-drive" is a viable option...but maybe the belt can act as both a generator of power and a carrying device. Yanking it back and forth...

There has been some talk recently about flexible or roll-up LCD screens...thought that would be cool too. Here's a quick link I found...seems to not require that much power:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...ficial%26sa%3DN

Anyway, guess the concept could be a bit smaller...the scale is a little off now that I see it on the dude's back, hehe:

[parel]

Coppi- what if the "belt" was a bicycle wheel? Lot of bikes in the 3rd world. Maybe the bike can charge the batteries? Maybe in the wheel hub? Buses can be crowded. Can we use the compressive force of a crowd to charge? Does the battery have to be on the laptop? cheap solar panels? panels on the roof, regenerative brakes on school buses and trains? Maybe it is just a removable HD with keyboard? A zire that can be hooked up to a larger res screen?

The screen is the most expensive part. How can we reduce cost in this area? two TVs as dual monitors? Link to a low cost screen How can we leverage a low cost screen better? Is there a novel way to use it?

[ScottieB]

Hey awesome work guys!! getting some really different/new ideas coming through. Great idea Parel to have a community screen to save cost os the screen. Cool design as well Coppi51! I wonder if the whole laptop was material to fold and the keys were just sowed into the cloth and you rub it quickly to make static power:) don't know much about the power tho myself.

[Coppi51]

Coppi- what if the "belt" was a bicycle wheel? Lot of bikes in the 3rd world. Maybe the bike can charge the batteries?low cost screen How can we leverage a low cost screen better? Is there a novel way to use it?

cool idea man...didn't even think about the bike!

[evolve]

here is mines. Had to redraw it harder since my pencil lineart wasn't dark enough.

Just a idea and doodle.

Void holes & handle - The void holes is for shoulder straps or backpack (like) straps so it could be carried on the back or on the shoulder. (I should have draw in a strap to illustrate the idea, next time i'll fill it all in)

Push fan - located on the bottom back. The is manually turned on by pushing the side button x20 or the other concept, like a fishing reel... x20 to power recharge battery).


Note: The push fan is in front of the cooling fan of the pc board. All laptops have cooling fan keeping the laptop componets cool. So the ideal of the manual fan is in front, which is the first fan you will see. While the cooling fan of the pc board kicks in, the manual fan will spin freely because the fin will act like a propeller spining at the same time. At this moment, the manual fan will also power up the battery without any human action but not enough to fully charge the battery.

in essence, dual fan. first fan is manual. second fan is pc board electronic operate fan.

Attached File(s)

 humanpowerlaptopshade_px850.jpg ( 91K ) Number of downloads: 33

 

[JeeWee]

Hello everybody, it took me some time to come up with a decent concept for the human powered laptop but I think this one will be a straight winner (haven't heard from the vacuum-cleaner producers yet... strange....). I was thinking about the moment(s) when I personally have the most amount of energy during my hours behind the computerscreen. That's when it shuts down for no apparent reason, just stops rendering, slows down when it needs to speed up, when it acts like a computer basically. During those moments, my energy builds up and I channel it through my mouse, the table, keyboard or whatever is near. So, why not use it? Especially for people who are not used to working with one... should be a hit (!). So I came up with a flexible, hollow keyboard which generates power when you slam it (let the electronics department figure out how). When you are not using the computer, the monitor and processor can be placed inside the keyboard for protection.

Attached File(s)

 HP_computer.jpg ( 12.36K ) Number of downloads: 10

 

[charly_senn]

LOL

nice idea Jee Wee - just have to make sure it uses Windows OS. Won't ever need to hit the keyboard if it's MAC.