IDEA: Change answerphone message during car usage automatically

Hi,
  as there is often a chance that I forget to switch the mobile phone off during driving, I find myself tempted to answer the phone during commuting. Hence, I would like to use a gadget of sort -- possibly bluetooth based that can switch the answer phone message automatically when I am sitting in the car. It also could switch it back once I leave the car.

  People calling me would not be so disturbed that I am not answering immediately and maybe inclinded to leave a message instead.

IDEA: DIY clothing

Hi,
  clothing comes as of the rack or tailored. I could imagine that clothing could be combined when suitably build just like a puzzle. Straight pieces like the back, sides and front can be made of regular rectangles or triangles. Only pieces like shoulders and neck may require customisation.

  Hence the idea of a DIY kit for clothes that allows a fashion able person to combine various elements and patterns in a semi permanent fasion ( zippers, magnetic, velcro or otherwise ). With various elements and details a person may be able to develop reusable and distinguishable clothing.

IDEA: emergency pump for small volumes

Hi,
  the washing machine waste filter got clogged up with what turns out later to be a lolipop stick. In order for the filter to be accessible there was the need to pump out all the water. Usually, I have a little tray which I fill time and time again to empty the machine.

  However, tired of dumping and spilling most of the water in the process I was thinking about how to create a water pump. The design ended up to be very simple in the end. A 2 liter water bottle with smooth sides got cut in half at the diameter half way up the bottle. The two halves could be pushed into each other with a thin cut of the bottom half to make it slightly smaller in diameter.

  Using tape and a sturdy plastic sheet I sealed the bottle as to allow the parts to slide into each other easily. On pulling the bottom part out create a small vaccum that is forced to be filled through the lid as the plastic sheet sticks to the gap and prevents air to enter at the cut seam.

  The design allows around 800ml of water to be sucked up before the water needs to be expelled by unscrewing the cap and letting the water out. Also, at this time pushing the bottom back into the top to "reload" the bottle so to speak. Repeat this process until all the water that can be extracted has gone. Then it was a minor spillage to get to the filter and remove the blockage.

  I fitted the cap with a thin piece of hose so that I do not have to hold the bottle into the water directly. Also, if the machine is still quite full gravity will help letting the water out. Simply submerge the whole of the hose into water to get all the air out. Then put one end into the machine water and hold the other end near the floor into a bucket of even drain if there is one. The water will then flow down until the hose sucks in air or the water level is too low.

IDEA: recover energy from waste water

 Hi,
   it appears to be wasteful that hot or warm water is drained away in sewage pipes without at least recovering some energy from the temperature. To recover the energy different means are possible. Suggestive would be to recover the kinetic energy using some form of wheel or other mechanism. This is only possible for slightly soiled water as the danger of clogging the mechanism is rather great. Technically, the means to recover the kinetic energy is some form of obstacle which will collect slower and heavier substances easily.

  To recover the heat energy is easier. By using heat conducting piping for parts of the way a heat transfer can be easily achieved. It suggest itself to use a meandering two metal coating inside the pipe which would in itself convert the heat into a small amount of electricity. Once the sacrifical electrode is used up the pipe will still be intact and therefore would not lead to any impairment or structural weakness of the functionality of the pipe.

 

IDEA: USB data stick with index and file listing display

Hi,
 with the increasing popularity of USB memory sticks eventually many owner will use several USB sticks for their day-to-day usage. However, with their capacity increasing it will become difficult to remember what data is stored on which stick - or if lost what data is lost.

  Hence my idea to put a small display known from budget mp3 players on the stick that will allow to browse the content of the stick. Ideally, there should be a mechanism to mark content so that when pluggin the memory stick into the computer the correct program to read this content is already starting automatically.

  Your host computer would keep track of all the other memory sticks you own and will update the inventory on the memory stick automatically when it is attached to the computer.

