Posted by Gill on October 13, 2004, 1:30 pm
Hi, I'm hoping someone out there can help me. I have a seventh grade son
who must do a Science Fair project. He has chosen to do a project based on
"Alternative Energy". His goal is to power his GameBoy using some form of
power other than batteries or electricity. Any and all alternative energy
sources are being considered.
The problem is that we have been unable to find any information that will
help us to achieve his goal. We have been to the library a number of times;
we have checked the book store; stopped in at Radio Shack; and have surfed
the Internet - all without luck. We are able to find books and websites
about Alternative Energy but they all just tell about what other energy
sources are out there (water, solar, static, etc.) but not information on
how to harness that energy and convert it to power for a particular device.
I have read article refering to a man who converted his TV to be powered by
in kids pedaling a bicycle but I can't find a "how to" for that either.
We've all seen the in Science books about powering a digital clock or
flashlight battery with a potato or lemon...could a series of potatoes
supply the 3 volts needed? We have tossed around a number of possible
approaches, including: potatoes; bicycle power; solar power; hand crank;
possible incorporation of a car alternator; and many more.
Any information on where to find instuctions for harnessing and converting
alternative energy (or any other insight you might have) would be very much
appreciated.
Thank you,
Renee
Posted by Hans Ruopp on October 13, 2004, 2:17 pm
I'm not sure if it helps but you can try at Picoturbine
http://www.picoturbine.com/
they have an interesting wind mill kit.
You can also try http://www.talkingelectronics.com/ , they have a solar
battery charger kit. You can order the kit as well as the solar cells.
Hope it helps.
Hans
Gill wrote:
> Hi, I'm hoping someone out there can help me. I have a seventh grade son
> who must do a Science Fair project. He has chosen to do a project based on
> "Alternative Energy". His goal is to power his GameBoy using some form of
> power other than batteries or electricity. Any and all alternative energy
> sources are being considered.
>
> The problem is that we have been unable to find any information that will
> help us to achieve his goal. We have been to the library a number of times;
> we have checked the book store; stopped in at Radio Shack; and have surfed
> the Internet - all without luck. We are able to find books and websites
> about Alternative Energy but they all just tell about what other energy
> sources are out there (water, solar, static, etc.) but not information on
> how to harness that energy and convert it to power for a particular device.
>
> I have read article refering to a man who converted his TV to be powered by
> in kids pedaling a bicycle but I can't find a "how to" for that either.
> We've all seen the in Science books about powering a digital clock or
> flashlight battery with a potato or lemon...could a series of potatoes
> supply the 3 volts needed? We have tossed around a number of possible
> approaches, including: potatoes; bicycle power; solar power; hand crank;
> possible incorporation of a car alternator; and many more.
>
> Any information on where to find instuctions for harnessing and converting
> alternative energy (or any other insight you might have) would be very much
> appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Renee
>
>
Posted by Philip Lewis on October 13, 2004, 3:09 pm
You need to figure out your load draw to develop a power source
capable of running the gameboy.
Get batteries of a known amphour rating... pop them into the gameboy,
and play till the batteries are dead. Then take the time you played
to figure out the amount of current draw the device has.
Frankly, I would give up on the "run without batteries" plan and
instead go with the "input energy into batteries" to play the game.
The batteries are alot more forgiving than the electronics in a
gameboy. ;)
Here are some quick thoughts:
bike generator (bike shop) can be used to display a while range of
alternative energies. anything you can get to turn the
generator...waterwheel, windmill, to human power.
The easy way to go would be to use the generator as sold, and
then have drawings showing how a windmill or waterwheel can be
connected to suply the rotory motion.
solar cell (go get a solar powered garden light)
(I like the harmpton bay lights from home depot... 4 for ~$17
and they are 2 battery units.)
I believe the pedal power to keep tv on used a little power from the
bike to close a relay switch that supplied "mains" power to the tv.
That said, you could probably generate enough power for a 12V battery
operated TV.
good luck!
--
be safe.
flip
Ich habe keine Ahnung was das bedeutet, oder vielleicht doch?
Remove origin of the word spam from address to reply (leave "+")
Posted by Dale Eastman on October 13, 2004, 4:32 pm
Philip Lewis wrote:
> You need to figure out your load draw to develop a power source
> capable of running the gameboy.
>
> Get batteries of a known amphour rating... pop them into the gameboy,
> and play till the batteries are dead. Then take the time you played
> to figure out the amount of current draw the device has.
Look on the back of the game, with a magnifying glass. I have an old
6V gameboy (quad AA cells) listed as 0.7 watts. 117 milliamps.
I also have a bicycle light set, listed at 6V 3watts.
> Frankly, I would give up on the "run without batteries" plan and
> instead go with the "input energy into batteries" to play the game.
>
> The batteries are alot more forgiving than the electronics in a
> gameboy. ;)
The bike generator will put out much more than 6 volts unloaded. I was
fiddling on a spreadsheet on just what is needed for a quick and cheap
crowbar voltage regulator to protect the game. One could go with zener
diodes, or one could go with a series stack of 1n4001's or 1n4004's
forward biased. What is needed though, is the game's power
consumption. Given that, I can point you to a kid powered gameboy
using a common bike light generator, a hand full of diodes, and a
couple of resisters.
