Pokemon Go Egg Incubator Takes Your Eggs For A Spin

Pokemon Go has done a great service to the world health. Or would’ve done, if we wouldn’t hack it all the time. The game suggests, you breed Pokemon eggs by walking them around, but [DannyMcMurray] has a better idea: Strapping your smartphone to the propeller of a fan and taking them for spin that way.

He shows how he built a Pokemon incubator using just a rubber band and a fan. This little trick saves you from physically leaving the house, but the process is still painstakingly slow: The time-lapse spin in the video results in about 0.01 km of progress, 0.5 % of the required 2 km. You need to spin your phone for over two hours until the little fellow hatches.

That said, we’re still left scratching our heads. Pokemon Go depends heavily on GPS. Why would the egg incubator not be constrained to this as well. If you have the answer, or have tried this and can confirm that it works, we want to hear from you in the comments below.

Need an assist for better PokeBall throws? Check out this papercraft guide rail that works every time.

65 thoughts on “Pokemon Go Egg Incubator Takes Your Eggs For A Spin

  1. The answer is simple; GPS Drift.

    As GPS has inaccuracies, your “fix” is typically within a couple of meters with a clear sky, inside a building however you may see an accuracy in the order of tens of meters. Because of this, you fix will drift around a little bit and as such, the Pokemon Go app would “think” you were walking around (albeit randomly around your actual location).

    To combat this, the app developers make use of the other sensors on the phone, such as the compass and accelerometer to verify if you’re actually moving. If you’re not, it doesn’t consider you as moving and doesn’t progress hatching of the egg, if you are then it works as normal.

    What the fan trick is doing is fooling the additional sensors in the phone so cumulatively (GPS drift + phone moving around) it thinks you’re walking around and progresses the hatching process.

    One could say this fellow is going to.. Egg-streme lengths to hatch a Pokemon ;)

    1. I get about the same distance from gps drift just leaving Pokemon go open sitting flat on my desk. He should do a control without the fan to see if it actual makes a difference.

    2. Nah :-D The application is relaying on the phone estimation of walking distance. That is not using GPS but accelerometer data only. This to allow you to walk in middle of tunnel etc. So incubation is groing eggs when you are simply moving your body. Shake it! ;-)

    1. Bingo make a Bitcoin app so Pokemon stuff becomes tradable. Find a way to use a drone to autonomously explore the map and a servo to swipe pokeballs. The well have a hunter killer pokebot.

      1. I suspect this is precisely why there is no system in the game to trade or drop items, as Ingress has: when you can only obtain items through pokestops or by purchasing them (the developers make more money and) there isn’t any way to make money off automated item harvesting and spoof accounts, save for one-time sales of accounts.

  2. Am I the only one tired of hearing about Pokémon? It’s all over the news already because a bunch of morons are loitering, trespassing, falling off cliffs and getting struck by cars. Let’s rename it Lemmings, because that about sums up what it looks like to me. I just want to hit the dynamite button and be done with it.

      1. But isn’t that how the world works? A few people are doing things incredibly easy, but incredibly wrong, and that’s what matters in the end for setting up rules. I’d even go as far as saying some people here are defending Pokémon Go like they are junkies, refusing to admit the damage it’s doing and attacking the critical views anyone has. I can’t be the only one who sees this, so early into it?

    1. I know, right? Children, outside, walking, in the sun! Why don’t they all sit inside and watch TV all day, like we used to complain about? What’s the matter with kids these days?

      1. Children walking outside and interacting is a far different picture we both seem to paint. In one hand you have imagination and real social interaction. In the other hand you have a device that gives these kids (and adults) the social media crack they crave. The only good this game has done is that it’s making them move from the couch to the sidewalk. They still bury their faces in instant gratification.

        1. Have you actually seen people outside playing? The game forces you to convene at predetermined spots. When a bunch of people do that, you get social interaction. I’ve seen the most diverse groups of people hanging out and playing together (as much as you can with the game). Groups of people you’d never expect to interact… I’ve met a ton of people at random pokestops around the city.

          It’s not just another phone game. Well, I mean I guess it is, but it’s not the typical app that people get buried in while ignoring the actual world.

          I will say, though, that it’s not much better. I just think your comment about the game is misguided.

          1. Predetermined spots, like people’s private property and busy intersections? I’m sure there would be lots to socialize about with everyone when we get to the scene of the accident, what with all the corpses clutching their precious smart phones with Pokémon Go still on the screen. Turns out cars are heavy and your kids (or grown kids) aren’t invincible. Leave playing video games to safe places, like the house.

          2. ” with all the corpses clutching their precious smart phones with Pokémon Go still on the screen. ”
            Nah :-D. The Battery will run out quickly and the phone will be always down due to this game huge power consumption…. ;-)

      1. If that’s the case, then I’m thankful I’m not in this alone. I’ll take your volley as a sign that people everywhere aren’t all forsaken. It is unfolding like ‘The Happening,’ but imagine all these people holding a cell phone trying to catch ’em all—and by all I mean death.

        1. I’m really tired of doomsaying nerdlords competing to see who can cast the most scorn on the latest popular thing, and who can muster up the most apocalyptic vision of the future based on pop-culture tea leaves.

          People have been saying basically the exact same things about every new technology and trend. Seriously, with google you can find old letters and essays complaining about how mass-produced novels detract from the value of literature, the typewriter is killing the old-fashioned value of penmanship, on and on.

          Just face it: people aren’t getting dumber, or lazier, or more complacent. They’re essentially the same as they’ve always been. Pokemon will one day pass. AR games may or may not. Just take a deep breath and go do something else. Read a book. Make friends. Masturbate. Go do *something* other than stew in your alienated discontent.

          1. On the contrary, I’m a proud member of a large group of people who believe in real social interaction. It’s called reality. There’s no fear mongering going on. It’s literally happening as we speak. I know it’s also synonymous with progress, and that isn’t the problem. We could argue about anything contrasting, as we are obviously two people with very different views of the world. Mine just happens to be with my phone out of the way so I can see. When I was growing up, I wasn’t afforded the opportunity kids have these days, and it’s almost sickening to see how bad the addiction has become. Maybe in some aspect I am grateful that I was born too early. I find it quite comical how people envision the world works, meanwhile the world is a much different place on the other side of the screen you are now currently reading from.

          2. I’ve already got some incubators strapped to “walkers”. they seem convening at the old farmhouse.. grab your balls and head to the south side of the compound and make some noise. the walkers will redirect and the distance will be excellent for the incubators. lets, go, folks! the meat rots eventually and egg hatchin’ aint for the weak of heart!

            and remember, don’t let them bite or turn you as you retrieve your phones.

    2. Add stay the hell off my lawn!

      Have you tried yelling at clouds to vent your frustrations?

      I’m sure those clouds give as bout as much fucks about your opinion as the people you are complaining about.

      Have a nice day.

  3. Self playing games are bad enough. Poke it man, poke it where the sun doesn’t shine.
    Poultry is a great random motion generator if free range. That was a great chicken joke.

  4. A ceiling fan should be better. You can also tie the phone to one blade with a lengthy cord to cover more space.
    Do not forget to counterbalance the opposite blade (or add a second phone).

  5. First of all I would like to say great blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do
    not mind. I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your head prior to writing.
    I have had a tough time clearing my mind in getting my ideas
    out there. I do take pleasure in writing however
    it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually wasted just trying to figure out how to begin. Any
    ideas or tips? Appreciate it!

Leave a Reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.