Homemade USB Bike Generator
The DIY USB Bike Generator allows you to create your very own generator for powering your portable electronics from your bicycle. The bike generator can be used to provide power for any device that can be charged through a USB port, allowing those with interest in making their own environmentally friendly devices the ability to charge their electronics from their cycling.
Many readers have been impressed with the Nokia Bike Generator, though there are those out there who do not wish to use a Nokia phone, or wish to charge some of their other portable electronics in this manner. For those that have an interest in Do-It-Yourself projects the answer comes in the form of this guide on how to create your own bike generator.
The DIY USB Bike Generator can provide 5W of power to any of your portable electronics that can use a USB port to charge through. Once created the generator should be able to charge two such devices at once, though with no battery storage as soon as you stop cycling the devices stop charging. To those used to DIY and with a range of tools the generator should be relatively simple and cheap to build, however as a first foray into DIY or DIY electronics the device will be more costly due to tool costs, and does require you to be able to solder.
The bike generator uses the kinetic energy of you cycling to generate electricity using a stepper motor. Cycling at 7mph allows you to provide enough power to start to charge your devices, though speeds of over 12mph are preferable. The bike generator does not provide enough power for the more power hungry portable electronic devices, it can though be used to charge a wide range of devices out there allowing you to power your electronics in an environmentally friendly way.
Source: CrunchGear
Your Comments
i need that
im biking the hole weekend
but my ipods battery is running out
and my cellphone is running out of power too
What a clever idea. It’s great to see something like the Nokia Bike Generator that can be used with different phones and devices. I think this is a really great initiative- I can definitely see it becoming quite popular as more and more people are becoming environmentally conscious. It’s this sort of innovative thinking that will make all the difference.