Photo from Flickr user Maitri. Creative Commons licence.
Just like the PlayPump, a seesaw has been developed to harness children's energy in a productive way.
Coventry University design student, Daniel Sheridan, has drawn up plans for a seesaw which will generate electricity when children play on it. He thought of the idea when he was working in Kenya as a volunteer, and saw the immense need for electricity to enable development.
Now that he has won a £5,500 prize for his idea, he hopes to build a working prototype and attract further interest and investment.
As an example, he has calculated that five to 10 minutes use on the see-saw could generate enough electricity to light a classroom for an evening. He says, "Ultimately I would love to design a whole playground of different pieces of equipment that could enough generate electricity to power a whole village."
Thanks to J. for pointing out the BBC article to me.
That's a great idea! I saw the PlayPump a while ago. I think small children are one of the most renewable energy sources - they always seem to have a surplus.
ReplyDeleteOh, how cool would that be! I can totally see the see-saw and the merry-go-round as power sources (though you don't see merry-go-rounds on playgrounds much anymore). I can see the swings working out, too... Oh I love that whole idea!
ReplyDeleteAh, I see now that the merry-go-round [I'd not heard the term roundabout before] is used for the PlayPump idea. Still, ingenious to harness play for power!
ReplyDeleteThay's very innovative and interesting idea.
ReplyDelete@Solomon, yes all that energy! My elder son in particular could have powered the world single handed.
ReplyDelete@Erin, yes I suppose anything the children can move should be able to generate electricity. As for the word roundabout, I think it may be a British term (although also used for a traffic system). Merry-go-round means a carousel in a fairground to me.
@Jesie, yes it is isn't it.