Dan Lampie and David Brenner built a turbine that powers a WiFi repeater and VOIP server.
The project uses a pair of Linksys wireless router with DD-WRT firmware to bring Wi-Fi and VOIP connectivity to remote areas without well-established infrastructure. Potential applications include extending internet connectivity from urban to rural areas, providing weather and trail condition information at trailheads in National Parks, and a rapidly-deployable and inexpensive communications network to aid disaster recovery teams. In addition to providing connectivity, the power produced by the turbine and solar cell is monitored and reported back to a central server using an Arduino microcontroller connected to a hall-effect current sensor. The total cost of this project was less than $500, which is a fraction of the cost of existing solutions to provide wireless communications and remote power!
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