Using rechargeables greatly reduces the number of batteries entering landfills, but many people don’t bother buying them, or the chargers that they require. That’s where earthCell batteries come in. They can be used like disposables, except that users send them away for for recharging or recycling when they’re dead.

earthCells are low self-discharge nickel metal hydride (LSD NiMH) batteries, which among other things are claimed to have a much longer shelf life than regular NiMH batteries, and longer run times than alkalines. When a customer’s earthCells do expire, they put them in a prepaid mailer. Once that mailer is full, the customer sends it off to the company.

Staff at earthCell will test each used battery that arrives. If it’s up to snuff, it will be “revitalized,” then resold – each battery can reportedly be recharged hundreds of times. If the battery is just too used up, it will be dismantled, so that its materials can be used to create new batteries.

“Our batteries are essentially rechargeable batteries,” earthCell founder Jason Rugolo told us. “They can be recharged at home in LSD NiMH chargers. Our understanding is that the vast majority of people out there don’t want to manage their battery stock, perhaps because batteries are an insignificant part of peoples’ lives.”

Rugolo is presently in the process of raising funds for his business, on Kickstarter. A pledge of US$13 will get you four AA and four AAA earthCell batteries, along with a mailer. Higher amounts will get you more, with pledges of $45 or over paying off in 10 AA’s and ten AAA’s.

Projected retail prices for the batteries haven’t been announced yet, although Jason has stated that they will be a much better value than disposables. So far, earthCells will only be available within the U.S.

The pitch video below includes some more details.

PepsiCo says it has developed the world’s first 100 percent plant-based PET bottle

Mountain Dew’s green bottles could become even "greener" with an announcement from PepsiCo claiming it has developed the world’s first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based, fully renewable resources including switch grass, pine bark and corn husks. The bottle not only offers a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to petroleum-based PET, but is also 100 percent recyclable.

The company says that by combining biological and chemical processes it has come up with a way to create a molecular structure that is identical to petroleum-based PET using plant-based materials, resulting in a bottle that looks and feels identical to current PET bottles. In the future, PepsiCo hopes to expand the renewable resources used to create the bottles to include orange peels, potato peels, oat hulls and other agricultural byproducts from its food business.

"PepsiCo is in a unique position, as one of the world’s largest food and beverage businesses, to ultimately source agricultural byproducts from our foods business to manufacture a more environmentally-preferable bottle for our beverages business," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi.

With the announcement PepsiCo gets some bragging rights over its main competitor. In comparison, Coca-Cola currently produces bottles that use 30 percent plant-based materials although it says it has produced a 100 percent plant-based bottle in the lab that is still undergoing testing. With both companies producing billions of PET bottles between them each year, the switch from petroleum-based to plant-based PET could have significant environmental impacts.

Over 60 percent of the world’s petroleum-based PET production is used as polyester for textile applications, while bottle production – usually for soft drinks – accounts for around 30 percent of global PET demand.

The plant-based bottle isn’t the first effort by PepsiCo to move towards more environmentally sustainable packaging. Its Frito-Lay division was also responsible for the world’s first fully compostable bag made from plant-based polylactic acid for its SunChips snacks in the U.S. and Canada.

PepsiCo says it will pilot production of the new bottle in 2012 and upon the expected successful completion of the pilot intends to move directly into full-scale commercialization.

The OnPlug is essentially a single-outlet power bar, that keeps household electric devices from drawing phantom power

Call it standby power, phantom power or vampire power, but the current drawn by various household electrical devices when they are supposedly “off” can account for up to ten percent of a home’s energy use. Fortunately, there are gizmos available that act as “middle men” between wall outlets and devices, completely shutting off the power supply when the devices are not in use. One of the newest is the OnPlug, which manages to come in at quite a low price point by avoiding the bells and whistles of similar products.

The OnPlug is pretty much just a single-outlet power bar. It has a male plug that goes into a wall socket, with a single female receptacle that receives a household device’s power cord. An on/off switch allows current to flow – or not to flow – through the OnPlug and into the device. When that switch is in the On position and power is going to a device that isn’t in use, an LED on the OnPlug will alert users that it should be turned turned off.

While the US$11 OnPlug isn’t the only product to do what it does, it is one of the simplest and least expensive. The Energenie is probably its closest competitor, and is available in versions that automatically turn themselves off after half an hour, that turn themselves off when the connected device goes into standby mode, that can be turned on and off via a wireless remote, or that have a built-in timer. Definitely handy features, although prices range from approximately US$13 to $21.

