Friday, July 24, 2009

In Kenya, charging a phone by pedalling a bike

Talk about a bootstrap operation!

Two Kenyan students are hoping to market a device that allows bicycle riders to charge their mobile phones.

Jeremiah Murimi, 24, and Pascal Katana, 22, said they wanted their dynamo-powered "smart charger" to help people without electricity in rural areas.

"We both come from villages and we know the problems," Mr Murimi told the BBC.

People have to travel great distances to shops where they are charged $2 a time to power their phone, usually from a car battery or solar panel....

Mr Katana explained it takes an hour of pedalling to fully charge a phone, about the same time it would if it were plugged into the mains electricity....

The cash-strapped students used old bits of electronic equipment for the project.

"We took most of [the] items from a junk yard - using bits from spoilt radios and spoilt televisions," said Mr Katana.

This has been done before in other countries - who knew? There is something incredibly suggestive about powering a phone by pedaling a bike. It seems somehow to capture the mystery of mind arising out of body.


1 comment:

  1. Pascal Katana is basically the coolest name ever.

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