University students in the UK have developed a pedal-powered energy generator. The produced electricity powers a projector for the duration of a whole movie.
Over the recent years, we have spoken quite frequently about pedal power. It is a great way to generate clean energy, while adding that little bit of extra exercise into your daily routine. Of course, besides the health benefits, pedal power has served much bigger purposes- for example the pedal-powered washing machine that provides affordable solution to the poor communities in India.
Now, the most recent invention that involves pedal power comes from a team of students at University of Leicester. As part of their final year project, they had to invent and build a prototype of a functioning gadget of some sort.
What they came up with is really great. Bicycle-powered energy generator, which can produce enough energy to power a 55 watt projector for the duration of a whole movie. You know how everywhere people say that to maintain healthy body, we should not sit on the sofa when watching a move, but rather we should be doing some physical activity. Well, here it is. A Beautiful example of taking the doctor’s advice to the next level.
Some technical aspects of the invention. The team used a belt to connect a 250 Watt motor with a speed racer bike. The system includes a battery, which gets powered when an enthusiastic pedaler does 60 spinning revolutions per minute. The energy from the battery goes to a square wave inverter circuit, which turns DC voltage into AC voltage.
According to the guys, who developed the system, this power is more than enough to bring you through a whole movie. They tested it by watching Mission Impossible, which turned out to be in fact a very possible mission.
You do know why we are interested, right? Not long ago, we introduced Lighty – the super cool smart projector invented by our own Ovidiu Sandru. It would be quite cool if both inventions can be coupled. I think it is a recipe for quite a nice mid-summer evening in the garden.
Image (c) University of Leicester
