One of the problems with mobile devices is the limits on their power sources. Batteries have limited use time, need to be constantly recharged, and lose capacity over time needing to be replaced. I propose a combination of a sub-screen light panel and a battery for mobile devices that charges with any light source, from direct sunlight (which will give you the fastest charge) to ambient room light. Batteries that can be charged anywhere indoors or outdoors would make a device truly untethered and mobile. There are some technologies that are already headed in this direction, and there are still many unanswered issues, but this is a model of a proposed concept in an ideal situation.
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Great presentation Marlis! The more I though about this in application to adult learning and training, the more I could see how this could be helpful in delivering a truly mobile experience. For example, I could see this technology as an asset for:
• frontline employees working in a produce department who share a tablet and may not have time or a dedicated space to charge the device during a shift/while the store is open;
• forest firefighters on assignment in remote areas when they are off-duty;
• workers in harsh environments like underground miners or deep sea fishermen ; and
• teachers in underserved areas or countries with limited or expensive access to electricity.
In all these scenarios, a self-charging device could level the playing field and increase access to resources, materials and connections.
Hi Marlis! This is a brilliant idea! I love how accessible and environmentally friendly it is. I love trying to live a wire-free lifestyle. The variety between different cords/outlets makes this idea all the more appealing! A consideration I would think about is about whether these batteries can be designed for other devices. In addition, having a backup way to charge the batteries in case of emergency when no solar power (and no electricity is available) would be excellent! Perhaps using the same technology as the self-charging watches.
Hi Emma, thank you for your thoughts.
To my mind, I would think that if the technology becomes available for one type of device, it should be adaptable to other devices as well, and a back-up is definitely a very good point since if one is out in the middle of nowhere and the light charging mechanism fails (or if the charge runs out and no light is available), perhaps an adaptor for a standard battery (or another power source) could be implemented. It is a balance between providing the back-up option and keeping the technology compact enough so that the appeal of not having to carry an extra battery isn’t lost.
Great project Marlis.
The amount of money I have spent on charging cords for my family is crazy. Whether I spend a couple dollars or $30, none of them seem to last so the thought of self charging devices is exciting. I have enjoyed the varied posts throughout the course related to citizen science and getting students outside of the classroom to learn. 5G and the new mobile technologies in development, such as light energy batteries you described, will allow for new and creative ways to complete field science projects.
Hi DeeDee
Charging cords are always a nuisance – they look like clutter, and as Emma says above, the variety of different charging types is frustrating (Android B or C or wide or small apple…)
As you say, as 5G potential is realized, there is exciting promise for outdoor education and field studies to make learning all the more relevant and concrete, and it would be nice not to have to worry about battery capacity.
Hi Marlis,
I really like your idea of self-charging devices, and I believe it’s highly relevant in education today. As 5G technology becomes a reality, and students are doing more and more learning using mobile devices, this kind of technology will become a necessity. Teenagers (mine in particular!) are not known for keeping their devices charged well enough to get them through their daily tasks, and as you pointed out, apps are demanding more and more power to operate.
Your presentation format is very friendly to use, and you have a comfortable balance of text and images in your pages. I appreciate how you included just enough science for a non-scientist like me to understand, without getting bogged down. One small thing that happened when viewing on my iPhone Xr is that the top of each page was cut off, so sometimes I couldn’t read the top line of print.
Did you consider whether this technology might be viable for devices such as AR glasses? I’ve come across many predictions saying AR glasses will become more mainstream and user-friendly, so this has me wondering.
Hi Wendy
Thank you for letting me know about the formatting issues on your phone. I’m not sure if anyone else had problems, and I did test it on my phone and tablet (but they are android based, so that may make a difference).
I didn’t consider AR glasses specifically for this project as I didn’t want to go on too many tangents and make the project too broad. There are definitely a lot of potential applications and connections where this could be taken once the technology is realized. AR is one area that could be very applicable especially when doing field studies and outdoor education.
Hi Marlis,
This was a great review of current and future battery technology. I look forward to efficient, self-charging devices. I have seen the stress that an uncharged iPad can cause my daughter in the morning, scrambling to find a battery pack to take to school, or the inconvenience of a low phone battery when trying to navigate. I have a Samsung phone and watch and have found the power sharing feature to be extremely handy in a number of situations. Given that we will continue to expect more and more from devices, it only makes sense for batteries to improve and become more mobile along with this developing technology. I wonder if there will be any resistance by tech companies to adopt a long-life, efficient, self-charging battery.