 

IDEA: Passive in-door illumination

Hi,
  with the fibre optical material coming down in price the concept of directing light from outside to the inside is more affordable. Some interesting concepts and ideas are on the horizon:

  Similar to water, sewage and electricity one can consider a lighting infrastructure directing outside natural light to various places within the building and/or appliances. A well placed collection point for light with a wide angle lense or for more luxurious systems a sun tracking mirror will feed the light into the system. Night time and low light compensation could be achieved by a high efficiency light source supplementing the systems feed.

  Using a simple plug-in system, light could be fed into appliances such as refriderators or freezers perhaps even with IR light filtering for background illumination. This, of course, can be appreciated best with see-through doors know from the retail fridges.  Closets and cabinets with bad lighting could well be supplemented with daytime lighting as needed.

  Interesting, given sufficient light, are connecting fibres up to flat-screen TV, flat-screen computer screens and other electronic devices that normally are supplemented with a build in light source. Particular for laptops such a built in lightsource is rather battery draining.

  However, for the short term benefits a natural light is quite night for background illumination in living or working areas as there are general ergonomical benefits of natural light.

IDEA: Kinetic energy recover for cars

Hi,
  last month I have been thinking about the wasted energy decelerating vehicle and regenerative breaking. There are good and viable systems around to recover the energy from cars by means within the car. However, I was and still am intruiged by the notion of recovering energy using the road surface or other means.

  At the time I considered traffic lights, intersection and off ramps on motorways to be a good place for implementing such devices.  Now I would like to consider the use of regenerative breaking at stop signs. The main advantage of a stop sign is that all cars must break at this place. Every car must come to a full stop. A regenerating road surface, such as a slight ramp that uses the weight of the vehile will not only provide a means of recovering some of the kinetic energy but also improves road safety be delaying quick progress at this point, i.e. running the stop sign.

  My favorite mechanism at a stop sign is likely to be a ramp. It normally is in the upper position requiring the vehicle to traffel upwards onto it. Whilst the ramp then sets to its lower position the car must be required to stand before continuing. Once the car has left the ramp sufficient time needs to be given to the following car for the ramp to raise up again. This is dependent on the travel distance of the ramp but should be small. Hence, unlike all other places, the ramp will be actuated for every car.

  Considering the ramp for a moment, I envisage a mechanically raised large sheet of metal lifting a total of 2-3 cm up from the road surface either using pneumatically or hydraulic system. The passing car pushes down the ramp and by driving up the ramp transfers some of the energy to the system. It is also store for the lifting action once the car has left the ramp.

  For safety reasons the travel distance must be small else to avoid creating a tripping hazzard or possible damage to vehicles reversing for whatever purpose over the ramp. Smaller travel distances mean more force needs to be transferred and thus the mechanism becomes slower.

BUISNESS IDEA: offer a public transport infomertial beacon for bluetooth

Hi,
  as public transport (bus, train, underground, taxi, etc) is a rather booring affair there is a great opportunity to offer informertials and advertising embedded in public service announcements. For example a customer could tune / connect to a broadcast beacon on a bus. Using messages or a simple client the beacon on the bus may broadcast the current location, the next stop and its estimated arrival time. Also it may offer some up-to-date weather forecast, traffic news likely encountered, connecting services and their estimated departure time.

  Ontop of the information a provider could offer advertising space for local businesses -- possibly tied into the location information. For example the nearest pub, the nearest fast food restaurant and any special offers available. Perhaps the location of the farmers market and when it is held next. What films are in the local cinema and the even offer pre-booking through the service.

  As the familiarity of the system grows there could be room for offering advertising space on the go. Someone offering a second hand utility nearby may be interested to sell the item in some form of small ads that can be browsed. Placing an ad could be as simple as sending a SMS message. Or anyone offering tutoring for schooling or any other activity may offer services to passengers.

IDEA: Recycling and Garbage management (3)

Hi,
  another quick stab on an almost infinite and relevant modern subject. This post is a sequel, reaffirming the truths that one man's garbage is another man's treasure.  The art of recycling is to sort and to specialising. Previously, we dipped into separation, treatment and logistic.

