Technology for the poor

This website is a great example of what I am trying to Illustrate in this thesis.
http://technologyforthepoor.com/

STANDARD BICYCLE WITH PEDAL POWER ATTACHMENT

(DUAL-PURPOSE BICYCLE)

Job S. Ebenezer, Ph.D.
President, Technology for the Poor,
877 PELHAM COURT, WESTERVILLE, OHIO - 43081
technologyforthepoor@yahoo.com

INTRODUCTION

This manual describes the design and construction of a device which, when attached to a standard bicycle, will permit it to be used as a pedal‑power machine. The resulting machine, known as a dual-purpose bicycle, can be used to power numerous small‑scale mechanical devices such as grain threshers, grinders, water pumps, electrical generators, and a variety of small machine tools. When desired, the dual-purpose bicycle can be converted from its transportation mode to its pedal‑power mode, or vice versa within a matter of minutes.

It should be noted that the design criteria, materials used, and the procedures adopted in construction may be modified to suit local situations. It is suggested that low-cost and readily available materials and standard bicycle parts be substituted whenever possible. Changes in construction method and in dimensions should be made according to the availability of materials and manufacturing capability.

I. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

When designing our attachment, the following considerations were taken into account:

1. The device should be suitable for local manufacturing capabilities.

2. The attachment should employ low-cost materials and manufacturing methods.

3. It should be accessible and affordable by low-income groups, and should fulfill their basic need for mechanical power

4. It should be simple to manufacture, operate, maintain and repair.

5. It should be as multi‑purpose as possible, providing power for various agricultural implements and for small machines used in rural industry.

6. It should employ locally available materials and skills. Standard steel pieces such as steel plates, iron rods, angle iron, and flat stock that are locally available should be used. Standard tools used in machine shop such as hack saw, files, punches, taps & dies; medium duty welder; drill press; small lathe and milling machine should be adequate to fabricate the parts needed for the dual-purpose bicycle.

7. It should make use of standard bicycle parts wherever possible.

8. The device should adapt easily to as many different bicycles as possible. No permanent structural modification should be made to the bicycle.

9. Though the device should be easy to take off the bicycle, it is assumed that it would usually remain attached to facilitate readiness and ease of transport from site to site. The device, therefore, should not interfere with the bicycle's transportation mode.

10. The broad stand, which provides stability during power production mode, can be flipped upward during the transport mode. This stand/carrier would be a permanent fixture of the dual-purpose bicycle.

11. The power take‑off mechanism should be as efficient as possible, and should develop relatively high r.p.m. (close to 200) for versatility of application. We had seen designs for devices that take power from the rear tire by means of a friction roller pressed against it, but we had doubts about the efficiency of this arrangement. In order to improve efficiency we used hard bearing surfaces such as roller chains, sprockets and ball bearings. We decided that the most appropriate location for this power take-off mechanism would be at the front of the bike near the fork tube (see photographs).

12. Care must be exercised to insure that the power take-off assembly is far enough forward so as not to interfere with pedaling. Most standard adult bicycle frames have plenty of room for the power take-off mechanism and pulley. Power is supplied to the shaft by means of a chain from the bike's chainwheel (crank) to a ratcheted sprocket on the shaft. During the prime-mover mode, the bike's regular chain is slipped off of the chain-wheel, and the specially sized chain to the power take-off mechanism is slipped on.

13. The device should be able to transmit power to a variety of machines, and changing drive ratios should be as simple as possible. We decided that a V-belt and pulley arrangement would be most appropriate for this. Belts do not require the precise alignment that chains do. Belts can even accommodate pulleys that are slightly skewed with respect to each other. Changing drive ratios is as easy as changing pulleys. Also, belts are reasonably efficient.

14. The device should contain a ratcheting mechanism that would let the operator "coast " periodically to rest and conserve energy. A free wheel from any bicycle can be easily adapted for this purpose.

15. Excessive weight should be avoided, as durability is a prime consideration.

DUAL-PURPOSE BICYCLE

Figure 1 Transportation Mode

Figure 2 Power Production Model

There is a lot more information on the site, what I find to be so interesting about this is that details very simply a solution to the problem, its not overly designed to the point that it would cost a great deal to create and for the people of this developing nation to create and use.

July 29th.

Made some rough sketches for Ideas involving the Thesis exhibit, will post soon. Also I am in the process of writing up my Thesis Proposal and putting my Committee together. That will help me the beginning stages of building which I still hope to have a good start on before the end of summer. 

While problem solving at the museum yesterday, cam upon the idea that you could set up an entire business on converting old car Alternators to Permanent Magnet Motors. 

I meet with Jim Meyers of RIT fame tomorrow. 

NRS Gala

President Destler (middle),partner (and fellow GRIT member) Rebecca Johnson checking out the Deathwish.

