There is no shortage of ideas to generate power (and do other useful work) - just search YouTube for pedal power for a huge selection. How many oh these ideas could be "translated" to design using locally available materials and shared with needy communities outside the United States? The suggestion I have below may help.
A simple "Technology Translation Table" could be assembled. The first column would list a material or technology available in the United States, and each row would describe an item, such as "Grade 8 Bolts" or "Low Voltage, high-current diode." The second and subsequent columns would each represent a country, or region within the country (Uganda Metro, Uganda Rural) and list the equivalent technology available in that region.
The table would be jointly developed by US Entrepreneurs and individuals who have actual on-site experience with materials and technologies in the listed locations.
Such a table would undoubtedly filter many ideas out that could not be translated to local materials. However, it might also encourage design revisions to better match designs to local resources, resuting in more practical designs being developed.
David
Posted while pedaling, powered by me!
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Welcome David! We are so glad to have you join us.
ReplyDeleteWe are creating tables for each designed mechanical to electrical energy devices. For example, instead of trying to import dc motors, we use motorcycle and bicycle dynometers or rectified ac-to-dc vehicle alternators. The rewinders, a group of technicians who fix generators, know how to rewind these motors to get them to continue to work. Magnetic wire is a well-known trading item in Uganda.
The more we co-design and build, the more the technicians have decided to use something local instead of the original idea and we should document all these changes over-time. Remind me in the upcoming weeks, if we forget to upload this to the web site.
Again, welcome!