EEVblog #945 - Thermal Powered Smartwatches Are GIMMICKS!

Thermal powered smartwates are nothing more than gimmicks.
Dave runs the numbers on the Matrix Powerwatch from Indieigogo.
Also some exercise testing shows up an unusual and undesired effect when using thermoelectric generators on your wrist.

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[yakacm]

I am just about to start my own crowd funding campaign for a watch that doesn't need a battery. It uses steels ability to return to shape to store kinetic energy. You add the energy yourself everyday, I am going to call the device that stores the energy a spring, and the device to add the energy a winder, and I will use a clever system of gears to transmit the energy the the watch hands by a system I am going to call clockwork, should be a winner, never need a battery again, hooray.

[oetken]

The best for the environment is, to stop producing gadgets nobody needs. The engineering and fabrication, the transportation and all other things harms the environment much more, than you can ever save with the products green thumb. Pointless!

[rocketmanprojects]

A thermal powered smart watch could certainly be made to work well. You just need to add a little tiny bit of PU-238 to provide the heat to run it for a few decades. Too bad nobody is making it anymore.

[wickedxe]

wanna help the environment? don't buy gimmicky crap that will be thrown out 5 mins after it's purchased in the first place.

[tybofborg]

What bothers me most is the waste of money. The $300k they raked in would pay for a solar PV system that would generate up to 200 MWh a year, which would cover the consumption of roughly a billion of these smartwatches. And trust me, the solar system would last way longer than most of these smartwatches.

[eurobum]

crowd funding is the new tv infomercial

[aaroNiGHTS]

Dave,
I'm disappointed you didn't go all the way in testing this by waxing all the hair from your arms.

[TheUglyGnome]

In order to get free energy for your watch you have to turn your A/C on. Great idea!

[MattExzy]

Waaaait... 'MATRIX'... I GET IT. People as batteries. HURN HURN HURN.

[chrisridesbicycles]

My university professors would have been ashamed to appear in such a cheesy feelgood video. It's just a solution for a non-existent problem. I had a Polar S series heartrate watch years ago (high end model with recording) and it did run 1-2 years on a CR2450. The problem is that everybody wants a fancy colour LCD these days.

[Artisan]

Are they phd students trying to pay back their debt? Pretty smart if so.

[Darieee]

Man dave's commentary over these videos basically satisfies 105% of my daily need of awesome

[jsfetters]

There needs to be an EEVBLOG stamp of approval on all new products.

[nihonam]

Just use mechanical wristwatch. They need NO batteries. =)))

[joelvirolainen]

At 13:37 in your video you talk about Bluetooth. The problem is you don't want it to work, so you're not looking for ways to make it happen. How about making a connection only when data needs to be transferred. The watch would be ready to receive, but the power needs would be minimal. Bluetooth readiness (and the display) could even turn off when the watch isn't on your wrist producing energy.

[baseradius]

A testament to how awesomely respected Dave is that.. a) They mention how they respect him on the forums and b) He can stand in front of a white-board and talk to us.. and we'll watch it and listen to it.. and rewind and listen carefully and make sure we've understood every single thing he said... cuz it's gold!

Thank you Dave for being awesome and then for sharing your awesomeness with us

[BCGARAGE]

just wanted to say how much i enjoy your videos mate. its reinvigorated my interest in electronics i had as a child. plus that classic aussi humour you incorporate into your videos. dont change anything!

[TomTomEntertainment]

Thermal powered? So the electrical resistance in the circuit creates heat and the watch runs on heat. Brilliant! Infinite energy!

[jfbeam]

"A watch you never have to charge" (micro print... but it does have a battery that will need replacing every few years.) [which, for the record, is the Pulsar digital watch I've had since 1980.] Do away with all the modern BS and yes, a pure tells-time watch only needs a few micro-amps. Heck, the motorola pager I had in the 90s ran on a single AA for months on end -- ISP engineer, I got a dozen pages a day. (for all you youngsters, think "text")

[Dragonblaster]

I have a Citizen Eco-Drive. It works on solar power, and so you never need to change the battery. It syncs with GPS satellites every day so it's always the correct time. I don't need a wrist-worn repeater screen for my phone.