Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Ultracapacitors: The Next Source For Powerful Cordless Tools?
Toolmonger: "This article on Slashdot decries the “ultracapacitor” as the next big thing in terms of mobile computing and electricity-powered vehicles, and as we all know, what powers your laptop today will eventually trickle down to power the power tools of tomorrow. And the battery requirements of electric cars are very similar to that of power tools."
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3 comments:
While batteries and capacitors use some of the same principles to operate, they're differences cause a huge split between the two: operating time.
I'd like to see a drill (or other tool) combine the two. Have the batteries quick-charge a capacitor bank, and then switch off to let the chemicals in the battery settle down.
Batteries are nice because you can usually use the drill for a good amount of time before having to recharge, and you would usually have a backup battery for when your first one dies. With the capacitors, there would be a need to have the charger near you as well as having a second capacitor to reduce the change time. It seems like it would be a hassle to change the capacitors every few minutes, especially for projects where power isn't available.
I feel like this is the right way of thinking, but too early to be effectively used in the real world. Major problems would arise in Load-In and Strike, the two times when you definitly want everything running smoothly. In a four hour time slot that probably will be a half hour, if not more killed, from the simple act of getting down/out from what you were screwing/unscrewing, walking to the charger in the shop, waiting the minute to charge, then walking back and getting into position again. I'd much rather have everything have to charge overnight and take a long time. Cool idea, bad implementation.
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