  Not unlike any other sales channel, recycling requires a holistic view of the 'customer' starting from the generating point of the garbage (i.e. kitchen) to the endpoint or collector. When looking into recycling in the kitchen a few small tricks and gadgets could go a long way. Depending on the type of disposables there different procedures for handling. Typically there is a cleaning procedure, followed by a compacting step and then followed by the sorted storage.

 The cleaning procedure will be subject to a future visit to this subject. This post is considering the options for the sorted storage. Typically, there are at least 5 containers required for glass (separated by colour ?), paper, compostables, recyclables plastics and metal. Other containters may be required for batteries and other WEEE electronics ( recyclable ? ), organic non compostables ( meat products ? ) and others.

  Convenience is the recycling friend above all else. Hence, when designing a kitchen great care should be taken to design the "exit stragtegy" and avoid bins dotted in some random location. Some work towards this has been done already. Although one must consider that any chute or tunnel does collect dirt and should be open to clean from within the house. Also, with an non compacted recycling a large amount of space is allocated for very little value. Additionally, a collection strategy is a great deal more efficient when the volume to weight ration of the material is low.

  A good design is therefore a compactor with liquid trainage and then a foward the compacted material to the collection container. Compacting glass is a straight forward crushing mechanism which also allows discarding of caps and paper perhaps separate as it does not crack the same way. Giving the option to prepare two grade of glas material could increase the purity of the collected material and thus the value. If an electrical crusher is involved an optional colour detection may be used to separate the glas colour conveniently. Metal itself can be separated and compacted based on the magnetic properties. As different metal elements have specific melting points a separation may not be necessary at the collection site.  Paper and paper shredder are fairly commonly used. Given the typical shape of paper that can be recycled it should be possible to create pretty clean separation.

  Compostables and plastic require due care by the person recycling the material. Compostables such as garden waste, peelings and others require skillful balance with fillables to prepare a good organic waste. A quality grating of the compost by the receiver -- similar to the grating of any agricultural produce -- is pretty much mandatory to create reusable base material. For plastic it was previously mentioned that heating and melting can allow compaction of plastic. With careful selection of the disposable plastic a good grade of melted material can be achived. However, a mistake on the selection could ruin the whole batch.

IDEA: Gagdet proximity alert for the distracted wearer

Hi,
  forgetting/leaving behind your phone or other worthwhile items is very undesirable and can lead to all sorts of problems (such as someone breaking into your car for it). Hence the idea for the invisible teather. Many devices are bluetooth enabled or battery powered and could be otherwise tagged with an active sensor of some kind.

  A simple register and track device in your pocket or attached to the clothes or bags could keep polling the surroundings to identify if a specific gadget is responding. If it is, the device goes dormant again. If not, the device would alert the wearer that a specific gadget does not respond. The wearer can then confirm that the gadget is still in his/her possession or backtrack to check where the device was last.

  Another use would be to connect a gadget with a theft alert where the gadget starts making a noise once it detects the absence of the polling device. Hence will draw attention to itself. Finally, to find the mobile phone when it slipped into the couch cushions again a 'find-me' alert could be requested to track down (i.e. tuck the theather) the device.

Update 01/02/2010: Yes! Someone has already worked on this and apparently apparently another product has claims to be the first product based on bluetooth. Now, what would it take to extend this device to your bag, purse or wallet ?

IDEA: Gagdet(s) to combine mobile phone and computer

Hi,
  our most frequently used devices such as the mobile phone, computers, music player and car are strangely selfish devices. Even though there are protocols and properties they can achieve some synergy there is no pattern of this showing on the horizon. Even though phone and car or computer and car allow some sort of relationship where the car works as hands free kit there is no workings the other way round. For example trip notes and statistics for speed and mileage do not make it back to the phone or computer.

  At the work desk it could be quite useful if the computer would transmit a preview of everything currently in the clipboard to the mobile phone. That way one would not clutter the screen with extra information but it may come in useful to know what was last in the clipboard. The phone would also interact with the land line phone to use the preferred device for all calls.

  Another useful example would be if the music player could forward the audio to the mobile phone so that one can combine the budget music player and the standard phone. It appears that some manufacturer (such as Nokia) does indeed provide such a function when connecting computer and phone.  

