Power up those USB devices with your pedals

Several readers have emailed me about this great project from Instructables. A group of students from MIT have created a system that uses a turning bike wheel to charge USB devices. It’s not quite a consumer-ready product yet, but it’s definitely got some promise.

Check it out:


How to Charge Any USB Device by Riding Your BikeMore DIY How To Projects

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Harald
Harald
14 years ago

Nobody in Europe would ever have had the idea to use a modified 275 dollar electric motor as the generator. As commenters on the page have pointed out there’s this great invention called dynamo…
The circuit design is helpful, though. Circuit board plus hub dynamo would be a great touring setup to recharge a GPS or a flashlight. Maybe I should dust off my soldering iron.

jennix
jennix
14 years ago

Where can these schematics be found?