USB Iphone Ipod Dynamo Charger

No outlet in sight? Do not worry pull out your very own USB Dynamo (wind up) Charger! Going Green could not have been so easy! This is a step by step guide on how to Build, Test, and Perfect your Green USB Dynamo! Please don't forget to Rate and Vote on the Pocket-size Contest.
http://www.instructables.com/contest/pocket09/

Step 1: Planning:

Looking around online there is no small Dynano USB Charger on the market. The smallest one available is made in Australia and measures 112(W) x 47(W) x 23(D)mm and can fit in a big pocket. My quest is to build a truly pocket size Low cost USB Windup Charger. Where to begin?

Comments

[Vindos55]

It's a nicely narrated and illustrated project! For an emergency boost, it is certainly practical. Most of us won't find 100 minutes to fully charge a phone. During hurricane season here in Florida, that would be very desirable. Could a capacitor and some mechanical tweaks like gearing, larger diameter dynamo/crank arm, more powerful magnets etc. be added to enhance efficiency to just a few minutes?

[olesgreb]

I like this Idea a lot .... Ever think about puting this in production mode if so I'd like to buy....please contact me if so.

[Caralchemist]

At: TheRealDutchOwner: That is a great idea... Especially for those who ride a lot! Buuuuuuuut what kind of bicycle do you have that has a steering wheel? ;-)

[nmoraga]

decent!

[lookwhatjoeysmaking]

HAAAAAAAAA

i had this idea but i never knew how to do it and now someone has done it. congrats it looks very good.

[ralphulous]

How could you use use it to charge some batteries that charge the iphone? Kinda like the minty boost but without the solar panel?

[egriff]

I plan on making one of these for my Nook so I can still access all my pdf text books on engineering, chemistry, biology etc during the zombie apocalypse. Also I'll get a solar charger too, but its not sunny all the time and I never know when I'll have to hide out underground. ;)

[TheRealDutchOwner]

If you bike alot, you could do this with a bike dynamo. You still need a holder for your phone on your steering wheel, but especially if you forgot charge your phone at home you still can charge it a little on the road.

[pswiger- church]

great idea but wont that be tiring but still what people do for technology

[cc67]

you could use that if there are power failures

[mrmerino]

Could you make a windmill for this, like a wind-powered iPhone?

[mrmerino]

Nice gams bro.

[pikky_team]

Thank you for your idea. If the stepping motor was replaced ,are there more some current ?

[aduffield]

would this work with any mobile? or just the iphone. i want to know because i just finished building a steam engine and im thinking of using the idea for a phone charger

[Triworm]

i had an idea for a car. put a solar panel on the top of the car and and a USB port in it for charging phones

[jsamson]

Great idea dude

[drulex]

several hundreds of dollars worth of 15% efficient panels to provide a couple of watts to charge a phone, when the car battery does the same job... for free

[H1T4TCH1]

removable?

[Timofte Andrei]

this is cool man! nice job :D

[rpvanpatt]

 Hey I was wondering if you have a picture of the wiring set up?  Think it'd help some if so

[snowluck2345]

 could model/hobby cement be used instead of melting it with a soldering iron?

[inventordude14]

  Awesome! this works great for my ipod 3G!

[p0g068]

 there ought to be a law about having toes pictured on an instructable!  shhhh!  very reprehensible! or at least paint them first ! ....... L O L.  great instructable dude ! thank you. 

[mattdias]

is there a way to do this for an ac outlet? (regular wall plug thing)

[ivaneduardo747]

Would be very difficult to start, better get a small inverter.

[kosbon]

Tried to make it both with Griffin usb charger, which supports IPhone 3gs and the cheap usb charger, which supports only IPod.

Both worked fine for IPod, but give an error with Iphone 3gs (charging device is not supported by Iphone). 

Not sure what I've done wrong and how to make it work with an Iphone too.

Please somebody help!!!

[dan and kon]

 ya i would gladly pay you to make me one of these

[phoenixjen]

Could you just make one of these for me? :)

[=D]

hey kudos to this project! how would you wire up this in addition to a solar cell?

[Rose123]

Great idea! Mr. Fuller, you are a genius! :)

[Javin007]

I have to admit, despite being pitted against you in the contest, I voted for this. As a camper, a pocket-sized dynamo phone charger is probably about the most sensible, and brilliant concept I've seen on here. This should totally take 1st.

[Javin007]

*heh heh* I just read your test results. Wonder how fast you'd have to wind the thing to keep a phone alive during a phone call.

[Javin007]

To clarify my last post, I wasn't trying to "trash" this entry at all. Was just simple musing. This would (very literally) be a life-saver for people who manage to get lost, but still have their cell phones. 911 can use the GPS built into cell phones (required as of Oct of 04, I believe) to find people lost in the woods or mountains. This draws very little current, and just keeping your phone "alive" by winding this every few minutes could very literally save your life.

[brokengun]

Nice! I've been wanting to build pretty much exactly this for a while now. I like how you just used the USB plug because it's so general and works with everything. Pretty sweet stuff, you should get some more numbers on exactly the power output your getting.

[2robotguy]

This is one of my first prototypes. I plan on doing testing when I'm back at College mid Aug. Should have some good data to post as well a Diy circuit to build. I hope I can just modify the circuit that comes inside the Dynamo to begin with and make some with direct Iphone/Ipod plug. Then the next round both USB and Iphone plug. If you have any ideas please post. (Also I', working on at School Savonius turbine Research that I will post in the near future. Do you know anything about wind turbine to battery chargers? (need help))

[brokengun]

I was thinking about making a generator from scratch then hooking it up to a gearbox from one of these dynamos to see if I could mess with it and get some more power out of it. I am not sure how exact those hand crank generators are, but I have a suspicion that they are just a motor running backwards and could be improved. Then again, I could be completely wrong. I would love to see work on your savonius turbine. I know a little bit, depends one what you want to know. If you've got questions feel free to message me or I can send you my e-mail address if you like.

[captainplaneteer]

I really like the 'going green' idea, and it fits in your pocket! great idea!

[slashandburn]

Nice, make it play music & flash lights and I could make my kid could charge my iPhone.

[ikestarm17]

wow, that's so weird that I just published an instructable just like this yesterday. What a coincidence. Nice job, good luck! (yours is a lot better than mine)

[2robotguy]

My first Wind up charger was very close to yours. It takes time to refine and improve them. This one is 3rd generation and I still have a lot room for improvement. Keep up the good work! Email me if you have any questions.