One supposed “bell” (or is it a whistle?) that the OnPlug lacks is a ground plug. Although this limits its applications, the company decided that the reduction in the unit’s size was worth the sacrifice – two OnPlugs can fit into one dual wall outlet, a claim that reportedly cannot be made by any other such device.

At this point, however, a logical question to ask might be, “Why not just unplug your devices?”. Well, you can, although OnPlug Innovations’ Gerry Heffernan believes that many people simply won’t go to the extra effort involved in doing so.

“Many of us do not want the bother or the hassle of unplugging,” he told. “The elderly find unplugging physically demanding. Sometimes outlets are located in an inconvenient place where bending over to touch off a switch would be easier.” He also noted that outlets are sometimes located in areas such as kitchen counters, where unplugged power cords would be in the way.

At first glance it might look a bit like an elongated pedal car for kids, but its designers are convinced the HumanCar Imagine PS NEV is a serious player in the search for cleaner, greener ways to get around. The vehicle converts the rowing motion of the driver and any passengers into rotational thrust to charge a battery and power the vehicle in conjunction with an electric motor. So not only is it healthy for the planet – it is healthy for the occupants too. And as an added bonus the vehicle can also be used store energy and act as a backup power generator to provide electricity to the home.

History

The HumanCar is the brainchild of Chief Scientist/Engineer Charles Samuel Greenwood P.E., who first hit upon the idea for a human powered car some 40 years ago. Sitting in a traffic jam in Silicon Valley in 1968 Greenwood noticed the many overweight commuters sitting in their cars breathing in noxious exhaust fumes. He was inspired to create a modest modification to vehicles that would reduce the need for conventional fuel, while at the same time providing exercise.

Searching for a full-body workout Greenwood eschewed a bicycle-type mechanism in favor of the rowing-like mechanism and developed the forerunner to the Impulse PS, the FM-4 (Fully Manual – 4 people). This was a research “skeleton” car that was built to test the concept of a human powered vehicle and the lessons it provided eventually led to the development of the Impulse PS (Power Station) NEV.

NEV

The innovative vehicle is dubbed an NEV because it falls into the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) classification for low speed vehicles. So although the HumanCar is capable of reaching speeds of around 62 mph (100 km/h) it is limited to 25 mph (around 40 km/h) to comply with the classification.

The car includes seating for four, with rowing handlebars for each passenger. It can be powered by one, two, three or four people, the battery-powered electric motor, or any combination of human and electric power. The battery can also be charged via a standard electrical outlet if you feel you’ve had your quota of exercise for the day.

To make the most out of the power generated the vehicle also incorporates a regenerative braking system and an advanced power system to enhance overall efficiency. Because steering using the rowing handles would be too difficult to control the vehicle is steered by "Body Steering" (read leaning into turns). According to Chuck Greenwood, HumanCar Inc. CEO and son of Charles Greenwood, this is apparently much more intuitive (not to mention more fun) than using a conventional steering wheel.

The vehicle’s custom CPU operates off trigger buttons on the center brake handle to engage functions such as regenerative power, power up and cruise control. Other available features include a human/machine interface (HMI) touch-screen display with GPS and biometric data logging, iPod integrated sound systems, and Bluetooth compatible on-board computing/communications devices. The vehicle is especially suited to generate the power required to operate these devices. An all-weather foldout ragtop roof is also available for commuting in the rain.

Team Building

With much of the interest in the HumanCar focusing on the environmental and physical health advantages of the car, it’s easy to overlook one of the side benefits – the social aspect. According to its developers the car engenders feelings of teamwork and social bonding amongst the occupants. After all, there’s nothing like working together to forge some team spirit. And although that’s no doubt true when trips in the HumanCar are still a novelty, I can’t help imagining arguments emanating from the back seats on family outings with one sibling blaming another for not pulling their weight – but maybe that’s just my family.

Universal Appeal

Key to the HumanCar concept is the chassis itself, which has been designed to adapt as technology evolves. The universal design of the chassis means it can use many different power systems and batteries, controls and motors and all these components can be upgraded without needing to replace the entire vehicle.

In the near future the company also plans to integrate proximity braking systems and multi-stage airbags into production units. And as features such as park assist and crash control become more "off the shelf" they will also be integrated.

