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This Just Inbox: Patrick Hyland's Copper Phone Uses Heat for Power

By Lisa Smith - October 8, 2010

in Tech | Object Culture

Patrick Hyland is working on creating a "charger-free cell phone future." This means that, in addition to lowering electricity consumption, we won't have to mess with annoying chargers anymore and can stop throwing them away (because we won't have them in the first place).

According to Hyland, discarded chargers produce 51,000 tons of waste annually. To address this problem, he's proposed a cell phone that charges with heat. A conductive copper skin transmits heat to a thermogenerator inside, producing electricity when the phone is placed on a radiator or inside a pocket. The skin is engraved with small heatsinks, mimicking a sun-baked, dry earth pattern.

The phone is called the Nokia E-Cu, where E stands for environment and Cu for copper, of course.

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Berwin Malone

14 years ago

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Nice point Chris! No leg action! All kidding aside, I hope this concept works because I know all of us hate charging our phones.
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JP

14 years ago

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Patrick, if that's so, then .. build it, man. The design is awesome. You're gonna be rich dude. Good Luck. I'll finally upgrade my phone if I ever (/when I do) see this phone in stores.
JP
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Patrick Hyland

14 years ago

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I have done calculations and the technology for this is viable.

If you want more information please email me for enquiries- I can't just put it on here.

The Phone is still in its concept stages and I designed it back in 2009 and was at CSM so that was before I went to the RCA and Imperial and didn't have these kind of facilitates and now I do have access and intend to develop it further.

Patrick Hyland

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Darth Continent

14 years ago

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Isn't a potential drawback of this innovation that users who wish to optimize heat transfer (for example, by placing the charging surface in a frequently hot area such as the crotch) may be subject to more than a healthy dose of RF emissions?
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Meep

14 years ago

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Stories like this make me sad. How did this even get posted, and why?
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John Smith

14 years ago

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Check it out www.energyharvestingjournal.com
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Becky

14 years ago

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator :)
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J

14 years ago

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Hmm, i wonder how much energy you can disperse considering 1700 square centimeters of body surface generating a given amount of body heat (300BTU while awake) and this phone only covers like, 50-60cm at best. 300/1700*60 = 10BTU witch can be converted to electric current. At best we produce 500BTU. So a hopeless 5watts of power can be used trough this method. You'll have to invent an energy efficient phone first before applying these techniques.
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PJ

14 years ago

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Is it a working prototype? Or simply a mock up?

I wish the article was more clear on this.
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BrownEyeJenkins

14 years ago

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After you put it on the radiator, how do you pick it up when it's done charging? It would burn the crap out of you.
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Ippe Ziepe

14 years ago

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Why not? Heat is a form of energy. That IS how science works, right?
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classicviralvids

14 years ago

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That is freaking awesome. Finally, it feels more and more like the future.
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Niall

14 years ago

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Someone's looking to get himself some free VC money!
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ThermogeneratorFTW

14 years ago

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@ThermogeneratorWTF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator
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JP

14 years ago

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ThermoGWtf, whaddya mean? writing scifi conjecture; to drum up interest to get funding to get a project done? it kinda is how science works.. Now as to the physics of the device? yeah..i kinda agree with you. not seeing quite how this would be done.
he's an artist not an engineer dammit!
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Mark

14 years ago

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does it work? or is it a concept?
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Eric

14 years ago

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They can just put it next to the oven. Problem solved.
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Christ

14 years ago

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One problem I see is green fingers and pockets. Plus most women keep them in purses, so no leg action there.
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ScienceWTF

14 years ago

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This is not how thermogenerators work.
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Juan C

14 years ago

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Peltier Effect? Maybe, but that works on differential, not simply heating...either it needs a fat heat sink on the front, or maybe my wife's cold, cold hands.
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Hollis

14 years ago

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^Your comment doesn't bring anything to the table. I'm not even sure what your refering to. Thermoelectric generators are real and this is a promising application. The only hurtle that I'm seeing is that typically thermogenerators have a very low efficiency, so charging something like a phone, especially todays smartphones, would take awhile.
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tim Rowledge

14 years ago

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Cute idea, pretty texturing - but most importantly, where are the numbers on the energy production? Thermogenerators require a certain size and thermal gradient etc in order to produce energy. Dammit, Patrick, you're at the RCA and you have pretty much all the resources of the Imperial College of Science & Engineering at your disposal due to the joint course setup. I know - I was on the course 25 years (eek!) ago.
If you've done the calculations you should show them to validate the concept. If you haven't, you must.
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Keith F

14 years ago

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Hey! How come you didn't feature my phone? It gets its energy from the cosmic rays that bombard the earth. Oh yeah...I don't know how to make it work either.
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Jack Melson

14 years ago

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Yes too it is.
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ThermogeneratorWTF

14 years ago

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This is not how science works.
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