Every useful electronics project deserves a good enclosure. Providing a proper case for your circuit can protect it from accidental spills & falls - plus give it a cool look you can proudly show off to those unfamiliar with soldering and such.
Follow along with Collin as he turns a barebones function generator kit into a sturdy and versatile tone-box fit for noise-jamming & testing purposes. Get more info and a parts bundle:
AIDG’s Technology R&D Program is pleased to present a new series of technical documents that have been produced during various projects we have worked on in the last 5 years. During the first 3 years of the program, the documentation was produced in a haphazard way, but around the beginning of 2008 we realized that that wasn’t going to provide a good base for future work the way that more systematic documentation could. Since that point, we have tried to document projects more thoroughly as they are ongoing, so that the information isn’t lost and we and others can build on the work that has been done. During the last year, we have been extremely lucky to have intern Ben Dana undertake the arduous task of pulling together information from many of the previous projects and put into one place.
In presenting these documents, we would like to accomplish two things. First, we would like to provide anyone who is interested the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and our successes, to see a bit of the process we have gone through in different development projects, and apply those lessons to their own projects. Second, we would like to tap into the worldwide appropriate technology community and stimulate further development of the technologies we have worked with.
We’re still developing a plan for how to best stimulate this type of development. In the next few months, we hope to pursue alliances and implement tools to allow the information to spread as far as possible, to encourage people to do further work, and to provide a forum for discussion of that work and presentation of results. In the meanwhile, we’d like to present several documents, and we invite everyone to comment on them, on anything and everything that comes to mind. We’re looking for feedback on format, appearance, the type and quantity of information that the documents contain, and anything else.
Mitchell-Banki turbine
These are the documents we will be presenting over the following weeks:
Picohydro Bucket Generator
Build Manual
Turbine Performance Testing Results
Alternator Performance Testing Results
Serpentine Solar Water Heater
Build Manual in English and Spanish
Design Manual in English and Spanish
Rocket Box Stove
Build Manual in English and Spanish
Design Manual in English and Spanish
Jan Portegjis’ Hummingbird Electronic Load Controller
Our experience with the circuit and modifications we have made, in English and Spanish
Condensed Design Manual in Spanish
Mitchell-Banki Turbine
Design Manual
Fabrication Manual
Project Summary from Corazon del Bosque Installation
Waste Oil Foundry
Design Manual
Build Manual
Pelton Turbine
Our experience with the turbine and modifications we have made of Practical Action’s design
Manufacturing guide
Project Design Document from Nueva Alianza Installation
For each of the technologies we will be doing a blog post, and the documents will be linked to from the blog post. I hope that you all enjoy the documents, that they are useful, and most of all that you tell us what you think.
Energy poverty is hardship caused by insufficient energy sources and/or their inefficient or deleterious use. EarthSpark International is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the causes and effects of energy poverty and thereby empower communities in need. EarthSpark achieves this by developing local businesses and country‐scale supply chains for clean and efficient energy technologies; providing technical education and training to farmers, students and small and micro‐enterprise owners; and mitigating local environmental damage caused by energy poverty. EarthSpark envisions a world where forests thrive; where schools, hospitals and businesses are reliably powered; where homes have safe, clean energy sources; and where all residents have the opportunities for advancement and health that robust forests and clean energy provide. This spring, EarthSpark launched its pilot Tree Nursery Business Project and Clean Energy Store Project in Haiti. Together, these projects are expected to have a significant impact on two towns with a combined population exceeding 50,000. Please visit EarthSpark’s website to learn about its history, leaders, and current projects: http://www.earthsparkinternational.org.
Description:
We seek to hire an Executive Director who shares EarthSpark’s vision and convictions. The Executive Director will be an entrepreneurial leader with the capacity for perseverance and innovation, both as an individual and as a team member. This individual will have an enthusiasm for EarthSpark’s mission and will possess the ability to persuade, inspire and motivate others. The Executive Director will also be adept at solving the practical problems of daily operations in an entrepreneurial international organization.
