Solar Powered Park Bench

Doesn't a park bench just sit there? Why give it power?

What if the park bench was a way you could charge your smart devices while you wait for the bus or train? Better yet, what if you could get an entertaining light show that helps you see at night while allowing you to interact with your environment using sound? Better yet, what if the bench also kept a charge on a clock, gave you the date, and told you when the next expected bus or train was going to arrive? What if the bench could tell the city how many visitors frequent a certain area? And what if...

What if the bench gave you a code that took you to the city's very own app? You could find access to resources, parks, trails, news, events, local businesses, jobs, and so much more. This solar-powered interactive park bench is a small step in a much bigger idea. It's an idea I've had for quite some time, in fact I think about it every day because every day I see someone who is clearly unsheltered. Giving our park benches solar energy to charge our devices would provide a much-needed resource to the unsheltered, who tend to frequent park benches anyway. A charged phone has become a vital commodity in our everyday lives now, and people are expected to have one to apply for jobs, get email accounts, and interact with our technological world. Providing this power as a public resource will benefit those who need it the most, and making this very small difference could significantly impact their lives.

The prototype I've built here is just a stepping stone toward the first completed bench, which will serve as a prototype for the possibility of installing these benches, or smart units, throughout a wider area.

Part 2: The life-sized prototype

In the video above I show nearly all the steps to making my solar-powered bench prototype. This does not yet include installing LCD screens, but I do have two 8" HDMI LCDs to utilize on the bench in the future. More coming soon.