Treadmill desks, standing desks and other fitness hybrids are sweeping the nation. People believe that they can use the time that their working to take on a workout or get a little more physically fit, and they can. A lot of this has been fueled by the fitness sensor/app epidemic. When people get a Fitbit or Nike Fuel Band they get a birds eye view of what they’re doing to get fit, and what they aren’t.
The latest craze of treadmill desks gives the user a treadmill where they can walk for hours and a desk surface for their desktop or laptop They can peruse the net, work on spreadsheets, even Skype and Google Hangout while still getting a cardiac workout.
Well two best friends from Upstate New York have a plan to make that time working out and working even more productive. They recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for their Pedal Power plans. The duo has designed two different exercise machines that use the energy produced from the workout to power different devices.
Their two machines, the Big Rig and the Pedal Genny have powered everything from a laptop and power generator to a log splitter.
The duo describes the “Big Rig” as a multifunction machine which can power nearly anything that uses a v-belt pulley (or chain) and requires less than 1 horsepower (people can generate about 1/3 horsepower with peaks up to 1HP). We have used the Big Rig to drive an electric generator, water pump, air compressor, a hydraulic press (in this case a log splitter), and various types of food processors. It features a built-in, adjustable seat and work surface. The electric generator and/or water pump can be mounted on the frame.
They describe their Pedal Genny as “our smaller, single-function machine. It can be configured to generate electricity or for other mechanical uses.”
While Andy and Steve have created the two machines they admit that they only get to work on them in their spare time. They are also very costly to produce, and in turn very costly for the buyer and costly to ship as well. What the two are looking to do is create good, easy to understand open source plans so that everyone can make a machine of their own. They are looking to raise $10,000 to start on the plans. They estimate it will only take a month and then they will release the plans.
They’ve raised a little more than 60% of their goal with 46 days to go so it looks like they’ll get there. If they surpass it they have some good stretch goals set up:
$35,000 — engineering and design for belt driven machines. Bicycle chains are easy to maintain but generate a lot of noise. It is particularly noticeable indoors.
$75,000 — designing and building an electric and electronic system to deliver consistent, clean AC and/or DC power as well as monitor the generator, battery and overall system.
$500,000 — a big step to changing the world of local and human scale energy would be the ability to do a full production run of our machines with a manufacturer. The efficiencies gained would significantly reduce the cost of our machines.
You can support them on Kickstarter here.
