h a l f b a k e r yA few slices short of a loaf.
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Kid-powered TV
Kids can watch only the TV for which they generate the energy. | |
Are the kiddies acting a little listless, wandering around with rotating-spiral eyeballs from too much Dawson's Creek? Are Buddy and Sis, not to put too fine a point on it, getting a little, well, *obese*? C'mere, kiddies, Unca R's got a solution to both. Drive a generator (b) with a stationary bike
(a), which charges a car battery (c), which runs a 12V TV (d). (Or, more sadistically, to an inverter which runs a normal TV). Kids are allowed to watch only the TV for which they generate the energy by pedaling the bike.
Figure 1: bike(a)-->generator(b)-->battery(c)-->TV(d)
Treadmill of DOOM
http://www.halfbake...eadmill_20of_20DOOM
Video games too... [egnor, Jun 22 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]
Sprogopolis, the Baby-Powered City
http://www.geocitie...h/1285/sprogop.html
Sheesh, and I thought *I* was taking it a bit far... [rmutt, Jun 22 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]
Baked
http://www.los-gato...davidbu/pedgen.html
Googled. [Giblet, May 21 2007]
Harvesting children's energy for electricity
http://www.energyha...112.asp?sessionid=1
From the "Energy Harvesting Journal" no less [rmutt, Feb 18 2011]
[link]
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That would certainly cut down on the over weight kids in our country |
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my uncle and i thought of this idea a few years back, as a diet program... |
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This reminds me of those game controller floor pads (like for Dance Dance Revolution) that have the normal controller buttons all marked out in foot-sized patches for you to jump on and step on in order to play the game. Suddenly, Mortal Kombat becomes an insane aerobic workout. The problem comes in where you have moves that require a sequence like "hold L2+Down Arrow while tapping x and square alternately on a Wednesday during a waning moon". To deal with that, my friends and I started playing 2-player games in teams of 2 (2 people on each mat) This adds a whole new level of insanity, yelling, screaming, and also becomes like an aerobic version of Twister! |
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//To deal with that, my friends and I started playing 2-player games in teams of 2 (2 people on each mat) This adds a whole new level of insanity, yelling, screaming, and also becomes like an aerobic version of Twister!// |
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That, could be dangerous! What if one of the contestants sudenly forgot reality and started punching and kicking your ass, in REAL life? Lol. |
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Problem is, it would take endurance that I don't think a olympic runner even has. I tried using one of those power bikes once, and couldn't even turn the light on! |
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The bike/treadmill would not necessarily need to be used to power the TV. Perhaps it could just rate the work done, and translate it into TV time by regulating the power via an internal switch. With this system it could also be used for cleaning the house (attached to a vacuum) or doing homework (attached to a pen). Different algorithms could be used for each task, depending on how much TV time you think the child should get for completing it. How much homework would they need to do during the commercials to keep the TV on till the next break? |
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Drat! I was going to post this. :-) [+] |
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Additional benefit - it's impossible to eat while watching TV because you have to exercise at the same time. |
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It's already been widely done by many many people. |
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Doesn't this mean it's baked to the point of the bun now being a lethal weapon? |
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Giblet: I will grant you that human-powered appliances have been in use for millennia. However, your link has nothing about kids or TV, which is kinda the essence of the idea. |
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Great googlie-mooglie, a rejoinder eleven years in the making! |
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