It's incredibly frustrating to find yourself without a working flashlight when you really need it. Many of us have faced this situation—like when the family flashlight runs out of power just when you need it most. But South Korean 3D printing enthusiast Tim Cho has come up with an innovative solution: a 3D-printed flashlight that can be powered by simply blowing into it. This clever design might just eliminate those moments of panic forever.
Tim Cho initially set out to create a wind-powered LED flashlight for the "Catch The Wind" design challenge hosted by MakerBot in June. The competition aimed to explore how 3D printers could harness wind power. However, after seeing many similar entries, he decided to pivot. Instead of going with a traditional wind-powered model, he shifted his focus to a "mouth-powered" flashlight, which turned out to be more engaging and unique.
The standout feature of his design is the mouth-blown component, which resembles a large whistle. He used Autodesk Inventor to design the flashlight, which consists of 15 different 3D-printable parts. Each part takes roughly 30 minutes to print, using a 0.2 mm layer height and 25% infill. In total, the entire printing process took about seven and a half hours. Once printed, the user needs to assemble the device and add electronic components such as coils, magnets, a bridge rectifier, an LED, and some wiring.
So how does this no-battery flashlight actually work? According to Tim, when you blow into the port, the internal vertical shaft windmill spins, which in turn rotates the magnet inside the generator. This movement induces an alternating current (AC) in the coil. A bridge rectifier then converts the AC into direct current (DC). While a single breath generates around 0.5 to 1 volt, it’s not enough to light an LED directly. That’s where a Joule thief circuit comes in—it boosts the voltage to around 3 volts, sufficient to power the LED.
Despite being unemployed, Tim continues to experiment with what 3D printers can do, pushing the boundaries of creativity. He humorously pointed out one major downside: after prolonged use, you might feel dizzy from breathing too hard. Still, his invention is a great example of how simple ideas, combined with 3D printing, can lead to practical and fun solutions.
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