Requirements:
Other qualities the Executive Director will possess include:
Collegiality: ability to communicate, listen, and collaborate with partners
Strong sense of self, ethics, and integrity
Ability to learn by doing and to adapt and respond constructively to challenges
Experience working in low-income neighborhoods in the U.S., a developing country, or in the international arena would be valuable but not essential
A willingness to work at EarthSpark sites in Haiti about 25% of the time
Proficiency in Haitian Creole or French would be valuable but not essential
Community organizing experience (e.g., grassroots coalition-building with networks of community leaders and partners) would be valuable but not essential
Duties and Responsibilities:
Executive Leadership:
Serve as an international ambassador for EarthSpark, strengthening its reputation and public image
Continually refine and improve organizational approaches that support EarthSpark’s mission
Communicate frequently with EarthSpark donors, partners and extended network contacts
Coordinate and lead EarthSpark’s fundraising efforts
Manage day-to-day operations and lead by inspiring and motivating partners, colleagues, and EarthSpark’s extended networks
Engage the Board to help EarthSpark achieve its programmatic, financial and mission objectives
Work cooperatively with the Board to complete and continuously refine EarthSpark’s strategic plan
On-the-Ground Duties:
Market research: requires survey design and analysis; strong familiarity with existing academic and institutional research in the development literature; strong familiarity with existing organizations working at the intersection of energy and development; strong familiarity with social, political and economic conditions of the developing world
Project development: requires cultural awareness; ability to conduct meetings with community associations with a translator; identifying strong, local liaisons and strong, local project managers; ability to set appropriate targets and goals for liaisons and project managers as well as to follow-through on targets
Project follow-through: requires site visits to project; coordination between international and domestic vendors, importers, distributors, and project manager via phone and e-mail Community Organizing:
Seek out community support and build a base of support in Haiti among community members and existing local organizations in Haiti
Based on community needs and participation, develop projects and programs that further EarthSpark’s mission
Coordinate with EarthSpark partners in Haiti to provide tools and trainings that will allow partners to realize their goals and meet performance targets
Help to implement and evaluate programs that support EarthSpark’s mission and the goals of its partners
Collaborate with partners in Haiti to measure EarthSpark’s impact through rigorous monitoring and evaluation
Supervision and Oversight:
The Executive Director will have a high level of responsibility and autonomy in daily tasks but will collaborate with senior staff on important matters
The Executive Director will answer to the Board of Directors
Evaluation of the Executive Director will be carried out by the Board and founders annually
To Apply We ask that applicants submit their resume and cover letter to info {at] earthsparkinternational [dot} org by November 15, 2009.
08 December 2009 - UN MINUSTAH: The “biodigestor” - a pilot project in a poor neighborhood in Port-au-Prince is making methane gas for electricity, using human waste from public toilets. If successful, the project would provide an alternative, green fuel to wood charcoal, and could help the country overcome its massive environmental problems linked to deforestation.
One poor neighborhood in Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince, is the scene of a new pilot project that will provide new sources of energy, and improve basic sanitation on the streets.
The project starts with some public toilets. Here, for the price of about a penny (US$0.01) residents have the chance to clean up, and use the bathroom. In most Haitian cities, people dont have access to running water. So modern toilets are a real luxury. Particularly when they are open to the public.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Aline Saint-Fort, Public Bathroom Attendant:
Other public toilets are no where near as clean. And they are expensive. In most places in the city you pay five or even ten cents to use the bathroom thats ten times what we charge.
With the capacity to take one thousand users a day, the project hopes to improve sanitation. But the real benefit is a by-product produced in the yard outside. Engineers with Viva Rio, the Brazilian NGO that runs the project, built this large underground reaction tank called a biodigestor. Inside it are bacteria that are transforming human waste into methane gas a biofuel that can be used as a powerful, and virtually free, source of energy.
SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Valmir FACHINI, Project Coordinator, Viva Rio:
The way it works is simple. The waste comes from the toilets, and gets dumped into the reaction tank. This starts the fermentation process, the produces bio-gas. The gas crosses a column of water, and comes to rest at the top of the tank. This bio-gas can be used for cooking and electricity.
The fermentation inside the bio-digestor also enriches the roots of the surrounding foliage, which act as a filter for liquid waste.
SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Valmir FACHINI, Project Coordinator, Viva Rio:
This reactor has a capacity to produce fifty cubic meters of biogas per day. This will generate 3000 watts of electricity per twenty four hours.
Biogas is cheap and easy to produce. If the project is replicated, it could give Haitians green alternatives to charcoal fuel. This would combat deforestation the underlying cause of the countrys massive environmental problems.
And thats not all. Filtered water coming out of the bio-digestor is rich in nutrients and can support many forms of plant and animal life. Ducks feed on insect larvae. And fish prosper here. With proper care this pond will become a fishery, creating food and jobs in the neighborhood.
SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Valmir FACHINI, Project Coordinator, Viva Rio:
Here in these tanks, the water comes rich with nutrients. The sunlight permits the production of algae. And the algae are the primary food source for fish.
So one pilot project in Port-au-Prince is helping an underserved neighborhood to produce green energy and improve sanitation at the same time.