Versions that employ “more traditional operator inputs” are also in development.

Electricity Generation

The HumanCar isn’t just a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle either. It can also function as an exercise-based human electric power station, or in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) mode to feed electricity back into the grid. A report on CNN showed four people rowing for a couple of minutes generated enough electricity to power a PC for well over an hour. So if you don’t need to go anywhere you can jump in the car for some exercise that will generate electricity for your home or to be fed back into the grid.

DUET GEN Home Power Generator

The company is also taking this idea further by planning to release a home power generator product called the DUET GEN. This is a two-person unit that is also modular to fit the chassis system used in the HumanCar vehicle and is small enough to fold up and fit in a large suitcase. The device is perfect for anyone wanting a way to get fit and help the environment but aren’t yet willing or able to take the full plunge on the HumanCar vehicle.

Already the company has received more than 200 orders for the current Imagine, which are currently being produced as pure research/exotics with a price of US$75,000. Full commercial production of the Imagine PS NEV will begin once the break even point of around 800 orders are reached, which looks to be sometime this year. The vehicles will be priced at US$15,500 each.

For the moment the HumanCar is limited to non-highway or ‘neighborhood’ roads, but there are higher performance versions under development that are planned for highway travel.

There’s no doubt that in the race for green power the human body has been overlooked in favor of alternative fuel sources such as biofuels, hydrogen etc. But the human body is a veritable powerhouse that so many of us under utilize – as our expanding waistlines will attest to. With the majority of car trips people make falling into the short, local variety the Impulse PS NEV could well be a viable, reasonably priced alternative that not only helps the planet, but helps the health of its occupants too.

For more info, or to place an order head to HumanCar’s website.

A self-balancing unicycle experimental vehicle from Honda to be shown at the Tokyo Motor Show next month might just be history in the making. Weighing less than 10kg, the 24 by 12 by 6-inch U3-X experimental vehicle runs for an hour, is small enough to be carried onto an airplane as hand luggage, has a wheel which spins in two planes and is set to challenge, perhaps even change, society’s concept of personal mobility.

Little more than a century after mass market personal transport became a reality, it seems we’re set to have a mobility renaissance thanks to the need for zero emission vehicles, better electric motors, rapidly improving battery technology and the exploding field of material science.

Mass produced personal transport currently comes in two, three and four wheeled forms but with new materials and technologies beginning to catch up with science fiction, and an army of young designers unrestrained by old thinking, the concept of personal transport seems set to evolve into forms that we have hardly before imagined.

The need for urgent action on global warming has seen large amounts of money allocated to R&D for environmentally sustainable transport and we’re beginning to see a range of new and very different form factors.

At the IBC conference a fortnight ago in Amsterdam I tried a device known as the Hands Free Transporter, a Segway derivative with the normal handlebars replaced by controls held between the knees.

I was very taken with the HFT’s capabilities and potential as a personal transport solution for the masses.

The focus of this story is a similar but much smaller experimental one-wheeled device that fits comfortably between a rider’s legs, and balances on one wheel to provide free movement in all directions just as if you were walking – forward, backward, side-to-side, and diagonally, all seamlessly.

A prime example of just how far R&D has advanced personal transport in such a short time, is the Embrio, a self-balancing Unicycle concept shown by Bombardier (now BRP) in 2003. The design study anticipated what type of personal transport we might be using in the year 2025. The Embrio concept was developed by BRP using technologies it expected to achieve mass market viability in the ensuing 22 years and I remember writing the story, and thinking how much it sounded like science fiction.

Though Honda’s U3-X is still experimental, only runs for an hour, isn’t as fast as the Embrio and is not hydrogen fuel cell powered, it is already in prototype form and weighs just 10 kg, rather than the 164 kg weight BRP expected of the Embrio in 2025.

Six years later, Honda’s U3-X is one sixteenth of the weight of the Embrio envisioned for 2025 – and 2025 is still more than a decade and a half away.

And though the HFT is two-wheeled rather than one, it has a top speed of 20 kmh, weighs in at 50kg and it is available now.

Honda’s U3-X was cleverly developed by pursuing the concept of “harmony with people” and with its size and weight, it will clearly mix comfortably with pedestrian traffic, though Honda will be conducting extensive testing in a real-world environment to verify and refine the practicality of the device.

