Forget that, I’m not sitting with a torque loaded chain in front of my crotch. And would you look at all those pinch points!?

Sorry…my comments at least make me laugh :(

lmao pedal 4 porn

This is a terrible idea; the people using these laptops are near starving as it is, they’d just pedal their one meal a day away.

Solar panels would be much, much more efficient.

I was gonna say something about the fat thing, and yea solar panels would work great in a country with little rain. Solar is more expensive thought…

@Polar … solar panels ..? really ..? on OLPC ..? dude its … umm i guess supposed to be(*) Low cost …??!!

I would guess that their generator could do better than power the laptop in real time, and actually charge the thing for a couple of hours use with just an hour of pedaling. A typical kid powered generator should be able to deliver at least 25W and while I do not know the power specs of the OLPC I am guessing about 10W?

Appparently an olympic sprinter can put out around 1500 watts or so. I’d imagine that a slow walk can’t take more than 50 watts or so, and you can keep up that level of exertion all day. So powering a laptop with this (my netbook on battery draws 9.3W, and that’s with wifi enabled) shouldn’t burn up too much food.

Also, a flywheel with a ratchet system would be a huge benefit, letting kids take breaks without cutting the power. An old bicycle rear wheel seems like the perfect way of pulling that off.

This is silly, but it’s neat.

@sl
It is still a laptop. There is a battery in it to keep it running when there isn’t external power.

@everyone else
*sigh* There isn’t enough time in the day to fight the internet’s collective idiocy.

I think the important fact you’re all missing out on is in the bottom left hand side of the image – just above the left pedal, a wall socket. Hmmmm, maybe if the yanks weren’t so interested in keeping the heroin flowing there’d be no need for kids to pedal.

@RHF

Thats probably the place were they built this thing not the place they are gonna use it.

Look how fast that person had to pedal to get enough power, the antennas are locked in a rearward facing position… similar to someone’s hair after riding in a convertible for three hours

the windup radio incorperated a spring system, why not use the spring system( beefed up )then you can wind the spring, then relax for say 20 mins time for the spring to power the lapytoppy

@Frogs. Use super capacitors, they charge faster than batteries and the charge lasts quite a while. You cold try making a generator out of Hdd magnets and coils.

I’ve grown up around sewing machines my whole life, so I know a little about them.