• Mystery Flashing Superball

    From Pete@21:1/5 to All on Wed Apr 18 01:40:09 2018
    Many years ago, at some Expo or other, I acquired a flashing plastic
    ball that seems rather different from the usual ones I've seen.
    (Apparently a promo from RapidMind, which was bought by Intel long ago,
    so there's no use going to the source!)

    For a start, it's translucent (uncoloured) plastic but perforated,
    with the outer holes going all the way through.

    I always assumed that like all the others it just had a battery
    and a motion sensor plus a chip to control the flashing. After
    being tucked away for those many years, though, it no longer
    flashed when bounced. I just thought the battery had given out.

    However, I was idly bouncing it more extensively a couple of weeks
    back, and was astonished to see it flashing again, and getting
    brighter the more I bounced it! I deliberately left it alone for
    a few days and tried again. Once more the initial flash was dim
    or absent and got quite brilliant again after more shocks.

    This behaviour is entirely consistent over several repeats, so
    I'm wondering if it could possibly be an ultracapacitor and some
    kind of piezo charging circuit. The relevant voltages and currents
    seem all wrong for this though.

    I also have a couple of examples of the more common "Magic Ball"
    -- similarly acquired, and also apparently now dead. I cut one
    of them apart and found the expected couple of watch batteries
    and a spring tremblor. I also found that removing and reinserting
    the batteries brought it back to life! (Yes, the contact was
    thoroughly corroded.)

    The behaviour is different, though. The revitalized ball is always
    at full brilliance (though I can't actually bounce it, as it's in
    two halves!). I suppose it's conceivable that the mystery ball just
    has a corroded battery contact, that somehow becomes more conductive
    each bounce, but it's remarkably consistent for that. I do *not*
    propose to cut it apart! Too intriguing.

    Has anyone else got experience or knowledge of such a beast?

    Ta,

    -- Pete --

    [I somehow get reminded of the "Interocitor" of ancient days... (:-))]

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  • From Jon Elson@21:1/5 to Pete on Tue Apr 24 14:16:18 2018
    On Wed, 18 Apr 2018 01:40:09 +0000, Pete wrote:


    This behaviour is entirely consistent over several repeats, so I'm
    wondering if it could possibly be an ultracapacitor and some kind of
    piezo charging circuit. The relevant voltages and currents seem all
    wrong for this though.
    Most likely it has a magnet and a coil that can generate a lot more
    energy than piezo components. There are "eternal" flashlights that have
    a free magnet inside a solenoid coil, you shake them to charge a cap.

    Also, your ball more likely has an ordinary battery rather than an ultracapacitor.

    Jon

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  • From Pete@21:1/5 to elson@pico-systems.com on Wed Apr 25 02:15:12 2018
    In article <KfadnQMRqZIfH0LHnZ2dnUU7-VOdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
    Jon Elson <elson@pico-systems.com> wrote:
    On Wed, 18 Apr 2018 01:40:09 +0000, Pete wrote:


    This behaviour is entirely consistent over several repeats, so I'm
    wondering if it could possibly be an ultracapacitor and some kind of
    piezo charging circuit. The relevant voltages and currents seem all
    wrong for this though.
    Most likely it has a magnet and a coil that can generate a lot more
    energy than piezo components. There are "eternal" flashlights that have
    a free magnet inside a solenoid coil, you shake them to charge a cap.

    Yup -- I have one of those... It lasted about a day! (:-/)
    It does have an ultracap, and it seems the designers forgot that such
    a beast needs overvoltage protection. A few extra vigorous shakes,
    and bye-bye storage! (It still happily lights during the shake itself.)

    I don't think there's room inside the ball for any magnet/coil assembly.
    The visible module is about 1/2" x 5/8" as best I can see.

    Also, your ball more likely has an ordinary battery rather than an >ultracapacitor.

    That wouldn't match observed behaviour (unless there's severe leakage
    that completely drains the battery after a couple of days). After a
    few days' rest, it consistently needs a few thumps to get to full
    brightness.

    If anyone's interested, I've put images of the thing online at:

    http://goodeveca.net/misc/FlashBall.jpg

    -- Pete --

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