Hi Janice – good question about the tech companies. I personally don’t think that there would be much resistance from tech companies since there would probably always be a market to upgrade and produce more and more efficient, smaller, and more powerful batteries/phones even if they’re long lasting and self-charging. I think I read somewhere that people are keeping their phones longer and not upgrading as often (my Note 8 is going on 3 years now, and I’m still happy with it), so perhaps the development and marketing will start focusing more on upgrading and integrating existing phones with other hardware and applications, or more research and development into sustainable and recyclable options. Tech companies will have to adapt just like any type of business.
Hey Marlis,
This is an interesting project; while I initially questioned how relevant it truly is to mobile education, over the past few days I kept thinking about it and ways in which it would be highly useful. My main concern was that though running out of batteries is never a fun time, I rarely have these issues with my students… but perhaps that is because the projects I crafted to make use of mobile tech is very much tethered to the limitation of battery, even if I was not conscious of it before. Furthermore, I can really see the benefits of the tech you present here as 5G starts to roll out. If students are using AR and other resource-intensive software, batteries will be drained faster than ever, so yes, I can see our current batteries becoming quite useless in the coming years. The way I see 5G being used is that everything will be hosted on company servers, not just the software needed to make things work, but the hardware as well. I think that at a certain point our mobile phones may become much more basic than they currently are in terms of hardware, because it will be unnecessary, but the tradeoff will be intense use of data in order for the phone to do anything. I see it becoming similar to the Google Stadia, a console you can buy that is supremely basic, yet it can play all the latest games because it just streams from google servers and does not do the hard processing and graphical work itself – with 5G I can see this sort of tech exploding into the mainstream in all sorts of ways. So yes, batteries will need to keep up somehow, and your proposal is a great way to tackle this problem!
I really enjoyed the presentation itself, how you catered it to mobile viewing, and just how technical and scientific you get with your explanations (and yes, Li-Po can be a very touchy battery – I use them to fly stunt helicopters and I have had more than 1 blow up on me!). If I may, one thing I would add if I was on the team creating this tech would be to implement kinetic energy generation, where every touch and tap on your phone will build up battery power. I don’t know how far along that particular tech has come, but I recall reading years ago about solar panels built into windows and how rainwater and buffeting winds will create energy – it makes perfect sense to put this tech into a phone, something that we constantly tap on. Thanks for the insightful and thought provoking project!
Hi Johannes, thank you for your review
It is true that when it comes to technology, we don’t know how much we need a certain type of tech until it becomes available, and then we wonder how we ever lived without it. Mobile charging would open up many more possibilities that wouldn’t be available with wired charging.
I also thought about the idea of kinetic charging, and I don’t think that technology is actually too far away. Here’s an article from 2014 about some Northwestern University students who came up with a device. https://venturebeat.com/2014/10/09/ampy-charges-your-phone-by-harnessing-the-energy-of-your-movements/
and something a bit more recent – a vancouver company developing a device to harness kinetic energy
https://www.bionic-power.com/
As far as I can see, these devices still require a wired connection to charge your phone, but incorporating the technology right into the phone itself would be a logical next step.
Hi Marlis! As a fellow science teacher I smiled all the way through your presentation. You included just enough science background to geek out on and make me want to learn more. This is a terrific idea and I can envision this becoming a must-have technology for just about anyone, but especially the environmentally conscious. I have a small solar panel to use on back-country adventures, but it mostly gets used for canoe trips and often gets left at home on long hikes with a heavy backpack, so if there was a way to charge my phone with electro-magnetic energy, I would buy it. As you pointed out, there are already battery technologies in the works that will make batteries more portable, but charging them is still an issue and so is disposal. These nickel https://youtu.be/9Zw3I_jUaiA look like an interesting intermediary between what’s in our smartphones now and your solar charged battery idea.
Hi Lori – thank you for your comments and thank you for the video link – I love the idea of the flexible battery. I can’t wait for the time when flexible screens become widely available, and for that, one would need a flexible battery. I would love to have a tiny phone that can be folded out into a tablet sized screen when needed, or a laptop that can be rolled up and put into a small bag – light, portable, and durable.
What a great innovation Marlis! I really enjoyed reading through the structure of your presentation. It worked great on my phone!
I remember seeing my dad’s first ‘laptop’. It was a giant briefcase that when set-up, had a screen that showed 6 lines of code at a time. It would last for about 30 minutes on battery and otherwise needed to be plugged in. And yet here I sit with my laptop, which runs for 6 hours on battery, and my iPhone, which lasts up to 3 days with my regular usage. (I don’t think I use my phone as much as other millennials.) But my dependency on both items is undoubtable. Keeping my electronics charged when traveling or teaching is always a concern because I want to be able to instantly access the information I need to.
