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Child's rocking horse is a kinetic power generator
Ah, children: those lovable balls of built-up energy. If only there was a way to harness that force? That's exactly what designers Aaron Tsui, Irina Kozlovskaya, Jasen Mehta and Sergio Silva had in mind when they came up with "Rocco, the energy pal."
Rocco is a rocking horse that, when rocked, charges up its flashlight ears. These ears can then be used as a regular old flashlight, or — appropriate for kids — as a nightlight. It's a great idea, but, like all things designed for kids, I could imagine it backfiring. You're sleeping, say, while your little terror is up too late with way too much energy. What happens next? One of the runts, now armed with a fully-charged flashlight, barges into your room and wakes you up.
Still, let's just imagine we go the nightlight route instead, and Rocco's power is something used only for good.
Rocco is one of the entries in the Greener Gadgets Competition in NYC.
Rocco, via Inhabitots
By Blackpantera at 6:30 PM ON 02/05/10
Вот это электрогенератор?! Я об этом никогда даже и не думала, что такое возможно. Отличная информация, спасибо!
By Mr. Gumsandals at 6:41 PM ON 02/05/10
Parents with hyperactive kids finally get something to assuage the stigma while giving the little brats something constructive to do. It's a win/win for everybody!
By friedrich at 11:49 PM ON 02/05/10
Imagine the possibilities if these were "chain-ganged" to the local grid!
By madgeniousdamian at 11:51 PM ON 02/05/10
I have to say, if I had runts barging into my room while I was asleep, I would think burglars were coming to ransack all stuff, and destroy my nerd items.
By Realist at 10:59 AM ON 02/06/10
Why do I see daycares selling power back to the grid....
By CKE at 1:02 PM ON 02/08/10
Great idea except for one thing - it will never work. It uses a sliding magnet through a coil. This is the same as those shaky flashlights. Only here, you shake once per rocking or about once per second. Even vigorous shaking on those flashlights (3 per second) produce barely enough to light a dim LED. This one has no chance to do anything, much less inductively couple and run power to those handle flashlights.
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CKE:
Great idea except for one thing - it will never work. It uses a sliding magnet through a coil. This is the same as ...More »