Thinking Outside the Box
"Re-Inventing the Flashlight!"- my surprise reaction
Yesterday I read an article about a 16 year old, Ann Makosinski, that invented a flashlight that uses the heat from her hand to power an LED flashlight. Impressive! Not only is she 16 year's old but she figured out how to power a flashlight by using the heat of her hand.
I remember about 18 years ago teaching a introductory circuit analysis course. After covering direct current techniques I told the class that they knew enough to become millionaires. They laughed at me. They did not believe me.
I drew a diagram of the simplest circuit possible which had a power source and a simple load(a resistor). They laughed again. I said that this simple circuit could become a key warmer or a baby bottle warmer powered off a car cigarette lighter. They stopped laughing. The beauty of the simplicity of the circuit fooled them into believing that it was of no use. They had placed themselves in a box.
Ann used the same circuit consisting of a bulb, a switch, battery, and battery case. She simply replaced the battery with a difference between the outside of an aluminum case and peltier tiles on inside of the case. The difference between the two temperatures creates, the peltier effect, the power needed to power the LEDs.
The reason she was successful is that LEDs require less power that older types of bulbs.
The bigger idea is that she took something whose design has not changed much since it was created and figured out an innovative way to re-design it. It made me think why no one thought about it before. Maybe some great ideas are a low hanging fruit that no one is noticing.
Today's question is:
"What else could be powered using this idea?"
"Re-Inventing the Flashlight!"- my surprise reaction
Yesterday I read an article about a 16 year old, Ann Makosinski, that invented a flashlight that uses the heat from her hand to power an LED flashlight. Impressive! Not only is she 16 year's old but she figured out how to power a flashlight by using the heat of her hand.
I remember about 18 years ago teaching a introductory circuit analysis course. After covering direct current techniques I told the class that they knew enough to become millionaires. They laughed at me. They did not believe me.
I drew a diagram of the simplest circuit possible which had a power source and a simple load(a resistor). They laughed again. I said that this simple circuit could become a key warmer or a baby bottle warmer powered off a car cigarette lighter. They stopped laughing. The beauty of the simplicity of the circuit fooled them into believing that it was of no use. They had placed themselves in a box.
Ann used the same circuit consisting of a bulb, a switch, battery, and battery case. She simply replaced the battery with a difference between the outside of an aluminum case and peltier tiles on inside of the case. The difference between the two temperatures creates, the peltier effect, the power needed to power the LEDs.
The reason she was successful is that LEDs require less power that older types of bulbs.
The bigger idea is that she took something whose design has not changed much since it was created and figured out an innovative way to re-design it. It made me think why no one thought about it before. Maybe some great ideas are a low hanging fruit that no one is noticing.
Today's question is:
"What else could be powered using this idea?"
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