Author: John

Fuel Cell Tops Lithium Batteries

UltraCell

Agent Greg has this to say:

25 watts is pretty impressive. Three of them could run a 75 watt light bulb.
I’m looking forward to an LED light powered by methanol. Just the thing for camping.
I believe this will be the future of electric cars, by the way. Methanol fuel cells with regenerative braking and eventually battery banks and some solar assist.

Some info from the article:

Fuel cell developer UltraCell has come up with a new fuel cell power source for portable electronic devices that it says has twice the energy density of lithium batteries. That’s potentially very good news for power-hungry mobile gadgeteers…
UltraCell’s reformed methanol fuel cell, or RMFC, technology uses a micro reformer to generate fuel-cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution. The new portable power system has the density of a hydrogen fuel cell but uses readily available, low-cost methanol fuel in a compact package.

Power source surges past lithium batteries

Hard Drive Clock

Clock drive

This is just super cool! Take an old dead hard drive (not totaly dead, it needs to spin up), cut a slot in the top platter, add some LEDs and a microcontroler, and you have yourself a very unique clock. You have to see the videos of it running to fully understand how it works.

[via MAKE:blog]
Alan Parekh’s Electronic Projects – Hard Drive Clock

Pizza On Demand

Wonder Pizza

Ooo…. These and the vending machines found in Japan should be mandatory in all airports and should line the city streets. When will america realize that if there are self serve machines on every corner that will dispense a dozen different drinks and foods that we will be a happier and more productive place?

Base Technical Specifications

    6’ H x 6’ W x 3.3’ D
    1200 lbs.
    220 volts- 30 Amps
    Two operating sections: 1- Refrigeration 2- Ordering / Cooking
    Operational Platform
    Holds 102 pizzas in their own separate & sealed trays
    3 different types of pizza, per machine
    Operator “crisp” control
    Video Command ordering system
    Ordering & Cooking time 90 Seconds average
    Cooks in High Intensity Toaster Oven atmosphere
    Suggested retail price is $5.00 dollars US
    Profit Margin= 60+%

$5 isn’t beyond my normal food budget when I go on trips, one of these and a bottle of OJ would hit the spot as I sprint to the departure gate on my next flight.

[via Gizmodo]
WonderPizza

Micro Sized Desktop Line Following Robot

Desktop robot

This little line follower moves at 53 cm/sec and only weighs 15 gm! Quite amazing.

Recently many kind of robot contests have being opened and some interesting reports of the challenge are found on the web. The Line Following is a kind of the robot contests to vie running speed on the line. I build a tiny line following robot which can run on the desk, moving the key board aside will do. It is for only a personal toy reduced its size less than one fifth compared to typical line following robots, not in formula. But I believe that it is suitable for home use in the small Japanese houses…

[via MAKE: Blog]
Desktop Line Following Robot