Hello Rob,

This sounds like an excellent idea. We are currently booting up Refab
Space, and there will be lovely workshop facilities, as well as media
lab facilities, within a couple of months.

John Moseley, our fablab technician, is a whizz with energy harvesting -
he's already built devices which work with DEAD batteries - when they
are apparently out of energy they still have residual charge.

Maybe we should talk more about resourcing the event. If we have a
number of people traveling here, it would be best to get a bit of
resource to cover transport and some facilities costs etc. Have you
suggestions where this could come from?

Let's talk more about this off-list. And anyone listening - if you want
to finance a very cool "5 volt House" seminar, let us know!

Best regards,

James
=====

On 06/03/12 15:53, Rob van Kranenburg wrote:
> Hello James,
>
> Shall we set up a quick and dirty seminar on this at Access Space?, May or
> June?
>
> 5volt
> energy harvesting
> powerscavenging
> ......
>
> I will try to peddle in :)
>
> Greetings, Rob
>
>
>
>> Hello Rob,
>>
>> Of course, with the 5 volt house, you have a question of whether the
>> electricity needs to be a single system at all. We're used to the idea
>> of a house having a 220 volt ring main. But with distributed electricity
>> generation (solar trickle cells, flow turbines, sterling engines, ground
>> source heat pumps...) each room might have independent power - and its
>> own storage capacitors to retain the excess. would it even be necessary
>> to interconnect the rooms?
>>
>> Wireless IoT communication could allow the house to be aware of its
>> located energy reserves. Perhaps your phone would be able to say "charge
>> me in the bedroom, not the study".
>>
>> While this introduces all sorts of technical and practical challenges,
>> it could be interesting to think about - maybe in terms of more marginal
>> or precarious lifestyles than "Typical EU Residents". These sorts of
>> approach could be applicable to nomadic people.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> James
>> =====
>>
>> On 06/03/12 11:34, Rob van Kranenburg wrote:
>>
>>> Hi James,
>>>
>>> Brilliant!
>>>
>>> The 5volt plan will live next to your zerodollar laptop, how feasible is
>>> this? Where could we start?
>>>
>>> Could milkymist.org be a base for open source home appliances like
>>> oswash.org?
>>>
>>> Greetings, Rob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> (1)We should remain critical while we investigate.
>>>>
>>>> (2) Perhaps a better way to examine a "slice" of IoT would be not a
>>>>
>>>>
>>> physical location, but a "day in the life" of IoT.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> (3) I have a suggestion for the IoT House - how about abandoning 220
>>>> volt (or 110 volt) electricity supply altogether and replace all power
>>>> outlets with 5 volt USB outlets in the walls?
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
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