> Here are some quick thoughts:
> bike generator (bike shop) can be used to display a while range of
> alternative energies. anything you can get to turn the
> generator...waterwheel, windmill, to human power.
> The easy way to go would be to use the generator as sold, and
> then have drawings showing how a windmill or waterwheel can be
> connected to suply the rotory motion.
>
> solar cell (go get a solar powered garden light)
> (I like the harmpton bay lights from home depot... 4 for ~$17
> and they are 2 battery units.)
>
>
> I believe the pedal power to keep tv on used a little power from the
> bike to close a relay switch that supplied "mains" power to the tv.
>
> That said, you could probably generate enough power for a 12V battery
> operated TV.
>
>
> good luck!
>
>
>
>
>
--
"You take the BLUE PILL, you wake up in your own bed,
and you BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT TO.
You take the RED PILL, you stay in WONDERLAND,
and I'll show you HOW DEEP THE RABBIT HOLE GOES." - Morpheus
red pill:
http://www.861.info/ <--- "They" don't want you to look here.
Posted by Gill on October 14, 2004, 11:52 pm
Thanks for the response Dale...unfortunately, the GameBoy that will be
sacrificing itself for the Science Project has been temporarily misplace
(the younger brother "borrowed" it and he doesn't seem to remember its
whereabouts) of I'm not able to check out the back of the game at this time.
All I know about it for sure is that it takes 2 AA batteries which puts it
at 3 volts.
The bike light generator/diodes/resisters sound promising...but I guess I
won't be able to make any substantial progress until I am able to locate the
GameBoy and provide the needed watts and amps information.
Many thanks for the help so far.
Renee
> Philip Lewis wrote:
> > You need to figure out your load draw to develop a power source
> > capable of running the gameboy.
> >
> > Get batteries of a known amphour rating... pop them into the gameboy,
> > and play till the batteries are dead. Then take the time you played
> > to figure out the amount of current draw the device has.
> Look on the back of the game, with a magnifying glass. I have an old
> 6V gameboy (quad AA cells) listed as 0.7 watts. 117 milliamps.
> I also have a bicycle light set, listed at 6V 3watts.
> > Frankly, I would give up on the "run without batteries" plan and
> > instead go with the "input energy into batteries" to play the game.
> >
> > The batteries are alot more forgiving than the electronics in a
> > gameboy. ;)
> The bike generator will put out much more than 6 volts unloaded. I was
> fiddling on a spreadsheet on just what is needed for a quick and cheap
> crowbar voltage regulator to protect the game. One could go with zener
> diodes, or one could go with a series stack of 1n4001's or 1n4004's
> forward biased. What is needed though, is the game's power
> consumption. Given that, I can point you to a kid powered gameboy
> using a common bike light generator, a hand full of diodes, and a
> couple of resisters.
> > Here are some quick thoughts:
> > bike generator (bike shop) can be used to display a while range of
> > alternative energies. anything you can get to turn the
> > generator...waterwheel, windmill, to human power.
> > The easy way to go would be to use the generator as sold, and
> > then have drawings showing how a windmill or waterwheel can be
> > connected to suply the rotory motion.
> >
> > solar cell (go get a solar powered garden light)
> > (I like the harmpton bay lights from home depot... 4 for ~$17
> > and they are 2 battery units.)
> >
> >
> > I believe the pedal power to keep tv on used a little power from the
> > bike to close a relay switch that supplied "mains" power to the tv.
> >
> > That said, you could probably generate enough power for a 12V battery
> > operated TV.
> >
> >
> > good luck!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> --
> "You take the BLUE PILL, you wake up in your own bed,
> and you BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT TO.
> You take the RED PILL, you stay in WONDERLAND,
> and I'll show you HOW DEEP THE RABBIT HOLE GOES." - Morpheus
> red pill:
> http://www.861.info/ <--- "They" don't want you to look here.
XML site map
> who must do a Science Fair project. He has chosen to do a project based on
> "Alternative Energy". His goal is to power his GameBoy using some form of
> power other than batteries or electricity. Any and all alternative energy
> sources are being considered.
>
> The problem is that we have been unable to find any information that will
> help us to achieve his goal. We have been to the library a number of times;
> we have checked the book store; stopped in at Radio Shack; and have surfed
> the Internet - all without luck. We are able to find books and websites
> about Alternative Energy but they all just tell about what other energy
> sources are out there (water, solar, static, etc.) but not information on
> how to harness that energy and convert it to power for a particular device.
>
> I have read article refering to a man who converted his TV to be powered by
> in kids pedaling a bicycle but I can't find a "how to" for that either.
> We've all seen the in Science books about powering a digital clock or
> flashlight battery with a potato or lemon...could a series of potatoes
> supply the 3 volts needed? We have tossed around a number of possible
> approaches, including: potatoes; bicycle power; solar power; hand crank;
> possible incorporation of a car alternator; and many more.
>
> Any information on where to find instuctions for harnessing and converting
> alternative energy (or any other insight you might have) would be very much
> appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Renee
>
>