Two weeks ago I was granted the opportunity to present some of my work at the Nathanial Rochester Society's Summer Gala. I was fortunate enough to get the first table as people walked in the door. It was a great event and I met lots of Society members that begged me to ride the bike that I had created, to see the bike follow the link. http://www.thekudzughost.com/ . (all photos above were taken by the amazing team at ETC, all photos were taken by Elizabeth Lamark and Brittany Brentzel )

Stair Master Guts

John Bruning took these pics of his stair master for me. The Stair Master generates its own power supply as well as plugs into a wall. Looking at it, it seems more complicated then it has to be for my sort of application.

July 22nd

A pedal powered heating and refrigeration unit to be used as an exhibit. The copper piping around the handles heat up (L) and cool down (R).






A great week of brainstorming at the RMSC about the alternative power exhibit. Above is some of the concepts that the Tag team has come up with so far.

When being involved in a process such as this the Tag team feels it necessary to tinker for awhile first to understand the principles of what they are trying to accomplish. I agree with this method and always learn a lot more about a project when I get my hands around it.

July 6th

After last weeks meeting with Jim, I really dug into the research phase of this project. My entire Monday was consumed with looking into different situations people have worked on in all parts of the world. It seems as though in most all cases the design of the object is not as important as making it so that it can become an entire economy to those using it. This can happen in many ways, sometimes through repair, sometimes through production. This is something that is going to weigh very heavily on design for underdeveloped countries, its also one of the major differences in the designs. As a industrialized developed nation of consumers our products, even with the current green movement are dispensable, We as a people are no longer concerned with repair appliances when they break. We simply buy new ones. I am not saying that is good or bad, its simply a current fact.

On Tuesday I went to museum and finished working with Tim on the Bike powered leaf blower concept model. The concept works, now comes the design ideas, what is it that we are trying to teach, with this model we could do so much. I am spending Monday afternoon working on different Ideas. I also decided that starting this week I would spend more time at the museum and hopefully that will make me start building some prototypes faster, just to get some more creativity flowing.

At this stage in the innovation process it is easy to get distracted that is why I have backed off working on the Greenway project slightly. I am attempting to focus my energy on the long road ahead and utilizing the summer to get a lot of my thesis built so that I can utilize the school year for revisions.

Gen V Campaigns

http://genvcampaigns.org/

GenV Campaigns is the online hub for Ashoka Youth Venture’s global campaigns. We support youth in taking action to address global challenges by launching lasting social ventures.

Through our campaigns, we offer young changemakers:

• mentorship
• seed funding
• media opportunities
• fellowship and networking events
• prizes and awards

Ashoka Youth Venture’s campaigns are supported by a global staff operating in 14 countries.

Our Vision

Ashoka Youth Venture’s vision is a world of everyone a changemaker through a global culture of young people initiating positive, lasting change. Imagine what a difference it would make in the strength of our society and in our lasting impact on the world if millions more people gave themselves permission to be changemakers.

What you can do:

• check out existing campaigns: environment, invention
• explore ventures launched through our campaigns (coming soon)
• get inspired: environment, invention
• watch videos

Paul Polak

Paul Polak's

12 steps for practical problem solving.

1. Go to where the action is
2. Talk to the people who have the problem
3. Know specific context
4. Think and act big
5. Think like a child
6. See and do the obvious
7. If someone already invented it, you don't have to
8. Measure impacts in scale
9. Design to specific price targets
10. Follow practical time-line plans
11. Continue to learn from your customers
12. Don't be distracted by what others say

http://www.paulpolak.com/html/media_video_treadle.html

WEZA

it seems as though this would be too expensive and complicated to catch on in developing countries but it sure makes my bike powered skateboard a more interesting idea then I had previously thought.

http://www.freeplayenergy.com/aid-and-development

R Community Bikes Part 1.

The previous pictures are from my visit to Rochester Community Bikes , their vision is amazing and they seem to have a real handle on how to best help the people who need alternative means of transportation for one reason or another. The all Volunteer group there are extremely knowledgeable in bike mechanics as well as costumer service trying. The real highlight of the trip was that they have developed a system to not just give bikes away but make sure that each recipient is getting a bike that fits them and that works well enough that they can use it for a long time to come.

Please visit their site and perhaps help out in any way possible.

www.rcommunitybikes.net

Why this is relavent to my thesis is that when your dealing with dealing with people that are economically in trouble you need them to appreciate what they are getting, its one of the things that Paul Polak states in his essay in Design for the other 90%, that unless you a project work economically, the project will fail and that does nothing to help others. The way that R. Community Bikes makes profit is by selling some of the more valuable bikes on Craigslist, an Idea that I am about to email them is to set up a used bike storefront for those bikes in an area such as the south wedge where biking vintage is becoming very popular and you could gain more profit that way enabling them to help more people who can't afford bikes to receive them.