  Really desirable would be a combination of computers. Sitting here at my desk and writing on one computer I have another computer connected via VPN for an intranet. I cannot multiplex my favorite keyboard to one or the other as appropriate. What would be simpler than to extend the bluetooth connection of one computer to proxy the keyboard output on demand.  Also, the computer is playing music from a streaming site. But without actually plugging in my stereo via the headphone output I cannot stream my output to the nearest audio visual system.  As one of the systems is an Apple and the other one a Microsoft based system I will push my luck in asking for the screens to be overlapping. Although each system allows multi monitor configuration.

  What is a required is a suitable capability broadcast functionality of all mobile and fixed devices that can collaborate in a grid of computer. Thereby a user can elect to have profiles in place to optimally use the best output and input devices for any kind of task ongoing.

IDEA: Recycling and Garbage management (2)

Hi,
  as outlined in my previous post on the subject, practical recycling is about generating value out of garbage. It all starts with sorting the recyclable items.  One of the first problems for sorting is the space it takes to keep the different stacks/buckets/tubs or bags for the individual items. The next problem is the collection of the already separated items.

 Here the management becomes logistical. In order to effectively recycle the items have to be collected or submittted in their respective most valuable bundeling - typically separated by base material. There are several options available to do so. The common option is the drop off point at the local collection site. However, there is usually no management and quality control and therefore the separation is not as good as it can be. Thus reducing the value of the recylables. For high value items, such as valuable metals (gold, platinum, silver..) the process of recycling becomes a sale and thus the separation is of excellent quality.

 The other option is a collection, such as the regular green bin collection or other recyclables. The timing and efficiency is such that there is no time to perform quality control. This is due to the indiscriminate nature of the recycling collections. Another aspect is the volume of individual groups of items per household. Together with the storage limitations of house holds it becomes unfeasible and unreliable for perfect separation. Hence a frequent collection is required.

  This provides a good opportunity for small business and local groups. For example the frequently milk delivery could be used to collect empty plastic bottles. As the delivery is already specialist to milk and deliverable products it may not be a stretch to think of a reverse collection of the empty bottles. Weight and volume should not be an issue. Quality of separation can be expected as high. There are similar options available, such as home deliveries. Some provider do collect empty delivery bags on return for recycling.

  Where is the business case here ? There is intrinsic value in sorted garbage (typicall £0~100 when measured in tons). Given that the garbage collection of these items are not cheap either there may be a business case if the local government can manage more granular collection mechanism.

IDEA: Encode payment information on bills computer readable

Hi,
   cheques for the bank account have machine readable numbers for a long time. That is largely for the automatic processing of the cheques and speedy (ahem) transaction.

    A simple standard code could also benefit any paper and  non paper based invoice, bill or other credit notification. I proposed that each paper or electronic bill has to include a area similar to the product bar code stating the date, unique number, summary description, creditor, due date as well as the amount. Electronic bill could include an embedded XML code that presents the same information.

  Using a suitable standard programs to decode this information are therefore possible to manage the "paper trail" for households and corporation much easier. Standard decodding libraries make it cost effective to include the extra functionality into all sorts of products.

IDEA: Recycling and Garbage management (1)

Hi,
  there is two things certain in life: death and taxes. Actually, I think garbage makes it a threesome. There is always garbage. Typically, garbage is everything that anyone wants to dispose off. Most commonly this is understood to be waste products, such as somewhat revolting material like sewage and kitchen waste. But actually, the classification is rather grey as one man's garbage is another man's treasure. Ebay being a great example of individuals disposing of items that are of less value to them than to the buyer - just lookup horse manure.

  With this thought going to a meaningful conclusion for recycling purposes, recycling starts with the sorting of waste products or disposable items into value classes. For household waste the most important step is to get a clean separation of the "goods". This is a vital step and various incentive schemes should be used to encourage this.  A major incentive would be offering a full cycle system for certain garbage materials.