This past February, AIDG gave Haitian solar start-up, ENERSA, a $15,000 emergency loan to help it rebuild its factory damaged in the January 12 earthquake that rocked the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
Duration: 2 minutes 14 seconds
Before the quake struck, Enersa was the fastest growing solar company in Haiti, with contracts in all 10 departments and installations in 58 cities and remote villages. The 2 and a half year old company is the brainchild of Haitian born Jean Ronel Noël and Alex Georges who met in graduate school in Montreal while pursuing degrees in mechanical engineering and business administration. In 2000, the two decided they needed to return to Haiti to start a business that could create positive change in their home country.
Enersa’s product line includes solar street lighting, residential and commercial solar systems, and solar chargers for smaller devices like cell phones and lamps. They initially settled on LED streetlights as a flagship product after seeing Japanese company Nichia’s white LEDs in action on Montreal’s streets. The big question for them at the time was what would they use as an energy source if they wanted to port this technology to Haiti. Haiti’s electricity infrastructure was notoriously unreliable in urban zones and nonexistent in rural areas. However, the country’s location in the sun-drenched tropics and the relatively modest energy requirements of LED systems made solar an attractive option for the Enersa team, if a suitable price point could be reached.
In steps Richard Comp of Maine Solar and Skyheat who would come to be Noel and Georges’ mentor. He introduced the team to methods of solar fabrication including inexpensive ways of encapsulating PV cells. Through Skyheat, Comp has trained teams in Mali, Nicaragua, Haiti and Peru in small-scale solar panel manufacturing.
AIDG first learned about Enersa when our Executive Director, Peter Haas met Noel and Georges at the Inter-American Development Bank Haiti Business forum in Port-au-Prince last September.
“I was immediately impressed by [Noel] an engineer who taught himself the electrical engineering he was missing by using the free online engineering resources of MIT Opencourseware from Port Au Prince,” says Haas. “Also, after seeing the dramatic bootstrapping JR and Alex had done in starting their business, it was clear this team was different.”
My interaction with JR last week during a tour of the damaged Enersa facility reinforced that impression. Though the factory had sustained much damage — several collapsed interior and exterior walls, JR was optimistic about the company’s outlook. With the help of our emergency funding and some smart maneuvering, he expected to be back in production in a few short weeks. Enersa was lucky in that all their employees were safely accounted for and little of their inventory was damaged. Their latest shipment of solar cells had been safe in Miami at the time of the disaster.
In our chat, Noël stressed the importance of creating jobs in Haiti. He believes that for Haiti to flourish, enjoy sustained growth and ultimately transition into a developed nation, businesses need to create local employment opportunities. So rather than simply importing completed panels and lights, Enersa imports the basic building blocks and employs local youth for production and installation. In their solar streetlights for example, the small panel, LED lights and towers are all made in Haiti. The company’s 18 fully qualified solar technicians, all capable of installing solar streetlights and photovoltaic home systems, are from Port-au-Prince largest shantytown, Cité Soleil. An added benefit of local production, Noel added, is that their completed panels are also 25% cheaper. Double win.
Enersa’s client focus for the near future will be NGOs and private companies in Haiti who need reliable access to electricity and want to support a socially responsible local business.
To contact Enersa, please email enersahaiti {at] gmail (dot}com.
Tens of thousands of people from nearly every nation on earth have descended on Copenhagen this month for the UN climate summit. As the delegates try to piece together a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they’re also absorbing lessons from one of the world’s leading cities in sustainable transportation. In Copenhagen, fully 37 percent of commute trips are made by bike, and mode share among city residents alone is even higher.
Come see “the busiest bicycling street in the Western world”, and lots of other you-gotta-see-them-to-believe-them features including bike counters (featuring digital readouts), LEDS, double bike lanes (for passing) and giant hot pink cars.
Catapult Design is working with AIDG and the [Appropriate Technology Design Team] to design an affordable wind-powered generator capable of producing enough electricity to charge a cell phone, power a radio, or operate LED lights for nighttime use. The generator is intended for rural, off-the-grid communities without electricity. Catapult Design’s product, a pico vertical-axis wind turbine, is designed to operate in low wind speeds while charging a
12v car battery – this battery will in turn power small electrical devices.
Duration: 20 sec
The setup and control station down at the NASA-Ames Research Facility wind tunnels in Mountain View, home for our wind turbine blade testing.
William Kamkwamba, from Malawi, is a born inventor. When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, working from rough plans he found in a library book called Using Energy and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home.
