Obesity is one of the major worries of mankind in the age of modernity. Fortunately, there are many ways for getting rid of excess weight. Wherever you go, you find advertisements of new equipment that can help you burn the extra fat on your body, such as stationary bicycles and other exercising gadgets.
However, when you use such equipment, you only burn unwanted fat. Do you want to use these burnt calories in operating your television, getting your laundry done and cooking exotic hot meals? The idea here is not a new one. It has existed since the dawn of history, when man used his body to generate energy that he used in doing different things, such as moving large rocks and lifting water from low to high places where he could put it to use in various ways.
Science has developed over time, leading to innovation and invention of machinery and equipment that have helped man by doing many of the things that he used to do himself, which has given him more prosperity. These technologies are based on the principle that energy is permanent. As the principle goes "Energy does not die and is not born, it only changes from one form into another."
The equipment that we use everyday practically applies this principle. For example, the clothing iron that converts electrical energy into thermal energy, the fan that turns electrical energy into mechanical energy and heaters and refrigerators apply this principle. Even cars, which turn the chemical energy contained in fuel into a thermal energy through combustion, then into mechanical energy that is used for moving the car, apply it.
However, in the quest for more prosperity for man, technology has had its adverse impact. It has made man a lazy creature that achieves all his needs and desires by pressing a bunch of buttons. Some cartoonists have depicted this scene in various sketches of man in the new age. Their representation of modern man depicts him as a fat creature that looks like he is about to burst and is surrounded by a number of remote-control units along with a robot that does all he wishes.
This is the other side of prosperity when it turns into a hazard to man, and it has made some scientists draw a new course for technology, so that it may serve man's interest. The beginning was at Oxford University in 1977, when Stuart Wilson invented a bicycle that generates electrical energy at about 75 watts and uses human effort as mechanical energy for running its generator.
Today, scientists at Hambolt University Campus Center for Appropriate Technology have the development of this technology at the top of their list of interests. They have developed the bicycle invented by Wilson in 1977 so that it may have an output of 75 watts per hour. The bicycle is also fitted with batteries that are charged and then discharge their electrical charge during operation of household appliances.
This system has eight main components, as follows. The main bicycle, which is a stationary bicycle, is comprised of a 52 toothed gear to which the pedals are attached and is connected to the front flywheel by a chain. The flywheel is 15.2 inches (38 centimeters) in diameter and is connected to a generator whose shaft is about 2.5 inches (6.25 centimeters) in diameter.
The second component is the generator. It is a 1/3-horsepower, 1,800-rpm generator that generates 12 volts at 900 rpm. The third component is the voltage regulator, which controls the power of the current going into the batteries. Once the batteries are charged completely, this regulator stops the inflow of the charging current in order to save the battery.
The fourth component is the diode, which unifies the direction of the current to obtain a direct current (DC). The fifth components are the batteries, which are rechargeable like the batteries used in mobile telephones and radio sets. They are charged with 12 volts. The batteries can be used and recharged 300 times.
The sixth component is the inverter, which converts the 12-volt direct current into a 110-volt alternating current (AC). If the household appliance to be operated by the batteries of the system runs on 220 volts, a transformer can be used to transform the 110 volts into 220 volts. The seventh component is the ampere, voltage and rpm meters. The final component is a wood platform on which the above-mentioned components of the system are installed.
With some calculations of the power consumption of household electrical appliances, such as radios, electric alarm clocks and lighting fixtures, it was found that they use about 350 watts per day. Given the fact that this system has an output of 75 watts per hour, it needs to run for about five hours per day to produce the required energy.
Its operating time could be divided among the members of the family, each of whom will contribute their share to charging the batteries when he is doing his morning exercise. While this idea is very simple and any person can get the components and assemble the system at home, this system is really an invention that suits this age of ours. It can produce the electricity needed for operating all the household appliances through the human effort that every individual should exert on a daily basis to preserve their fitness and health
