How would you feel about cranks (to power a machine) making a comeback?
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Can a human even make enough energy when cycling to power a PC?
wrote last edited by [email protected]Can a human even make enough energy when cycling to power a PC?
How do you define a "PC"?
A CR2032 button cell will run a wristwatch for maybe two years. It looks like a CR2032 stores maybe 730 mWh.
BBC1's "Bang Goes the Theory" demonstrated a human-powered home in a TK programme. In this segment, 8.5 kW of power required 70 cyclists, of fairly typical fitness, or about 107W per cyclist.
So, if you include a wristwatch, then clearly yes. Someone doing 107W for an hour would produce 107Wh. That'd be about 146 fresh CR2032 button cells, each of which could run that wristwatch for maybe two years.
If you count a wristwatch as a personal computer, then clearly it's possible and even practical.
If you want my Linux laptop at its current power draw...
unplugs laptop
$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/voltage_now 16920000 $ cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/current_now -783000 $That's 16,920,000 µV, or 16.92V and -783000 µA, or 0.783A. 16.92 volts times 0.783 amps gives about ~13.2W.
So a cyclist could power it, at least at its present draw. But that's also at a fairly idle state, and I don't have the screen brightness really ramped up.
An easy way to do the above in short form on a Linux laptop would be this:
$ echo "$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/voltage_now) * \ $(cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/current_now) / 10^12" | bcCould a single cyclist power my desktop under load? No. The GPU alone has a TDP of 355W.
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I find adding a crank to anything quaint and hilarious. Even if just photoshopped^tm^
A steam whistle that required a good crank and verifying subscrrription overrr dialup would end me
Edit: it must be a crank and it has to play the all around the blueberry bush progress song like the Sid's handy jack in the box in Toy Story 1
Crank-to-charge torchlight/small device would be nice, but that would need to purposely made and optimised to be as efficient as possible, which device these day just aren't i presume.
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I'd say that a fit person can sustain up to 150W, so with a low power PC and some battery to even out the flow of power it's more than possible to power the device and do some actual work, although perhaps it's not the best idea to pedal while working on a computer.
Yeah no doing work or gaming won't be possible at that output. Your brain also needs oxygen and sugar. If you max out your muscles, then there is not much left for any creative brain tasks.
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Bring back crank started cars just not the ones that obliterate your kneecaps
"Sorry boss, I'm not going to make it to work today. I was trying to start my car and dislocated my thumb."
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Crank-to-charge torchlight/small device would be nice, but that would need to purposely made and optimised to be as efficient as possible, which device these day just aren't i presume.
I'm pretty sure I own at least one crank flashlight-radio.
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I'd say that a fit person can sustain up to 150W, so with a low power PC and some battery to even out the flow of power it's more than possible to power the device and do some actual work, although perhaps it's not the best idea to pedal while working on a computer.
wrote last edited by [email protected]
Annoyingly, I can't find that NASA paper now (no, I don't know why they were considering pedal powered rockets /s). I did read it, and it had other interesting tidbits, like that you really need to include a fan or overheating becomes a major limit. Maybe that's obvious to other people, but I wouldn't have thought of it.
If it's going to be an all day session, you'll probably want to halve that to 75W. More recent research suggest that if you need even longer output maximum power continues to drop, with your ability to digest enough food eventually being the limiting factor. Furthermore, pregnant women reach right around that level towards the end of their gestation.
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Bring back crank started cars just not the ones that obliterate your kneecaps
former moped owner. i damn near broke my fucking foot on the kickstarter
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I'm pretty sure I own at least one crank flashlight-radio.
Aight i thought that already extinct as 18650 li-ion battery is so common now, apparently it still being made.
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I find adding a crank to anything quaint and hilarious. Even if just photoshopped^tm^
A steam whistle that required a good crank and verifying subscrrription overrr dialup would end me
Edit: it must be a crank and it has to play the all around the blueberry bush progress song like the Sid's handy jack in the box in Toy Story 1
Start your car, recharge a dead battery.
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I find adding a crank to anything quaint and hilarious. Even if just photoshopped^tm^
A steam whistle that required a good crank and verifying subscrrription overrr dialup would end me
Edit: it must be a crank and it has to play the all around the blueberry bush progress song like the Sid's handy jack in the box in Toy Story 1
As cars become more autonomous, it leaves room for you to do other things. So why not add something to let you work out while driving? Like a cycling machine or treadmill which generates power to drive the car.
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As cars become more autonomous, it leaves room for you to do other things. So why not add something to let you work out while driving? Like a cycling machine or treadmill which generates power to drive the car.
So if the car gets in a crash you can be standing up and unsecured!
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I find adding a crank to anything quaint and hilarious. Even if just photoshopped^tm^
A steam whistle that required a good crank and verifying subscrrription overrr dialup would end me
Edit: it must be a crank and it has to play the all around the blueberry bush progress song like the Sid's handy jack in the box in Toy Story 1
lots of indie games!
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I find adding a crank to anything quaint and hilarious. Even if just photoshopped^tm^
A steam whistle that required a good crank and verifying subscrrription overrr dialup would end me
Edit: it must be a crank and it has to play the all around the blueberry bush progress song like the Sid's handy jack in the box in Toy Story 1
This is called a bycicle. I use one often.
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I'd say that a fit person can sustain up to 150W, so with a low power PC and some battery to even out the flow of power it's more than possible to power the device and do some actual work, although perhaps it's not the best idea to pedal while working on a computer.
I have an E-Computer
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I find adding a crank to anything quaint and hilarious. Even if just photoshopped^tm^
A steam whistle that required a good crank and verifying subscrrription overrr dialup would end me
Edit: it must be a crank and it has to play the all around the blueberry bush progress song like the Sid's handy jack in the box in Toy Story 1
I considered getting a crank-operated bread cutting machine, mainly so I wouldn't need a wall socket to use it...
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I considered getting a crank-operated bread cutting machine, mainly so I wouldn't need a wall socket to use it...
Like a salad spinner. Classic cool
