Email from Will to Luke, which Luke forwarded to us:
Dear Luke,
Thankyou for your time today and last night.
...
MD Vawtech Ltd
www.profitablegroup.com
Our Response:
Hi Will,
I'm Owen Derby, part of a roughly 8-person MIT undergraduate team
working on a proposal to submit to the One Laptop Per Child Africa
Movement. We are currently working with Luke Dolby from the NGO Build A
School to work out the details of our project. As you know, the issue of
power is essential to our being able to deploy these laptops. Luke sent
us your questions regarding power, and our answers are attached (see attachment to wiki!). Our
answers are the collective wisdom of our team and some members of OLPC
(specifically Seth and Brian Johnson) who have more knowledge and past
experience about power in Africa.
First, an OLPC page on power which should be helpful: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Battery_and_power
I would like to respond to your suggestion of a mechanical charging
system (merry-go-round,hand crank, etc). OLPC has already designed and
built and tested several mechanical solutions, all of which failed for a
very simple reason. No one can spend an hour and a half turning a crank
each time a battery needs charging. It's tiring even for an adult, let
alone children. The merry go round is an interesting idea, but again
would probably be very tiring (could also be expensive depending on its
design) and I fear the children would tire of it. So OLPC strongly
advise against such solutions, since they've already tried them. As for
electrical solutions at the child's home, that could cause a lot more
problems than it creates, as there are many more homes in the town than
just ones with children receiving a laptop. It would also require a lot
more of our time, since we'd have to set up close to 100 such systems,
versus just one if it's located at the school. And we'll need to have
power at the school to charge the laptops and run the server anyways
(assuming the school has access to internet). So I think our best
solution is some sort of power generation system at the school.
Below, I have included more information about OLPC for your reference.
Again, please see the attachment for the answers to your questions, and
please let me know if you have any more questions or if there is
anything else I can do to help you. Thank you again for taking the time
to advise us and Luke on this critical issue.
OLPC:
OLPCorps is sponsoring 100 teams of university students to distribute XO
laptops in rural areas of Africa to children ages 6-12. Each team
receives 100 laptops, one server, and a 10,000 USD stipend to cover
travel and lodging costs. Teams must submit proposals detailing how they
will work with the children, who will be the local partner (a
non-governmental organization), and how they will ensure the laptops
have a lasting effect on the community. These laptops are agents of
change and, by providing education, can help children achieve their
potential. Please see http://laptop.org/en/ and http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_Africa for more information about
OLPC.
Thank you,
Owen Derby
...