The Sw/tch

a smart charging station

Finally, you can tell your phone charger to stop SUCKING! Why use high-priced, overly complicated sensors when you can just cut power off with no extra effort?

By using a simple electrical circuit under its faceplate, Sw/tch eliminates the “vampire” draw of electricity. When your portable electronic is placed on the plate, power connects to the charger; when the electronic is removed, power automatically shuts off. It’s that easy!

Connect two or more Sw/tch units together to charge multiple devices on a single cord.

The Sw/tch was designed for a competition held by Design Within Reach in Boulder, Colo. Chosen as one of seven winners, it was on display in the Boulder store in May 2009.

Materials: bamboo, stainless steel and aluminum.

Great minds think alike...

due to a recent post on Make Magazine's site, I became aware of Alberto Ricci Bitti's greenbox which uses an almost identical circuit as the Sw/tch if you take away the modularity of hooking more than one together.  He has designed his to be built at home and gives instructions how.

Details

I'm getting feedback that I didn't give up the goods nearly well enough on what's going on in here.

I will start posting detailed pictures of how it is built and how it works.

First, though, I will describe the reasons behinds some of the design decisions.  The Sw/tch was designed for a class/competition in conjunction with the Boulder, Co. Design Within Reach store.

The rules:

1. The design had to have a place in the category of "Designs for Living."
2. The design had to be able to be built by hand.
3. At least 4 copies of the design must be built with interchangeable parts.
4. All pieces must be produced by hand with exception of 1 piece that can be cut by machine (CNC) or farmed out to someone else.
5. There must be at least 3 materials presents.