Origin
In the early 1990s, British inventor Trevor Baylis saw a television program about the spread of AIDS in Africa. The program discussed halting the spread of the disease through educational radio broadcasts. However, since neither batteries nor electricity was readily available, there existed a need for an inexpensive way to power radios. Baylis retired to his workshop, and using components from a music box, a toy car and a transistor radio, he developed the first hand-crank radio.
After his invention was featured on the British Broadcasting Corp. television program "Tomorrow's World," Baylis attracted interest from investors and formed a company to manufacture the radios. Baylis' invention won the BBC Design Award in 1996. The company, BayGen Power Industries, was renamed Freeplay Energy PLC in 1999.
Other Uses
Since the introduction of the first commercially available hand-crank radio in 1996, the technology has been adapted to power lanterns, flashlights, sirens and mobile phone chargers. Current hand-crank radios can play for an hour or more on 30 seconds of cranking. Some models also include a solar panel that can power the radio or charge the internal batteries. Many models can also run on conventional AC current or DC current from a car adapter.
Hand-crank technology is being adapted to provide power for laptop computers as part of the One Laptop Per Child Project, which is committed to providing laptop computers to children in developing countries.
Tags: hand-crank radio, laptop computers, models also, radios Baylis, television program