Group Project: Energy Cycle

The Energy Cycle

By: William, Rodaina, Lee, Jonathan

Summary: This new invention is one that will be focused on saving costs and creating a source of energy for the user. This device uses something we call the Energy Cycle to make the electricity for personal use with little to no effort at all. This invention consisting of a generator, modified bicycle or treadmill, and motor, will take up the same size as a twin-sized bed and will help save money in the long-term. Although this idea is more complex than at face value, the benefits of generating one’s own energy for whatever person will not only help the wallet, but the person using it as well. Since the user will need to do some physical exercise on the equipment, it promotes a healthy lifestyle as well but if they don’t feel like doing anything, the device will continue to make power for a set time. While it may seem pricey at first with the whole set up costing around $2000 and possibly more for installation, it will pay itself off within 1-2 years. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The quarantine has many of us staying at our homes due to many jobs closing, as well as the whole world in itself being shut down to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. While many of us have weeks, maybe even months staying indoors, there is no doubt that many of us have turned to an unhealthy lifestyle. Thankfully rules are in place as that in which we can’t get evicted if we don’t pay rent. It sounds great and all but being realistic, it only means that when its all over we are going to have a lot of money to pay. And trying to kill 2 birds with one stone is where we came up with this innovation. What about, being able to get back in shape as well as being able to help decrease the overall cost of those bills. This leads to our invention using an idea we call the Energy Cycle. This is a set up consisting of a generator and bike or treadmill and doing exercise to produce energy. In this Quarantine, the amount of free time available has skyrocketed and what better way to use it than to save money and generate free power. This is not a replacement for regular usage in electricity but rather serves as a way to have free energy on the side. It can be used for anything such as powering small daily appliances like coffee makers, blenders, or charging one’s phone. In addition, it serves as a source of power in case of an emergency, and power is cut off or severely limited. 

Innovation Process:

Labor:

The process to install this invention varies depending on how many people are working on it. It can take a single day to assemble or an entire week to assemble. The minimum amount of people needed is 1 but this person will be to experience as an electrician and construction worker. This is because there is an electrical element where they will need to connect the bike into the generator, to then a battery, and finally anywhere they want. In the next field, this single person will need to be proficient in construction and how to follow regulations. This is because they need to make sure the area can support a generator and make sure no laws are being broken. But if a team of around 3 – 6 people are present then this will be reduced to a day or couple days as now there are multiple people working on multiple components. 

Components: 

Total Cost: Approx. $2170

Electric Motor – $100: a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy

Electric Generator – $2000: a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, in this case, power would be acquired through the motion of exercising

Wiring – $10: strand(s) of metal that can allow the flow of current from one end to the other

Step-Up Transformer – $50: a component that induces voltage from the primary coil to the secondary coil. Through induction, the voltage is increased in the secondary coil

Load – N/A: a part of a circuit that consumes electrical powerCapacitor/Battery – $10: the component responsible for storing excess energy when a mechanical force applied is insufficient or when more energy is required