  First looking at an example for low hanging fruits -- specifically yoghurt container but also water bottles that are largely labelled as to their composition as PET or similar material. Gently heating of bottles to around 80-90 degrees causes most plastic to revert to their original form. Some heat may be generated from excess or end of live material too contaminated for reuse.  Any foreign body will lead to burning or discolouration and marks the material easier to grade for reuse. Because of the relative small amount of material the heat energy required is less than some bakeries would use. For example a house hold may engage a service provider that will reduce its selected plastic to another base material according to the materials requirements.

  As with film development at a photo development plan -- albeit less frequent today -- a person would submit the waste material to the provider that returns the same material to the person in a uniform reformed state. Alternatively, a household or community could invest in a reformatting system themselves to reform the waste. If the material was cleaned and separated correctly the reform process will likely produce good grade new raw material. Such reformed raw material should be easier to classify and thereby have increased the value.

  This principle in conjunction with incentive schemes as well as a general shift in garbage mangement mentality leads to better use of the natural resources. The idea its to put the incentive for clean separation back onto the household and with that to bring forward an incentive for manufacturing to product easy to separate materials. And thus providing the basic method to connect the end of the life cycle of a product with the beginning of the same or another.

PRODUCT IDEA: Desk calculator with bluetooth for computer interface

Hi,
this one if for all the admin staff, financial people  and project managers.  Do you use your software only desk calculator on your computer often ? I use it very rarely and only when unavoidable. Actually, I use the google built-in calculator more for computations. Or even command line only versions running in xterm, such as expr. Why ? First off it the calc software does not normally run on my desktop as I don't really need it often. Secondly, on laptops the number keypad is often an overlay ontop of the qwerty keyboard. It is awkward to switch inbetween.

  The beauty of a desktop calculator is the number of dedicated keys just for their purpose and with a little bit of practice they are blazingly fast to use. Additionally, most slightly more advanced calculator can do some form of programming to store formulars and conversion functions easily accessible.

  The only thing I am missing is the ability to cut-and-paste between the desk calculator and the desktop. Plus I could think of various cool things that can beef up a standard calculator when attached to a comparatively fast desktop or laptop. For example more sophisticated display in conjunction with the dedicated keypad of the desktop calculator that shows the history of calculations. And you can take the calculator away to your colleague and upload the numbers whilst discussing their implications.

  I think a simple calculator with bluetooth facility backed up by a slightly sophisticated program on the desktop that interacts with the calculator will be very popular. At the age of iphone it already makes one wonder if a subscription based desktop calculator that you can purchase addons to through an e-store might be interesting.

  It could be useless but fancy things like skin's and special softkeys. But also mathematical extensions such as resolver, optimiser and other programs. Spinning this further, how about a barcode scanner on it and start integrating it with a database as a universal low cost scanner for your shopping trips ?

  Google found Casio as the only manufacturer that built a base version.

IDEA: Unique codes on bus stop time tables as planning aids

Hi,
   having to rely on coaches to travel over the last view days I found it rather tedious to read the timetable. They never seem to be quite accurate as local traffic, accidents and road conditions had a severe impact on the timing.  It is almost normal with public transport that route planning has to adapt quickly to such conditions. Hence a method of obtaining up to date information would be exceedingly useful.

   To facilitate this time tables on bus stops should feature a short but unique serial numbers. Perhaps barcodes that can be read using the built-in camera available in many mobile phones now. Using this information it is possible to text or browse for up-to-date trip information from a central time table service. At a very minimum, such a website could feature the time of the next bus or train should be available possibly interpolating the timing on successive stops.

  Riding on the code a whole host of other services could be provided. Using a map application the real  or estimated location of the current scheduled buses could be shown. Hence the traveller could make an informed decision to use a different bus stop to board earlier. If a bus is delayed an alternative route or line could be suggested. On getting off the bus and using the the code I could use the location when choosing and calling a local taxi company for the final leg of the trip.

IDEA: "Follow me" TV function

Hi,
   many house holds today have multiple TV/Media sets in the rooms dotted over the house. Unless they are off usually they show whatever the person in the room left running last. Which can be annoying when you are watching a TV program and at the same time are busying yourself around the house.

