OLPC Experiments with Cow-Powered Laptops

According to One Laptop Per Child Project's Arjun Sarwal, the group is considering powering its low-cost XO laptops with cows: "We plan to drive a dynamo (taken from an old Fiat) through a system of belts and pulleys using cows/cattle." Sarwal and others are now finalizing the design of the cow-powered generator.Working in a village close to Mumbai, India, the organization concluded that solar energy, wind power and running water would not have sufficient sources of power in the area, and the cost of running a gas-powered motor was too high. "But the village had an abundance of cattle that were being used in the fields. So we decided to design something around that," said Sarwal. The dynamo used in the system was taken from a Fiat car that is commonly used as taxis in Mumbai and therefore both cheap and readily available.  News source: ComputerWorld Read full story...

 


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