The design of the U3-X places the rider on the eye level zone of other pedestrians so that it as friendly and non-threatening to fellow footpath users as possible, while also making it easier for the rider to reach the ground from the footrest without stretching.

Like the Segway and Hands Free Transporter, the U3-X’s speed is adjusted by shifting body weight, though the U3-X adds a whole new dimension in that it doesn’t just go backwards and forwards – it goes sideways, thanks to an ingenious omni-directional wheel system which Honda has dubbed its “HOT Drive System” which is short for Honda Omni Traction Drive System.

Now standing back and trying to view the U3-X with some historical perspective, it’s quite possible that a hundred years from now when battery technology has improved its energy density several orders of magnitude, this machine might well be viewed in the same light as the first examples of the automobile produced by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler 120 years ago.

Clearly personal transport must get smaller and lighter, particularly if it is to share the footpath with humans made from flesh and blood. It also makes sense to make personal transportation devices easily backpackable, so they can be carried on public transport, and at just two feet tall and 12 inches by six inches in cross section, the U3-X is so small that it would never disrupt crowd flow or obstruct a railway carriage as we often see with bicycles on public transport around the world.

Being small and light has its advantages in that it takes much less energy to move it, a lesson that seems to have taken us more than a century to learn with our cars. It’s also not the first time that someone has thought of applying self-balancing technology to the unicycle format, as we’ve covered several concepts employing something like this in recent times, namely the Unomoto One-wheeled Self-balancing Electric Unicycle and this Focus Designs Unicycle Concept.

Redefining next-generation mobility for Honda is the role of Honda’s well-funded R&D Corporation’s Fundamental Technology Research Center in Saitama in Japan which was the birthplace of Honda’s bipedal, humanoid robot ASIMO back in 1986. Developmental work at the FTR Center has seen Asimo evolve rapidly through more than 30 iterations in the last two decades. FTR is also where the remarkable walking assist devices  the company has been showing over the last two years took shape and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next. My bet is that the form factor of the U3-X is probably very close to what we’ll see when it reaches market – just when that will be is anybody’s guess, and will most probably be dictated by advances in battery technology beyond the devices lithium ion batteries, cos one hour just isn’t enough just yet.

With the world’s most prolific demographic, the post-war baby boom moving into old age, Honda and the world’s number one automobile manufacturer (Toyota) both recognize that low speed, footpath bound mobility assist devices will be in great demand a decade from now. Toyota has also shown both walking- and wheeled-chair mobility assist devices in addition to its iREAL wheeled exoskeleton which I was lucky enough to try at the last full Tokyo Motor Show back in 2007.

While the Segway and BRP Embrio use sensors and electric motors to remain upright, the balance control technology of the Honda U3-X is not specified, though it was developed through the robotics research of ASIMO, Honda’s bipedal humanoid robot.

As I found with the Hands Free Transporter I tried, which I simply hopped aboard and rode away, controlling a device with body weight alone is surprisingly easy and within a minute or two, it’s like you are controlling a vehicle with thought alone as I was able to be incredibly precise with the HFT and Honda’s press statement predicts similar results with the U3-X.

It works like this – sensors detect slight changes in the incline of the device based on the weight shift of the rider and determines the rider’s intention in terms of the direction and speed. Based on the data, the machine delivers smooth and agile movements and simple operation by weight shift only.

Though it is a genuine engineering triumph of some magnitude in its entirety, the U3-X’s most remarkable piece of engineering is the Honda Omni Traction Drive System which enables both forward and backward movement as well as side-to-side movement.

The HOT drive is indeed one of the coolest things you have ever seen if you’re mechanically inclined and consists of many small motor-controlled wheels in-line connected to form one large wheel. Forward and backward movement is done by moving the large wheel, and side-to-side movement is done by moving the small wheels. By combining both, the U3-X moves diagonally, though to the rider, it’s more like thinking “I’ll go that way”, and away it goes.

When being carried, the seat and the footrests fold away so it looks more like a ghetto blaster than a transportation device.

And at Honda’s stated weight of less than 10kg, the light-weight it’s highly portable – indeed, it’s not that long ago that computers weighed more than this.

Finally, the U3-X will also incorporate a car2car and car2driver and car2infrastructure communications system named HELLO! (Honda ELectric mobility LOop) and a LOOP portable communication tool that fits in the palm of your hand and “allows people and mobility devices to communicate with each other.”