  It should be a technically a simple solution to feed all the TV from a central media center with modern STB (set top boxes). Alternatively, with multi-room or freeview it should be possible to configure all STB to receive the same channel (perhaps even via internet where applicable).

  The controller walking the rooms will have a remote control that announces the current program choice to the nearest device. The TV will then tune the channel of choice as announced by the remote control. This results in a follow-me effect where the TV choice follows the person into all rooms.

  Additionally, to save energy, the TV/Media sets can be configured to switch off when the remote control signal is out of reach or too low. This could indicate that the person has left the room.

 

IDEA: distribution system for medication in hospitals

Hi,
  having spend more than my fair share of time visiting or being in hospitals I got to know the routine of staff quite well. And a big responsibility that has to be performed with 100% accuracy is the distribution of medication. However, in cases with more than just one medication per patient more often than we would like to see things go wrong: medication is distributed on time, renewal are not requested, running out of stock on the ward outside pharmacy hours or simple human error. And I have seen them all happening.

  Hence the question is why the process of medication distribution is done by hand, from blister pack with paper documentation handwritten on wards that are understaffed and full with demanding and uncooperative patients.  There are already  studies [1] of the accuracy and timeliness of medication dispensing on wards showing error rates of somewhere in the range of 5% - 10% error. On wards with distribution system the error rate appears to be around 2% (with mostly omission errors). And given the costs of compensation and the frequency of occurrence it looks like some automation may just pay for itself.

  One wonders where the low tech mobile dispenser are that can be taken from ward to ward in order for the medication to be dispensed quickly and efficiently for patient and staff. In the right setup the medication dispense time can be reduced or the number of dispense routes increased.  Additional administration guidance checks can give the doctor and care staff immediate information about the dispense procedure, after care and monitoring allowing the medical staff to reduce the paper work and to reduce the time spend on detailing prescription. Together with a wristband reader this should give great accuracy and leave the staff to deal with patients and not blister packs.

 

IDEA: trip safer/safer trip by using a delayed ignition

Hi,
often it is the convenience that wins out when environmental considerations and the necessities fight each other when using the car. Whilst there was snow around and the car covered I found myself walking more for short trips to the shop since it appeared to be faster than getting the car out and drive worthy. This inspired an idea.

By introducing a "think pause" in the ignition cycle when the car was stopped for longer periods and 'cooled down' it may convince a person to do a local trip on foot or with the bicycle instead of using the car. The delay should be a minute or two, perhaps adjustable, where the drive has to have the key in the ignition but the car won't start.

This time forces the driver to think about taking the trip and/or to check over the car lights and other issues. An additional bonus of that a delayed ignition system may also prevent car theft as it takes a lot longer to start a car and drive off.

BUSINESS IDEA: personal route planner for public transport

Hi,
  given the existence of travel agencies it appers rather strange that a true independent path buyer does not exist. Most online companies are only working with one travel medium ( train, bus, car rental or plan ) and only resort to a switch when there is nothing else available. None of the agencies appear considering taxi companies -- I am waiting to be contradicted!

  The idea is a bazaar style system where I would put up a trip (start, end), frequency, number of person to travel and times. Transport companies would note what services do overlap with they cover area and could put in an offer. For example a trip from my place of living to my place of work. I would need to be at work around 9am and would leave work at around 5pm. Adding of course either location companies can then look if a location is within their area of coverage.

  The planning would be as such: the taxi company would state that it can drive me (and how fast) from home directly to work for a price, or drive me to the nearest train or bus for another price. The bus company would say suggest to take bus stop X at and what times are available. A train company would do the same. Perhaps a car rental place would offer me a car for a week for this distance at a discount price. Maybe a private person would let me ride for the cost of the fuel.

  The individual agencies would offer a travel vector which then will be calculated to several routes. The business would then offer these routes to the requestor and for a fee would book each item. You may be able to set a price, a preferred travel medium or choose the fastest route. It probably is an app that fits nicely into the mobile world.