Comment by userbinator

7 years ago

Not new technology, but I guess that's the point; pneumatic tools have been around for a long time and are very common in workshops where an ample supply of compressed air is available. I wonder how loud these are, that's one of the biggest drawbacks of air motors --- the shrill hissing and whining noises of a workshop are one of the more fatiguing sounds to hear.

Relatedly, the Paris compressed-air power network was discussed here several months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19782760

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reaperducer  7 years ago

the shrill hissing and whining noises of a workshop are one of the more fatiguing sounds to hear.

Can confirm.

In the early 2000's, I built a web site for a small factory that ran almost entirely on compressed air. Part of the project involved spending six months on the production floor photographing items as they were built. (15,000 different SKUs!)

  • saagarjha  7 years ago

    I wonder if you could get the website itself to run on compressed air…

    • bipson  7 years ago

      Do you really wonder?

      The answer would be "Of course!" and "Of course not!".

      You don't need electricity to run a "computer". But as soon as you're trying to hook up this computer to the Internet, serving responses on an electrical network... I can't imagine how to do this without electricity.

      Of course you're not looking for answers using a turbine, are you?

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