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Kevin O'Donovan

Technology Evangelist A Bit of This and That

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Kevin is the founder of the boutique technology consultancy company, A Bit of This & That ... focused on the intersection of the IT and Energy Industries, delivering innovative technology...

Member since 2012
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Video

Off at CES2021 ... my Day 1 takeaways.

image credit: Kevin O'Donovan

Jan 13, 2021 2:45 pm GMTJan 13, 2021 2:47 pm GMT
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Happy New Year to everyone ...

I'm off at #CES2021, 'virtually' this week, watching out for new innovations / tech / gadgets that may be relevant for the Energy Industry. After Day 1 on Tuesday, here are the 3 main things that stood out for me via this video in the link above.

1 - General Motors ExhibitZero
2 - Virtual Screens via Lenovo ThinkReality A3
3 - A HydroPower Speaker from #Ampere

And here's the link to the TwitterMoment with all my 'notes' https://lnkd.in/dtjCbZZ

If anyone else is off at CES2021, let me know what ye have come across that ye found interesting. CES is BIG as usual, with over 1950+ exhibitors...
Anyway, on to Day 2 ...

Kev.

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Matt Chester on Jan 13, 2021

Glad to see you're still here filling in those of us who couldn't attend ourselves, Kevin-- even with you now taking it all virtual! Really interesting to hear that one of your highlights comes from the world of hydropower, which you wouldn't necessarily associate with the futuristic digital solutions given it's a more mature energy source

Kevin O'Donovan on Jan 13, 2021

Hi Matt,

As you say, HydroPower is a mature energy source, but how many of us have a hydro powered IoT device?

I certainly don't and if I was looking for a speaker to put into the bathroom, I would NOT have thought of getting one that I put on the shower head and gets its power from the water flow.

It's different... but very clever. Thus the reason I stood out for me.

Kudos to Ampere for the idea.

Kev.

Jim Stack on Jan 15, 2021

Hydro has been around for a long time. But the equipment can be upgraded to make even more clean power. Here in the Arizona desert we have 7 large Hydro dams. They were built mainly to prevent flooding since the few times it rains we get deluged. They are owned and run by SRP the government non profit utility.

They were built 50 years ago. The equipment just likexelectric motors and light bulbs have improved by 50 to 100% but never changed in the dams.

I have made it my mission to get them all updated as they need any repair work. It is starting to happen. Little bit by bit. One drop at a time. They used to provide 8% of our power. I won't rest until it's 20% or more.

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