We are working with the New York City Parks & Recreation to develop a prototype for our Vertical Farming system at the 5 Borough Administration Building.  This project is under development, but here are a few images in the early stages of fabrication.

Sizing for frame - this is just the beginning...

We participated in the 01SJ Biennal in San Jose, CA - developing v3 of our Personal PowerPlant with Mouna Andraos and electrical engineering guru Farrukh Zia.

The Personal powerPlant is a portable device that harnesses electricity through a hand crank generator (with solar cell option) into a rechargeable battery for use in powering portable electronic devices through a USB terminal.  The workshop began with an introduction to circuit basics and a group discussion on sustainable energy harvesting.

Below are some images from the event and continual efforts in testing and modifying the design.  We will soon post an instructions for v3, and will keep on working toward the production of this kit!  Stay tuned…

Putting together the kit of parts for the workshop

Putting together a demo version for the workshop

v3 of the Personal PowerPlant

Workshop participants putting together the PPP

We will be giving two workshops during the 2010 01SJ Biennal in San Jose, California with the Eyebeam Roadshow in September.  Check our news section to sign up!

We are working on v3.0 of the personal powerPlant - this time we will be able to charge any USB device!  It will also work with rechargeable AA NiMH batteries, which are easy to find.  Below are some photos of the process: trying to get the circuit to work properly using new batteries, testing out different motors to get one that can output enough power…

Testing different motors...

Trying to test a "full wave" layout for the diodes

Up close with 6 wire motor and full wave configuration

Getting the batteries to charge an iTouch using a voltage regulator and resistors