The GravityLight - Check It Out

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I love this idea. It's a small LED light that is powered by the energy created by a bag of weight and the effects of gravity:

GravityLight: lighting for developing countries. | Indiegogo

Watch the video for a better idea...

It costs about $10 and replaces the need to burn kerosene lanterns, paying for itself in about 3 months.

It takes someone 3 seconds to hand/rehang the weighted bag and that will create 30 minutes of light. It can even charge other devices. The bag can be weighted with rocks, sand, scrap metal, anything.

No batteries, solar panels or electrical grid needed.
#off topic forum
  • Very cool. I sent 'em a sawbuck.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Awesome idea! (I mean the light)
  • Quite ingenious, and thinking outside of the box - I wonder if it makes any noise like some of the old dynamo designs...I also wonder if increasing the drop length of the weight could increase light time - like they said, it's a work in progress...
  • I want one.
    • [1] reply
    • I want one of those as well. It would seem that if they can perfect this, everyone will want one of these, actually more like a bunch of them.
  • Amazing technology!
  • Way Cool!
    I think the charity aspect of this is even cooler.
    Put in my list of holiday recipients
    Thanks
  • Banned
    Cool idea, but check this out.

    Why not do the exact same thing as the gravity light, only with a chair (gravity chair).

    Most office chairs (like I have) have adjustable chair heights, so why not use the weight from the person sitting in the chair to create electricity from their own body weight/gravity?

    After a 1/2 hour or so, all you would have to do is stand up, then the chairs gas strut would raise the chair automatically to the max. height. Repeat every 1/2 hour.

    With the gravity chair you could have multiple cylinders putting weight on a single dynamo gear creating extended electricity to power something like a laptop + LED light.

    If anyone patents my idea, I want 10% of any earnings.
  • Banned
    But wait, there's more!

    The gravity bed, it's a bunk bed with only the top bunk.

    When your ready to go to sleep you climb into the top bunk, the bed slowly drops over an 8 hour time span, that's 9 inches of drop per hour for a 6 foot tall bunk bed.

    You create electricity while you sleep.

    When you wake up the bed is at it's lowest height, simply get out of bed & the bed slowly raises back to the top bunk position via a gas strut. Repeat the next night, etc...

    I have too much time on my hands, lol.
  • Banned
    But wait, there's even more!

    Act now & we'll throw in the gravity couch at no additional cost to you!

    It's a couch for couch potatoes that generates enough electricity from your body weight so you can watch TV in 1/2 hour increments.
  • And for the jewel of the product line:

    Yukon's Gravity Toilet Seat - "Make watts when you plotz".
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      Ha, ha.

      Stop by Taco Bell on your way home & you could power the whole neighborhood.

      No joke the whole gravity/electricity thing could easily be scaled up to some serious weight.

      Why not park the car on an elevated parking platform (4ft high or so) & use the vehicle weight to spin an electric generator? Gear the weight/gravity down so the electric motor can only spin at a max RPM.

      My jeep weighs 3,300 pounds, that should be able to generate a decent amount of electricity. Besides all the Jeep does is sit in the driveway when it's not being driven, might as well get some use out of the 3,300 vehicle weight while it's just sitting there doing nothing.

      I have so many ideas my head hurts, lol.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • One thing about using gravity like this is that it takes more energy to raise the weighted bag than it will create as it drops.

    What the gravity light system does is store the energy without a battery so it can be used over a period of time.

    A possible improvement for this system is to use two bags. When the first bag reached the bottom, it "unlocks" the second bag to start its decent. Since the bags and the weight are inexpensive, this seems like a cost effective and mechanically easy way to double the time the lights will run. Next time, you just lift two bags and set the second bag's locking device.

    Thinking about this system for a while now, my biggest concern would be how durable it is. Will these lights hold up for 4-5 years being used for 3-5 hours every day?
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      Good idea on the 2nd bag, might as well go 4 bags & get 2-hours of electricity.

      For $5 I imagine all the gears will be plastic. They should create a stronger model even If it cost something like $25 each, that's still affordable for folks in the US If it means the light would last years. They could use the higher priced model to help reduce the cheaper model ($5), to make the cheaper model cost even less than $5 for folks in 3rd world countries.

      That light would be nice to have when the power/grid went down.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • Pretty cool beans here Kurt.
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    The GravityLight - Check It Out

    I love this idea. It's a small LED light that is powered by the energy created by a bag of weight and the effects of gravity: GravityLight: lighting for developing countries. | Indiegogo