Though the Tokyo Motor Show is still four weeks away, and promises to be the most significant car show in recent history due to the plethora of eco-centric vehicles we’ll see, I’d be very surprised if the U3-X isn’t the vehicle that we’ll read about in history books a century from now. It just might be a landmark device in transportation history.

Mike Hanlon

IBM predicts smarter buildings, transportation, water systems, medical will impact cities in the next five years

Casting one’s eye into a crystal ball is a risky undertaking that can leave the forecaster as visionary or fool – particularly if they are short term predictions that can easily be checked. But that hasn’t deterred the soothsayers at IBM coming up with their fourth annual “Next 5 in 5” list of innovations that will impact our lives in the next five years.

Because the world is experiencing unprecedented urbanization, with last year seeing the majority of the world’s population residing in cities for the first time in history, IBM has focused on innovations that have the potential to change how people live, work and play in cities around the globe in the coming years. The list is based on market and societal trends expected to transform cities, as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s labs around the world that have the potential to turn these predictions into reality. So what does IBM think we can expect?

Cities will have healthier immune systems

Given their population density, IBM says cities will remain hotbeds of communicable diseases. However, the emergence of a “health Internet” will give city officials, hospitals, schools and workplaces the ability to better detect, track, prepare for and prevent infections. IBM predicts this system will share anonymous medical information contained in electronic health records to provide information for public health officials to know when, where and how diseases are spreading and even which neighborhoods will be affected next. IBM is already working with organizations to standardize methods for sharing health information and analyzing infectious disease outbreaks that would enable such a system.

City buildings will sense and respond like living organisms

The trend towards “smart buildings” has already started and IBM says the trend will only gather pace with technology used to manage building systems such as heat, water, sewage, electricity, etc. Thousands of sensors inside buildings will monitor everything from motion and temperature to humidity, occupancy and light. This system will enable repairs before something breaks, emergency units to respond quickly with the necessary resources, and consumers and business owners to monitor their energy consumption and carbon emission in real-time and take action to reduce them.

Cars and buses will run on empty

This one is a pretty safe bet too. The switch from fossil fuel powered vehicles is already underway and, although there are a few potential energy sources including hydrogen and various biofuels vying for consideration, IBM predicts that improved battery technology will be the technology to power the next generation of eco-friendly vehicles. It says the new batteries won’t need to be recharged for days or months at a time, depending on how often the vehicles are driven, and will allow trips of 300 to 500 miles (480 – 800km) on a single charge. Also smart grids in cities will allow vehicles to be charged in public places using renewable energy, such as wind power, for charging so they no longer rely on coal-powered plants.

Smarter systems will quench cities’ thirst for water and save energy

To deal with the estimate that demand for water is expected to increase sixfold in the next 50 years cities will install smarter water systems to reduce water waste by up to 50 percent. Smart sewer systems will also be installed that not only prevent run-off pollution in rivers and lakes, but purify water to make it drinkable. Advanced water purification technologies will help cities recycle and reuse water locally, reducing energy used to transport water by up to 20 percent. Like smart electricity meters, interactive meters and sensors will be integrated into water systems to provide users with real time, accurate information about their water consumption to allow them to make better decisions about how and when they use this valuable resource.

Cities will respond to a crisis – even before receiving an emergency phone call

IBM hasn’t given a lot of details about just how such technology would be implemented – although it won’t be through the use of precogs like those used in the movie Minority Report – simply saying that analyzing the right information at the right time will help prevent emergencies, such as crime and disasters.

IBM says it is already helping law enforcement agencies analyze information that will allow public servants to take proactive measures to head off crime. Also the New York Fire Department has selected IBM to build a state-of-the-art system for collecting and sharing data in real-time and the company is also designing smart levee systems to prevent cities from devastating floods.

IBM hasn’t really gone out on a limb with any of their predictions. As any regular reader would know, all of the innovations outlined by IBM are already emerging, which is hardly surprising given IBM’s next five years timeframe.

Five years could be an optimistic time frame, especially when you look back at the first IBM Next 5 in 5 list compiled in 2006. It predicted the rise of a 3-D Internet and real-time speech translation becoming the norm. That leaves only one year for this to take place. Although there have been advances in both areas, it couldn’t really be said that either has changed many people’s lives just yet. It’s hard to think the same won’t be true for this new list five years from now.