See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259980152 Pedal Power Generation Conference Paper· January 2012 CITATIONS10READS 44,998 4 authors, including: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Amaran - an unmanned robotic coconut tree climberView project Single DoF Hand Orthosis for Rehabilitation of Stroke and SCI PatientsView project Rajesh Kannan MegalingamAmrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham - Humanitarian Technology (HuT) Labs191PUBLICATIONS867CITATIONSSEE PROFILEPranav Sreedharan Veliyara Grand Valley State University 4PUBLICATIONS17 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Raghavendra Prabhu 12PUBLICATIONS234 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded byRajesh Kannan Megalingamon 09 December 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
Pedal Power Generation Rajesh Kannan Megalingam, Pranav Sreedharan Veliyara, Raghavendra Murali Prabhu, Rocky Katoch Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Amritapuri Campus, Kollam [email protected], [email protected],[email protected], [email protected] Abstract—Bicycle is the main mode of transportation for manyIndian villagers. Most of these villages are un-electrified. Power generated by pedaling can be converted from mechanical to electrical energy by using either dynamo or alternator. Small powered lighting devices can be charged using dynamo and can be used in the night by students for study purposes. This principle can be extended to power mobiles, iPods, laptops etc. Power can be also generated from the rotation of the wheels of alternator vehicles like bikes and cars, where there is a possibility of generating more power. The generated power can be either used in the same vehicle or can be stored in a battery for powering some other devices. Riding bicycle helps in maintaining a good physic and along with it power can be also generated.This paper presents methods in generating electricity by pedaling a bicycle. It also explains in detail the method using bottle dynamo to generate power. A detailed analysis of using pedal power is also presented. Keywords—Alternator;dynamo;bicycle;rechargeable batteries. I.I NTRODUCTION World is a storehouse of energy. We all know that energy canneither be created nor destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another. But we are wasting resources that can produce energy as if they are limitless. If we can renew and reuse the energy we waste, it would help in some way tothe problem of scarcity of energy, which is the major threat of present world. Humans are able to generate approximately 150W of power while riding bicycle. However, this power goes waste without any use. If we can make use of this energy,we would be able to power many electronic devices. A dynamo or an alternator can be used for harvesting the energy generated by a cycle rider while riding. We can charge mobile phones or a small lighting device with this power. Not only in bicycles but also in alternator bikes, cars, and exercise bikes we can use this principle.
People use bicycles as the main medium of transportation in villages. In addition, in cities, where most people use exercise bikes, the energy can be productively used to power electronic gadgets, which require less power.In India, many of the villages are still without electricity and most of them use bicycle as their medium of transportation. In such places, our system will be of great help. Charging of the battery can be done by a layman by just connecting the circuit to the output of the dynamo which is connected to the bicycle. This would charge the NiMH batteries. II.ELECTRIFIEDI NDIA In reference to the report [6], number of Towns and Villages Electrified in India by IIFL, it can be seen that even after 65 years of independence 17.7 percent of India is still in dark during nights. All of the 5161 towns in India are electrified, i.e. cent percent in the case of towns. However, in India villages are more than towns and development of India is only possible by the development of those villages. Out of 593732 villages in India only 488439 villages are electrified, i.e. 105293 villages are un-electrified. Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu,Haryana, and Delhi are the few of the statesthatare100%electrified.ArunachalPradesh, Bihar,Jharkhand, Orissa, Meghalaya,and Tripura are the states where less than 60% of the villages are electrified. The worst situation is in Jharkhand where only 31.1 %villages are electrified. The consumption of electricity in the country is increasing at the rate of 10% per year. The energy usage has been increasing through years, but there has been no sufficient increase in the production. In the case of electricity, this leads to load shedding and increase in prices. III.T URNING SWEAT INTO WATTS In the July-2011 [7] issue of IEEE Spectrum, a detailed study and analysis of pedal power energy generation, its usage, feasibility, and economics is presented. The power is produced from the exercise bikes used in gyms by means of a small generator. This article presents a case where in it looks at the overall feasibility of including the pedal power technology in the mainstream. To be in the mainstream means, this technology has to produce lot of power. In addition, it lists many household devices and the pedaling time required to operate each of the devices for an hour. For CFL it takes 18 minutes of pedaling. For laptops, it takes 30 minutes. For fan, it takes 1 hour. However, for cloth dryer it takes 40 hours. From this, we can conclude that power produced from such machines will not be enough for powering high-powered devices. But in our case where we want to make use of the pedal power in un-electrified villages, the scenario is entirely different. IV.P EDAL POWER GENERATION USING BICYCLE There are various renewable energy sources such solar, wind, hydropower etc. In addition, people use fossil fuels, which are non-renewable. These resources are very expensive.
