I love technology (.org)

Back in the mid 90s, British inventor Trevor Baylis  came up with his most famous invention, the wind-up radio (also known as clockwork radio). The idea was simple; to make do without batteries/mains connections.

You wind the device up and then it works for a certain amount of time. When it runs out, you can wind it up again.

Since then, a few other devices have been developped based on a similar design. Wind-up torches are now very popular, wind-up mobile chargers are starting to emerge, and Tevor Baylis’ company, Freeplay, has announced the wind-up media player.

I might be asking for too much technically but i’d like it if someone came up with a design for a wind-up kettle, a wind-up digital camera, and a wind-up alarm-clock. 

Additional resources:

 Wind-up radio http://keetsa.com/blog/eco-friendly/wind-up-radio/

Eco media player cranks up the volume http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=28

British 23 year old Dan Sheridan has designed a see-saw that could provide electricity for a school.

Following a trip to Kenya, the student was inspired by the energy of the children and kept thinking about ways to use this to generate electricity.

He hit upon the idea of a see-saw and started work on his design. He has since won two grants, which will enable him to develop and test his see-saw design. His dream now is to design a whole energy-generating playground.

Simple inventions are often the best. For me, this is in the same category as wind-up radios and torches. So simple, yet so effective.

Additional resources:

BBC News article on Dan Sheridan http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7301354.stm

Coventry University news item on Dan Sheridan http://www.coventry.ac.uk/latestnewsandevents/a/4352