Exercise to Energy: A Bicycle-Powered Charger

Bicycles offer effective means of exercise and are popular forms of transportation. One fault of the current use of bicycles is that the mechanical energy generated by a moving bicycle is often wasted in the form of friction and expended heat. This is troubling in the modern world since energy is deeply integrated into peoples' everyday lives – one of the most common energy consumers being small electrical devices such as cellphones and iPods. Our senior design project addresses this issue via a bicycle-powered charging system designed to operate similar to a normal commercial bicycle trainer. The charging system will be composed of a trainer and charging system. The trainer will be based on a standard retail bicycle trainer to enable easy transition from road use for transportation and recreation to stationary use for exercise. The charging system will be capable of charging a 12 V battery pack, which will then be able to charge multiple 5 V devices simultaneously. For the final product, the ATV generator will be connected to a removable battery pack capable of charging during system operation and storage for use after operation. The prototype we create will utilize a purchased trainer for design, but, since this prototype is intended to evolve into a commercial product that is premade and easy to self-install, we also will complete the design and cost estimation of a commercial frame. For this presentation, I will expound on my individual contributions, knowledge and learning experienced during the completion of this engineering senior design group project.