Woaw, some of you are up there with time in there hands so much sarcasms, you have lots of knowledge within your area but no applied experience in the domain of human hybrid, plenty assumptions You forget to understand the part that I have a Twike and I know the (little) effort to move it ,so laughing about paddling going nowhere is such a ridiculous statment.

Well then prove us wrong with some numbers based on the laws of physics. That's the reasoning and logic we trust go by.

The problems we have are that the realistic comparisons between human power and a motor for a Twike that is rated at 3000 watts (~ 4 horsepower) continuous duty and the relative eases of power output each can sustain.

The average Human can sustain about 75 watts (.1 Horsepower) with short bursts not much over 1000 watts for a moment or so at best. By the laws of physics that's a pretty serious power difference to be comparing anyone too regardless of what continent you/they are on or what race you/they are and that's the problems we have with your rational.

 

ra·tion·ale
noun

a set of reasons or a logical basis for a course of action or a particular belief.
"he explained the rationale behind the change"
synonyms: reason(s), reasoning, thinking, logic, grounds, sense;

ra·tion·al

of sound mind; sane: the patient seemed quite rational. 4. endowed with the capacity to reason; capable of logical thought: man is a rational being. 5. (maths) expressible as a ratio of two integers or polynomials: a rational number; a rational function.​

 

Ration ale? Better than Prohibition I suppose .

 

Having time on hands isn't the cause of that particular issue.
The 'right to not look'.... very well said. This point proves that at times, some believe they know everything. Somehow permanently in comfort zones of some making.
I responded to one on this topic and got some blundering answer from someone. Blunderers make consumerism 'go round'. The world goes round by itself. Plenty of reaction to the half-baking in the book Stash of Gems, ISBN 978-0-9527294-6-4

 

I would go for charging a capacitor with a high maximum voltage rating. Then straight into a step-down, high efficiency converter, to a low voltage. Then stepping up to a safe level for the 12V battery, with a charge management circuit. The step-ups and downs are easily available to the non-technical experimenter, I'm not sure about the charge controller, for something that is reliable. This method would let the user have more rests.

I wasn't going to comment, but since you saw fit to complain about the good advice here, I'll tell you this is an absurd arrangement, all to pursue a ridiculous goal.

Many, many skilled researchers have studied human-powered generators. Ignore them at your peril. You think you know better. Fine. Go ahead and build it - you'll see.

 

I wasn't going to comment, but since you saw fit to complain about the good advice here, I'll tell you this is an absurd arrangement, all to pursue a ridiculous goal.

Many, many skilled researchers have studied human-powered generators. Ignore them at your peril. You think you know better. Fine. Go ahead and build it - you'll see.

We all know that he will never build anything. He has spotted a loophole in the laws of physics and that is sufficient, award him a Nobel prize.

 

We all know that he will never build anything. He has spotted a loophole in the laws of physics and that is sufficient, award him a Nobel prize.

If it comes with a $1M prize, I hope it means $1/yr. for one million years.

 

Ok, stop it now. This makes even less sense than the OPs proposal.

Bhutanese are not likely to go for this - choose a society with plenty of obese people. WAKE UP.
Using a regulator configuration which converts a wide range (above and below 12V) to 12V would be an alternative to my first suggestion, which does work.

 

Bhutanese are not likely to go for this - choose a society with plenty of obese people. WAKE UP.
Using a regulator configuration which converts a wide range (above and below 12V) to 12V would be an alternative to my first suggestion, which does work.

If you have a serious point to make, can you try to be a little more coherent?

From your first post I got the impression that you're proposing some kind of generator that fits to an exercise bike and charges a battery because the UK doesn't have electricity and you wondered how many obese people there are in Bhutan; Is that correct?

You can, of course, fit a generator to an exercise machine and that could charge a battery; the question is, why?

From what I can decypher; the TS suggested that, in developing countries, there are many people with too much energy and free time on their hands and after a long day of hard work in a hot climate they would welcome the opportunity to use up some of that excess energy and time by putting in many hours of determined pedaling on a machine (which probably cost more than they earn in a year) in order to charge a battery so that someone else, who is not so good at pedaling, can drive a Twike to the local market once a week.

You, on the other hand, appear to be suggesting that such machines could be put to good use in developed countries as mini power stations fueled by the excess fat of the obese.

 

If you have a serious point to make, can you try to be a little more coherent?

you wondered how many obese people there are in Bhutan; Is that correct?

You can, of course, fit a generator to an exercise machine and that could charge a battery; the question is, why?

appear to be suggesting that such machines could be put to good use in developed countries as mini power stations fueled by the excess fat of the obese.

If the subject is understood, messages about it should be understood without bringing in personal problems from home or work;
No, I do not wonder how many are obese in Bhutan;
Many in mountainous regions would benefit I expect, but that wasn't my point it was someone else's;
Yes, the benefits where there is much obesity are numerous - reduced weight, seeing the expended energy doing something rather than not seeing it - more thinking about efficiency rather than indulgence. Probably more (I'll add the word 'benefits' to avoid an opportunity of it being misinterpreted).

And there was nothing wrong with a method of providing a smooth input to a charging circuit, whether it be from a complex regulator or from a series of circuits which serve the same purpose.

 

I wasn't going to comment, but since you saw fit to complain about the good advice here, I'll tell you this is an absurd arrangement, all to pursue a ridiculous goal.

Many, many skilled researchers have studied human-powered generators. Ignore them at your peril. You think you know better. Fine. Go ahead and build it - you'll see.

It has advantages but I don't believe so in Bhutan.

Some of what has been ridiculed is not for the idea at all and has been wrongly interpreted. The ridiculing comments posted from such high horses show a very poor professional approach. Would you employ someone who spends their time wasting the time of others, or someone who can take on board an issue in a genuinely competitive spirit? I know the answer.

 

If the subject is understood, messages about it should be understood without bringing in personal problems from home or work;
No, I do not wonder how many are obese in Bhutan;
Many in mountainous regions would benefit I expect, but that wasn't my point it was someone else's;
Yes, the benefits where there is much obesity are numerous - reduced weight, seeing the expended energy doing something rather than not seeing it - more thinking about efficiency rather than indulgence. Probably more (I'll add the word 'benefits' to avoid an opportunity of it being misinterpreted).

And there was nothing wrong with a method of providing a smooth input to a charging circuit, whether it be from a complex regulator or from a series of circuits which serve the same purpose.

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but you've certainly convinced me that your idea is more than viable.

Anyway, it's getting late here and I have some cordless power tools and a mobile phone that need charging for tomorrow morning. My next-door neighbour looks like he could lose some weight and I'm sure that once I've explained the benefits to him he'll jump at the opportunity of running it off on my treadmill. Incidentally, neither of us are from Bhutan, but I don't think that's important.

Good luck with your invention!