AMPY Kinnetic charging device

[brewthru]

I thought that you guys might like to see and consider this:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1071086547/ampy-power-your-devices-from-your-motion

Not sure how heavy it is, but it could be an interesting option for keeping devices charged instead of a bulkier solar charger.

[brewthru]

Found in the FAQ that it is 140g

[Starchild]

At 5 oz, comparable in weight and size to a 40,000 mAh battery pack to a it boils down to how much a day's hike can recharge this device, and it's hard to tell, seems perhaps intentionally left out - and this is the critical info needed. It claims 1 hr of cycling can give a smartphone 3 hours of additional battery life in a smartphone, however this tells us very little as smartphone battery life can vary so much. What we really need activity time needed to fully recharge this, or recharge it from 20% to 80% (typically the most efficient recharge zone).

The internal battery is 1000 mAh, which is enough to recharge a older iPhone apx 50%. If a days hiking could fully recharge this, or at least a good portion of it, it could be a good contender over a similar weight battery pack.

The device also looks like it may scale up without much of a weight penalty.

[Starchild]

At 5 oz, comparable in weight and size to a 40,000 mAh battery pack to a it boils down to how much a day's hike can recharge this device....

That should read 4,000 mAh, not 40,000

[Traveler]

The device is interesting, its driven by kinetic energy and stores power during activity. Its a prototype however, not yet available and they appear to be looking for sponsors to help launch the product. I think there is a reasonably good niched market for this. If it works, I would likely get it for power resource as opposed to a solar recharger.

[Slo-go'en]

I'm a bit skeptical. Hopefully, someone will get one if and when they become available and let us know :)

[brewthru]

Well, I bit and backed them. (I was on a bit of a crowdfunding bender yesterday.)

It appears to work similarly to those shakeable flashlights that have a magnet that slides through a coil of wire to induce a current. They probably reduce the size of the magnet so that it slides more easily to pick up smaller movements and won't require vigorous shaking.

[Hot Flash]

Kinetic chargers have been around for years. They're just not particularly good at charging up modern electronics like smartphones. With the ones currently on the market, you have to RUN for about ten minutes to equal a minute of talk time on a smartphone.

[Slo-go'en]

Well, I bit and backed them. (I was on a bit of a crowdfunding bender yesterday.)

It appears to work similarly to those shakeable flashlights that have a magnet that slides through a coil of wire to induce a current. They probably reduce the size of the magnet so that it slides more easily to pick up smaller movements and won't require vigorous shaking.

Great, check back in 10 months or so. The reason I'm skeptical is there has to be a very powerful magnet and many turns of wire to get a very small amount of electricity with the little bit of movement of the magnet which possible in the device.

I can't imagine what is so special about their inductor which can make it patentable. Coils of wire in every conceivable configuration have been around for over 100 years. Although, I suppose if instead of one magnet and one coil of wire, if a series of magnets were stacked and there were a series of coils of wire corresponding to the number of magnets, the effect could be amplified. The "inductors" in the project picture looked like solid nylon rods to me. Just a mock up I guess. The picture of the circuit board was blurred out too so any details could not be deduced

The real trick to these things is how to get the magnet to wiggle up and down inside the coil with the little bit of up and down motion generated by walking. The problem is compounded by back EMF on the magnet as energy is taken from the coil. The greater the amount of current taken out of the coil, the larger the amount of force which is needed to push the magnet through the coil of wire. It would be fun to take one of these apart and see how they solved these problems.

[Hot Flash]

It would be fun to take one of these apart and see how they solved these problems.

The quick answer is, they almost certainly haven't.

[Ktaadn]

I'm surprised by the negativity on this thread. Maybe I shouldn't be though. This is WB afterall...

Anyway, it is possible to build a better mousetrap. Let's wait and see if they've done it before we say that they can't.

[Hot Flash]

I'm surprised by the negativity on this thread. Maybe I shouldn't be though. This is WB afterall...

Anyway, it is possible to build a better mousetrap. Let's wait and see if they've done it before we say that they can't.

Skepticism is NOT the same as saying "It can't be done". :rolleyes:

[4eyedbuzzard]

I'm surprised by the negativity on this thread. Maybe I shouldn't be though. This is WB afterall...

Anyway, it is possible to build a better mousetrap. Let's wait and see if they've done it before we say that they can't.I don't see it so much as negativity as I do realism. There are lots of high tech mousetraps that have been designed over the years - but none have proved any better from either a functional or market share perspective than the good old 25 cent wood and spring version. Even so, inductive coil and magnet chargers aren't a breakthrough technology of any kind - the physics are extremely well known and there have been other entries into the market (which basically failed) such as nPowerpeg (which was/is a fiasco). Very few people (at least in the developed world where the potential customers with the money live) have a burning need for such a device as they are rarely away from an electrical charging source for more than even 1/2 a day, and those who are can carry a spare rechargeable battery (if even needed) that will give them approximately two full phone charges at the same weight and at 1/5 the cost. There just isn't a very big demand driving the development for a marketable product. That said, existing tech companies are developing this technology. Apple patented an inductive motion charging technology that uses printed circuit coils (and probably some pretty slick magnet tech as well) , likely looking at self charging phones ultimately. But THAT kind of tech requires a team of scientists, engineers, techs and millions in investment to bring to market - not a few 100K from crowd funding or Shark Tank. The future of motion charging, both tech breakthroughs and development, is that it seems more likely to be integrated into products from major manufacturers than come from a start-up with a stand alone product. Just my thoughts. . .