The physics professor Joël Chevrier tells us about the creation process of Isaac&Graham in collaboration with designer Mathieu Lehanneur; a story that reveals micro-energy and the joint work of a designer, a physicist, and a technologist.
Isaac&Graham is a deceptively simple setup (that’s the very point): a crank allows you to easily lift a 20 kg weight by one meter. Once released, the weight slowly descends over a few minutes. During this descent, it powers a mobile phone (Isaac&Graham version) or an LED (Isaac&Thomas version) through a dynamo. An autonomous system for producing electricity, installable even in the middle of nowhere.
Almost trivial. So where’s the interest? First, it’s practical. It works, and it’s efficient. A few seconds to crank the weight back up by hand, and you get 1 Watt for several minutes. One Watt isn’t much. Not enough to cook, but enough to light up or connect to the world.
As simple as it seems, it took two designers, a physics professor, and two engineers from CEA-Leti to create Isaac&Graham. Designer Mathieu Lehanneur, in particular, came up not only with the design of it but also with this evident but perfect name [Isaac for Isaac Newton, theorist of universal gravitation; Graham for Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; and Thomas for Edison, pioneer of electricity]. Spot on. That’s exactly it. To make it obvious and simply useful. I wouldn’t have thought it could be so difficult.
A physics professor to emphasize the transformation of gravitational potential energy into electricity, then into light or information, and to supply the corresponding figures: mgH∆t⁻¹ = 1 Watt. A technologist to turn these two discourses into a working device. No fewer than two engineers from CEA-Leti to ensure the operational details. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. Nowhere more true than in science and technology. Always mind the details.
A high-efficiency dynamo was needed, capable of operating over a wide range of rotational speeds. The one at the heart of Isaac&Graham does just that. It’s the subject of a Leti patent but wasn’t developed specifically for this creation. Also, the orange box contains a series of gears to allow a slow descent and produce one Watt powering a LED or a phone. Again, the details. If the dynamo is efficient, you shouldn’t waste energy in friction within the gears. It works. Nothing radically new here. But a very good implementation nonetheless. That’s called craftsmanship. Gears and bearings of all kinds remain a major concern for the industrial world because they’re just everywhere. Never forget them when looking at a mechanical setup.
Before power plants, before electric distribution networks, before electric or gasoline engines, the world was slow, relying first on human, animal, water, and wind power. Mostly human and animal. A bit of wind and water (mills, sailboats, etc.). Storing energy back then probably meant eating and drinking. The available power was, at best, around 100 watts for a laborer (the old horsepower equals 736 watts). The power output of a professional cyclist climbing Alpe d’Huez eventually exceeded 400 watts…
Isaac&Graham, to my mind, illustrates this reality: in a world that is becoming increasingly energy-conscious (and necessarily so in the future), human physical effort will always be available to power our daily machines. What a discovery! As a child, my bike obviously had a dynamo. Yes, but I only used it as a last resort—it was such a powerful drag. Today, I forget it’s there and always ride “with headlights on.” The bike and its dynamo are remarkably energy-efficient. A big part of their appeal.
Isaac&Graham offers a reflection on this domestic production and use of human energy combined with effective and efficient technologies. “Isaac (Newton) & Graham (Bell)” is aptly named. We can see here how names highlight major shifts underway. Alongside power plants and large-scale distribution networks, we’re now talking about micro-energy—local, personal, ambient, and renewable.
In education, the discourse to accompany Isaac&Graham still needs to be built. On the one hand, we’ll need to write mgH∆t⁻¹ = 1 Watt and explain the successive transformations of energy. On the other, we’ll need to highlight a new relationship to energy—one that actually comes from the dawn of time but is renewed by today’s technologies and linked to our present-day uses, meeting the demands of our era.
And finally, we must also share the joy of collaboration—a designer, a professor, and a technologist working together.
See also this great project, Gravity Light designed by students in the same period: GravityLight, the low-cost lamp that lights without electricity Gravity Light was among The 25 Best Inventions of the Year 2013 issued by TIME
Isaac&Graham and Gravity Light use gravitational potential energy and human power. Olafur Eliasson did « Little Sun Lamp » which uses sun energy to provide the same « clean, local, easy to produce and to use » energy. About Little Sun Lamp, Jacques Attali wrote in his book Histoire de la Modernité: “A work of art will be an act, an object, a situation, a creation that makes you want to be altruistic and appreciate altruism.”
Illustrations in this article: Véronique Huyghe for Mathieu Lehanneur
Teaching, exploring, learning with students... 