Lego USB Charger

Step 3: Ad ons

It is easy to create devices (ex: flashlights) that can be plugged into the motor or the usb port to provide power. For this project I enabled collaboration, so if anyone has any ideas for ad ons let me know and you can put them in.

Comments

[Fingers0110]

Couldn't u use another motor attached to the crank in order to charge something instead of standing there for an hour cranking? Would work just as well, instead of tiring your arm out =)

[Ganoderma]

 Then what is the use?
Find a power source, convert it to movement and then convert it back to power?
All you're gonna do is lose power on the way (goes to heat by friction). 

I've seen projects on instructables to charge USB devices using normal batteries (AA, AAA, 9V). Might be a better solution if you don't want to do some effort for the power. 

This is a nice thing to have with you if you run out of power without any batteries or other power source nearby. 

[Scrubsfan1234]

i actually dissected a flashlight that uses the crank (not as remarkable, sure, but,) and soldered the same USB stick you showed to make a charger for my iPod.

[mcdonn123]

You could replace the usb port with a 12v plug (the ones inside people's houses). Then you could charge your lego 'smart brick' or even your psp!

[SharpDressedMan]

to charge any device via usb you simply need a usb charger cable

they arent hard to find google shopping gave me this in a second or so for a psp

http://www.google.com/products?q=psp%20usb%20charger&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wf

[Antpopper]

You would also have to crank really fast for about an hour and use a 12v, 7812 voltage regulator to charge a smart brick with rechargables.

[blackspike2710]

what no one realizes is without a built in battery you would have to constantly turn the crank to charge the device, and because many items take several hours to fully charge this would only be useful in emergency situations.

[A good name]

You could just have a friend crank it while you plugged in a cellphone or something.

[cspannos]

Ah, ebay to the rescue... Do you have a model number or a suggestion on to which one I should buy??

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=Lego+motor&category0=

[cspannos]

What an awesome project! Do you have the specs as far as voltage and current that this puts out? Also, where can I get that Lego motor? I searched for Mindstorms kits with no luck... Thanks!

[indevous88]

also, could it work with a knex motor?

[DeusXMachina]

K'nex motors have a setup with worm gears and can't be reversed, you'll bust your motor before generating charge.

[indevous88]

what are the odds of being able to adapt this to work with a bike [wheel]?

[nkboyd]

Hey, how about powering this?!

USB FAN / LIGHT COMBO -- FRYS.com #: 4520287
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4520287?JSESSIONID=F4R8zvKsDXkxk7Wt0gB9qCqL1pd1W5K94NDJ4Yl701yp2DTXfX1G!-1356711265!-105341372&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

[Tetranitrate]

That was actually one of the things I was thinking of when building it, that it could be used for one of those usb fans, lights, coffee mug warmer, or whatever crazy usb gadgets they have.