I’ve seen many hikers who have solar panels on the top of their backpacks, allowing for charging stations on the go, however embedding this directly into the phone would be much lighter for hiking! If any source of light would work, regular mobile habits can continue. However, if solar light is ideal, how will this alter the way we carry and transport our mobile devices? Maybe a new accessory market will come into play!
One of the biggest problems with mobile devices is cracking screens, which is why many users put on screen protectors, or use cases around their mobile devices. How would this affect the recharge factor? When screens are damaged, would it be most cost effective to fix the recharging technology or to purchase a new device?
Hi Elixa
My first laptop that I bought second hand was similar to your Dad’s – clunky and very limited battery life. Technology surely has come a long way (although my current laptop battery still isn’t that great, it only gives about 2 hours worth of charge). I agree that if this type of technology gets developed, the possibilities for accessories and applications is quite vast. When I was doing my research, I found amazing things that are being worked on – for example, using sand to extend battery life of Li-ion batteries – here’s the link…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2686695/How-beach-help-power-mobile-Sand-help-batteries-used-phones-three-times-longer.html
Breaking screens is a huge Achilles heel for mobile devices. I’m on my second cracked screen for my current phone and even though it’s still functional, the screen is annoying. That is another feature that would need to be addressed with my forecast product. Screens (Gorilla glass) are getting stronger with each generation so broken screens will hopefully be a rare occurrence in future models. Here’s an article that discusses the next generation of screens.
https://www.cnet.com/news/gorilla-glass-victus-future-smartphones-all-in-the-glass/
Screen protectors may decrease the charge speed of my product some, since the more intense the light source the faster the charge, but overall as long as the charge speed is greater than the battery depletion speed, the concept works. Replacement would be costly since the solar panel would be integrated into the screen and they would have to be replaced together. However, with the innovations with screen strength, hopefully this wouldn’t be an issue very often.
Hi Marlis,
Your approach was very thoughtful, and the more I reflect on it I’m surprised that it isn’t already a mainstream fact of mobile device manufacturing. Sodium vs lithium batteries of course makes sense and will help somewhat with the reduction of environmental degradation. A built-in light-energy/solar charger behind gorilla glass is smart. I am one of the aforementioned backpackers who enjoys 100km solo trips into the woods, and I hang the Anker PowerPort Solar 21 21W charger across my pack while walking [https://us.anker.com/products/anker-powerport-solar]. It can simultaneously charge an iPhone and Android phone at different rates according to their needs. If it were smaller than 67cm by 27cm and built right into my phone, I’d be very pleased to hang my phone in a waterproof case in the sun until charged.
In an educational context, indoor wireless charging stations are an option, though a costly one and then of course there are the health risks with wi-fi. Light-charging screens would be a fantastic way to remain engaged in outdoor learning. Phones and tablets that are already out and taking pictures of plants and insects would be exposed to light. Devices being used on 5G networks to learn with the Cornel Lab Merlin app for bird identification and never running out of battery in a learning context is surely a worthwhile reason to make the idea a reality. And better than the wind-up kinetic energy charging option that I have on my Grundig radio that could easily be attached to a phone case, though bulky, noisy, and less elegant a solution.
Hi Marlis!
I love this! I have always been a proponent of capturing wasted or ambient energy. I would also consider capturing kinetic energy. For example, going on a run with your phone; Your phone picks up the residual kinetic energy from being jostled as you move. They already have watches that do this (https://watchranker.com/how-kinetic-watches-work/). I would also consider an internal thermocouple that could utilize ambient heat to charge up the battery. This could even be in your running coat/gear that captures ambient heat and charges a battery via thermocouple as well. Finally your sneakers could also harness kinetic energy and charge up your sneaker batteries that you could use o juice up your phone as well.
Either way, I really like this passive charging concept.
More on capturing kinetic energy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD15-2Uriyc
Thanks again for this Marlis!
Hello Philip
You have some great ideas. Thank you for passing on the video links. Kinetic energy is a very interesting concept. My brother in law had a kinetically wound watch years ago already.
When I was thinking of a topic for this project, it was hard to find something that isn’t already in the works or at least being thought of.
The concept of a kinetic phone is already out there – check out this site – it’s along the same lines as the one you shared.
https://futurism.com/new-tech-lets-you-charge-your-phone-just-by-walking
Technology is leaping ahead at an incredible rate and it will be very interesting to see what developments are made in just 10 years from now.