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Therefore, there is a need for cheap, renewable energy source. As long as we are pedaling and the system is working fine, we can get the power whenever needed. Power generation using bicycle is very cheap and eco-friendly. Even though people have been using pedal power for various day-to-day chores, generating electricity from pedaling was not in vogue until few decades back. Today dynamo equipped bicycles are common which power the incandescent headlights during night. The rotational energy that is generated when the tire rotates because of the application of force on the pedals can be used in twoways.Thisenergycanalsobeusedin dynamo/alternator,which is then converted to electrical energy. Rotational energy of the tire can be used to pump water out from the well, to drive a washing machine, to operate blender/grinder etc.These applications can be of very great usein un-electrified places. Refrigerators can also be powered by pedaling, which are used to preserve the food during a bicycle trip. Pedal powered pump can pump water from wells and bore wells, which are very deep and can be used for irrigation anddrinkingwaterpurposes.Inpedalpoweredwashing machine,the plastic barrel rotates as we pedal. Thus, water consumption can be also reduced. Using exercise bikes also power can be generated. Particularly for people living in cities, it is an added advantage that no separate time is needed and along with exercise, our effort will not go waste. V.D YNAMO Bicycle Dynamos are alternators equipped with permanent magnets, which produce ac current. Two types of dynamos available are the hub dynamo and the bottle dynamo. Hub dynamo is built into the hub of a bicycle wheel. Here generation of electricity is done by using the rotation of the bicycle wheel. A bottle dynamo is also small electric generator like hub dynamo. It is generally placed to the rear wheel of thebicycle. A bottle dynamo acts like a small alternator. A.Why dynamo? Dynamo can be used to convert mechanical energy to electricalenergy.Alternatingcurrentcanbe produced normally using the dynamo. This current can power devices, which work on ac directly and can be converted and used for devices working on dc.The amount of power generated from a dynamo by pedaling is sufficient to power the devices, which require low power. Most of the electronic gadgets including mobile phones and iPods can be powered using this.These devices can be charged while either riding the bicycle or by keeping the bicycle stationary and pedaling. Dynamo is small, light weight, and is therefore best to use in bicycles. B.Advantages of hub dynamo over bottle dynamo •Slippage: In rainy seasons or wet conditions, the roller on the bottle dynamo can slip against the surface of the tire resulting in interruption in the generation of electricity. •Resistance:The bottle dynamo offers resistance when it is engaged. It rather creates more drag than hub dynamo. There is no resistance when the bottle dynamo is disengaged. •Tire wear: As the bottle dynamo rub against the circumference of the tire (sidewall) to generate electricity, it causes added wear of the tire. However, it is not so in the case of hub dynamo. •Positioning: The positioning of the bottle dynamo also is one of the disadvantages. If not placed correctly, it would lead to some interruption in the generation of electricity or sometimes improper positioning would lead to no generation. •Hub dynamo has more voltage output than the bottle dynamo. C.Advantages of bottle dynamo over hub dynamo •The hub dynamo cannot be attached to an existing bicycle. For the installation of hub dynamo, the bicycle tire has to be replaced with a specially designed tirehavinghub dynamo already attached to its hub. But for bottle dynamo, it can be directly attached to rear or front tire. •Hub dynamo are heavier than bottle dynamo and adds to the weight of the bicycle. •Installation of hub dynamo is more expensive than that of bottle dynamo. Bottle dynamo costs ranges from Rs 75/- to Rs 160/-. •Installation of bottle dynamo can be done manually without any sophistication in its installation. VI.A LTERNATOR The output energy from the dynamo is very low. Only three 1.2V NiMH batteries can be charged using this power, which can be used for low power applications like small led lights. Also, it takes a lot of time in charging these batteries. It is definite that the dynamo output will be insufficient for high power applications and an alternative is needed. A dynamo can be replaced with an alternator since it is capable of producing more power in less time. Alternator has bothpros and cons over dynamo, but alternatorgenerates more power than dynamo withlesser time and effort. Alternator is larger in size compared to dynamo and it would seize more space. One wayto connect analternator with the bicycle is to place it behind the seat by removing the carrier. Theshaft of the alternator should be connected to the tire with a belt that rolls over shaft on one end and other end rolls over a cylindrical structure attached to its rear tire’s hub. In this way when the bicycle moves, the structure rotates and thereby facilitates rotation of alternator’s shaft.The other way to connect the alternator with the bicycle is by making the shaft directly roll over the tire. A rubber cap placed on the
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