My favorite thing about William’s story and this interview with John Stewart is that it provides a storybook example of how access to information either through your local library or through the internet can be life-changing. William’s current path started because he picked up a book and did what so many autodidacts and tinkerers do. He started to make things. He’s on his way to Dartmouth next year through a series of serendipitous internet events. Blogger Mike McMay (Hacktivate) read about him in a local Malawian newspaper. After reading Mike’s writeup, Emeka Okafor (Timbuktu Chronicles blogger and AIDG advisory board member) “spent several weeks tracking him down at his home in Masitala Village, Wimbe, and invited him to attend TEDGlobal on a fellowship”.
Following Kamkwamba’s moving talk, there was an outpouring of support for him and his promising work. Members of the TED community got together to help him improve his power system (by incorporating solar energy), and further his education through school and mentorships.
After his ‘discovery’, William gets into the African Leadership Academy, a prep school in Johannesburg founded by fellow Echoing Green alums, Chris Bradford and Fred Swaniker. Somehow with all these changes going on, he also manages to write a book, The Boy who Harnessed the Wind with Bryan Mealer.
Yup, all this because of a simple trip to the library. It makes me feel rather nostalgic for Levar Burton and the Reading Rainbow. All that books can transport you stuff.
Because I imagine that the theme song is currently playing in your brain, here are the lyrics just in case that little voice inside your head forgot the words ;).
Reading Rainbow Theme Song
Butterfly in the sky
I can go twice as high
Take a look
It’s in a book
A Reading Rainbow
I can go anywhere
Friends to know
And ways to grow
A Reading Rainbow
I can be anything
Take a look
It’s in a book
A Reading Rainbow
A Reading Rainbow
Pop the name of a book that changed your life in the comments. Mine are the Rand McNally atlas and basic science books that my mom got me as a kid. They kicked off my love of science and learning.
The non-profit TED has selected AIDG’s Executive Director Peter Haas as one of 20 inaugural Senior Fellows. The TED Senior Fellows program is designed to bring together young world-changers and trailblazers from the arts, science, entrepreneurship, the NGO sector and education. As part of its commitment to TED, AIDG will be launching an exciting new initiative in our technology research and development program in 2010 that will transform our ability to do research with local and university partners. We’ll be able to share more details next year.
Two of our favorite bloggers Erik Hersman (Co-founder of Ushahidi.com; blogger, AfriGadget and White African) and Juliana Rotich (Co-founder, Ushahidi.com; blogger, Afromusing and Global Voices) are also 2010 senior Fellows.
Erik Hersman of Afrigadget documents low-tech entrepreneurialism in Africa. Specifically he looks at ingenuity born of necessity, “tech that keeps economies on life support”. Raised in Sudan (until the war got bad), Kenya, and then again Sudan, he’s a bit of a tech anthropologist searching for Africans solutions to African problems.
From wikipedia
Ushahidi (Kiswahili for “testimony” or “witness”) was a website created in the aftermath of Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election that collected eyewitness reports of violence sent in by email and text-message and placed them on a Google map. It is also the name of the open source software developed for that site, which has since been improved, released freely, and used for a number of similar projects.
.
.
.
The software has since been used to track violence in Congo and pharmacy stockouts in Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Malawi, and monitor elections in Mexico and India, among other projects. It was also used by Al Jazeera to collect eyewitness reports during the 2008-2009 Gaza War.
In addition to Pete, Eric and Juliana, here are the 17 other fellows:
Taghi Amirani (Iran/UK) - Documentary filmmaker, Amirani Films
Rachel Armstrong (UK) - Teaching fellow, The Bartlett School of Architecture; physician; science-fiction author
Frederick Balagadde (Uganda/US) - Research scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; co-inventor of the microchemostat, a medical diagnostic chip
April Karen Baptiste (Trinidad) - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Colgate University
AIDG, P.O. Box 104, Weston, MA 02493. Phone: 800-401-3860 Fax:
866-450-8016. AIDG, Inc. is a 501c (3) non-profit organization.
We would never rent, sell or exchange your email. Read our privacy
statement for more information.
![Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to Del.icio.us](http://www.aidg.org/components/com_jd-wp/wp-content/plugins/social_bookmarks/delicious.png "Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to Del.icio.us")
![Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to digg](http://www.aidg.org/components/com_jd-wp/wp-content/plugins/social_bookmarks/digg.png "Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to digg")
![Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to FURL](http://www.aidg.org/components/com_jd-wp/wp-content/plugins/social_bookmarks/furl.png "Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to FURL")
![Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to reddit](http://www.aidg.org/components/com_jd-wp/wp-content/plugins/social_bookmarks/reddit.png "Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to reddit")
![Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to Stumble Upon](http://www.aidg.org/components/com_jd-wp/wp-content/plugins/social_bookmarks/stumbleupon.png "Add 'Video: Circuit Skills: Electronics Enclosures [Make Magazine]' to Stumble Upon")
