tools

    Those who aren’t accepted by society are invited to participate in our open source project to create devices.

    We have all (or at least most of us) seen people hauling around a number of additional devices to support their smart phone, tablet, or laptop computer: rechargers, battery backup, personal wi-fi hotspot, portable speakers, and other stuff.

    What if all of the essential items were combined together into a single compact portable digital center?

    This web site explores the idea and looks at a small set of possible combinations. We will quickly see that one size doesn’t fit all, but it should be possible to find a select few highly optimal combinations.

restrictions, savings, and possibilities

    The three big restrictions are cost, weight, and size.

    Cost is an obvious limiting factor for most people and even most businesses.

    Weight is always an issue for anything that people will carry around. Just ask backpackers.

    Size is also an issue. The proposed tool set (with the exception of the compact version) will be too large to fit into a pocket. There are limits on how large an item a person can routinely carry around. The most obvious carry methods include: place in a backpack, place in a purse, place in a briefcase, strap to the waist, sling from the shoulder, carry like a backpack, or strap to the chest.

    There are two major areas for saving both weight and size.

    Batteries take up a lot of volume and weight. If you look at a standard flashlight, more than 90% of the volume is batteries. In many devices, batteries are the largest component in both size and weight.

    By having multiple devices share a single powerful battery, there is a huge savings in both weight and size compared to all of the devices being separate items.

    The vast majority of the items in the tool set require some computing power and other supporting electronics. Again, we can save both weight and size by having a single shared set of electronics. And we gain the advantage that the functionality of the items in the tool set can be integrated, allowing uses that would not be easy or even possible with a bunch of separate devices.