Human powered energy generator : a redesign

Abstract

This report discusses on the concept of utilizing human power and converting it to utilizable energy. An energy generating system was designed and constructed on a typical bicycle. It is an extension of an idea meted out by my predecessor in the year before. The energy generating system comprised of energy harvesting components and an energy storage device. The harvested energy is tapped and regulated to the energy storage device through the utilization of a charging circuit. The energy generating components included coiled wire with conducting magnets and dynamo at the rear bicycle wheel, and an improvised version of the Tumbling Magnet system at the front bicycle handle. The energy storage device comes in the form of a USB outlet which has a step-up transformer to get the desired voltage of 5V and 2 100μF capacitors to store the energy harvested for a short period of time which would then be used to power any device through a USB. The lithium ion battery in the smartphone acts as the rechargeable battery since it is the most prevalent and cheapest form of the lithium ion battery.