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Powering African Schools with Playground Toys

Dan Sheridan and his see-saw power idea for African schoolsThe BBC is running a story on a young inventor, 23-year old Daniel Sheridan, who has designed a teeter-totter (see-saw) that can be used to power school classrooms in Africa. His ultimate goal is to see a whole playground of energy-creating equipment.

“The current need for electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is staggering. Without power development is extremely difficult. The potential for this product is huge and the design could be of benefit to numerous communities in Africa and beyond.”

The idea came about after travels to East Africa, where he taught at a school and was inspired by the students. Daniel developed the see-saw power design as part of his final year at Coventry University. He has calculated that five to 10 minutes use on the see-saw could generate enough electricity to light a classroom for an evening.

Some Thoughts
What would be more interesting would be to see this idea built out with local supplies, as Daniel is going to be doing soon in Uganda. Then, with the knowledge learned there, see if it could fall into the same model of micro-entrepreneurial devices that we see with the KickStart water pumps. Speaking of which, this also reminds me of the PlayPumps idea, which also has a lot of potential.

Daniel states, “The unique selling point of this product is that it is not intended as a profit-making design.” I can only hope that he means this as profit for him. Profit making on the ground by Africans of this type of design could be crucial for its long-term success.

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12 comments for this post.

Comment from Uganda's Scarlett Lion
25 March 2008 - 8:38 pm - :

A friend of mine pointed me to the amazing photography of Marcus Bleasdale, who has worked extensively in Congo and Somalia, among other places. An innovative new means of power generation is covered onAfrigadget. A teeter-totter with some kind of energy trapping mechanism (I don’t know the specifics), when used by school kids for an hour, can light a classroom for an entire evening. The Guardian reports that Facebook is taking sides, and then trying not to,

A friend of mine pointed me to the amazing photography of Marcus Bleasdale, who has worked extensively in Congo and Somalia, among other places. An innovative new means of power generation is covered onAfrigadget. A teeter-totter with some kind of energy trapping mechanism (I don’t know the specifics), when used by school kids for an hour, can light a classroom for an entire evening. The Guardian reports that Facebook is taking sides, and then trying not to,

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Comment from SprogBlog
28 March 2008 - 1:51 am - :

AfriGadget – Powering African Schools with Playground ToysIt’s a teeter totter that generates electricity to power the school. John and I have been trying to decide if this is a treat for the good kids or a punishment for the bad kids… Go teeter totter!

AfriGadget – Powering African Schools with Playground ToysIt’s a teeter totter that generates electricity to power the school. John and I have been trying to decide if this is a treat for the good kids or a punishment for the bad kids… Go teeter totter!

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Comment from Usabilidade | human-computer interaction
19 May 2008 - 9:01 pm - :

já a trabalhar noutro melhor, capaz de fazer voos de 3 horas… ah! ele não tem qualquer formação na área da aeronáutica. Agora imaginem o que pode acontecer se derem a uma criança africana um computador – tipo One Laptop per Child – e umaescola onde possa dedicar-se a estudar, a ser criança e a ser feliz… muita coisa mudará! Mas esperem, isto não fica por aqui, outra estória incrível é a do jovem William Kamkwamba que naquele continente construiu um moinho de vento para gerar energia para a sua casa que alimenta 4

já a trabalhar noutro melhor, capaz de fazer voos de 3 horas… ah! ele não tem qualquer formação na área da aeronáutica. Agora imaginem o que pode acontecer se derem a uma criança africana um computador – tipo One Laptop per Child – e umaescola onde possa dedicar-se a estudar, a ser criança e a ser feliz… muita coisa mudará! Mas esperem, isto não fica por aqui, outra estória incrível é a do jovem William Kamkwamba que naquele continente construiu um moinho de vento para gerar energia para a sua casa que alimenta 4

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Comment from Low-tech Magazine: Why bottled water is good for the environment
22 March 2008 - 6:26 am - :

[...] Child labourPowering African schools with playground toys (read) [...]

[...] Child labourPowering African schools with playground toys (read) [...]

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Comment from tm
22 March 2008 - 10:11 am - :

While reading this, PlayPumps was the very first thing that came to mind. I wonder if he was aware of them and was a partial inspiration for this design?

I bet you could get a direct interview with him. It will certainly be fun to follow his journey and see how that first buildout will turn out. Maybe I can make a trip there to shoot video and photography of him building it :) You got anyone on the ground there with the Nokia N95?

Comment from Norman
22 March 2008 - 7:49 pm - :

thanks very much for the nice ideas and skills of geting Uganda get such nice ideas
As l could lob for the same to be included in my project for the orphans and needy school l do wish you the best to make that work

regards
Norman

Comment from Dave
23 March 2008 - 11:38 am - :

A really interesting idea with development potential. A good way to spend grant funds to establish something that is sustainable. If a locally built model can create jobs and produce an energy source that is more viable than existing such as solar and mini hydro it looks like a real opportunity.

The storage system is the crux – eg in the play pump, lifting the water into the reservoir effectively stores the erratic energy input that is inevitable given what children do with their time.

Can you keep us up to date on progress.

Comment from AfriGadget » Blog Archive » Fighting Hunger, One Village at a Time
30 March 2008 - 5:40 pm - :

[...] Contact « Powering African Schools with Playground Toys [...]

Comment from Links/Articles Tagged Between April 10th and April 22nd
22 April 2008 - 4:05 pm - :

[...] AfriGadget » Blog Archive » Powering African Schools with Playground Toys :: [Tags: africa energy invention ] [...]

Comment from If Thomas Edison Were Alive Today… « The Everyday Idealist
1 June 2008 - 4:49 pm - :

[...] a pretty awesome site; featuring small and ingenious fixes that have big results. Not all of the inventors are African, but their common focus is solving problems in [...]

Comment from Sustainability, Free Schooling, and Play « Adventures in Free Schooling
11 July 2008 - 6:53 am - :

[...] 11, 2008 Below is a partial post taken from the blog AfriGadget (about technological advancements by and for Africans): The BBC is [...]

Comment from jales
23 April 2009 - 5:19 am - :

woah i’m truly impressed by this idea. i really hope it can be and well be implemented .. brilliant!

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