Pedal Powered Prime Mover - Live!

January 2009: A scaled-down version of the PPPM is constructed for entry in an Elementary School Science Fair: PPPM Photo and Movie Gallery. Creative recycling of a BMX bicycle frame and selection of a slightly smaller flywheel resulted in a "kid-sized" PPPM that was perfectly capable of powering the Vacuum for cleaning up the construction area.

 

November 2008: The Pedal Powered Prime Mover powered the ONLY "off the grid" booth in the entire San Francisco Green Festival! 4 hours of pedaling (with occasional breaks provided by interested festival-goers) produced over 225 Watt-hours, powering a laptop, inkjet printer, and LED light the entire time.

The PPPM was present to support Tamara Dean, author of The Human Powered Home. This well-researched and comprehensive book on all things Human-powered - not just generators and bicycles - drew throngs of motivated individuals looking to generate power and improve their health at the same time.

The Green Festival was the last stop on the California leg of the book tour, which included presentations by Tamara at Builders Booksource in Berkeley, and the Busycle Farewell FUN-draiser Kick Off Party. The PPPM was present at all three events, educating and entertaining as David transformed calories into Watts!

Pedal Powered Art: 01SJ 2008 and Target Day

 

June 2008: 4 Pedal Generators entertained young and old alike at the Circle of Palms in downtown San Jose, California. The pedal generators, works of art in themselves, powered radios, turntables, PA systems, lights, and even an inflatable sculpture. And yes, that is none other than the Target Dog considering a ride! This day of pedaling followed an evening debut of Human Electricity Generation as the Cathexispin installation in San Jose's O1SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge. Human power from the PPPMs was routed to the Ice Queen installation seen in the photos, where it powered electronics inside the Ice Queen's tent.

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Pedal Powered Appliances: Human Power at Home 2008

January 2008: A film crew from SBS Television in Korea came to witness the PPPM in action! Throughout the morning, the PPPM was used to charge batteries, energize a television set, charge a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, power a cordless phone, recharge an electric razor, power a reading light, blast a blow dryer (on LOW speed), and for the grand finale, pedal a load of laundry in the washing machine! The videos will be ready in several months, and they will be posted here.

Pedal Powered Green Energy: Burning Man 2007

September 2007: Burning Man 2007 - the PPPM provides green power a Mac Powerbook, Iphone, 12V amplifier, 3 pieces of elwire, fluorescent blacklight and a soldering iron used to solder some electricals for the PPPM!! Note the "marathon" equipment on the handlebars - these people are serious!

Pedal Powered Lanterns: Big Chill (UK) 2007

August 2007: Big Chill 2007 at Eastnor Castle in the United Kingdom. Pedal Powered Prime Mover technology powers 15 beautiful lanterns in the largest of three huge oak trees, right in the center of the festival grounds. Each generator was matched to a single 40-60 Watt incandescent bulb, giving the appearance of fireworks at night as the riders "cycled" through the 15 generator stations. 15 of 30 lanterns were taken off the mains by the generators, reducing power required to light the tree by half - and the fireworks effect was mesmerizing at night. Plans are already underway for even more next year.

Special thanks to Tim Siddall (Electric Pedals), fellow Pedal Power enthusiast, and James Robertson (and Jane!), Arborist and Lantern-lighter for completing the team needed to make this spectacle possible.

Pedal Powered Installation at Bates Museum: Green Horizons

 

June 9 - December 9 2007: Green Horizons - the PPPM provides power for the "Wasteland" installation by artist Virginia Valdes. Riders power monitors to watch a short movie connecting them both to nature, and the mechanistic society we have created.

Virginia says "Wasteland attempts to show how a human habitat filled with non-recyclable and non-degradable material goods not only inexorably eliminates others and ultimately all life, but increases the artificial and cultural divide between humans and their biological environment."

Pedal Powered Home Office: Maker Faire 2007

 

May 2007: Maker Faire 2007 - the PPPM powered a Thinkpad and HP PSC 1210 printer, plus two 2.5 Watt LED PAR 20 Lights through the Power Board from 9:45 AM until 6:00 PM Saturday, and 9:45 AM until 5:00 PM Sunday. The "home office" (homeless office?) also featured a 12 Volt DC TV that was added to the load whenever volunteers took to the pedals. With the TV, total power draw for all the equipment was approximately 95 Watts. PPPM Flyers were printed on demand, and a camera battery and cell phone were "opportunistically charged" by interested visitors. Total power generated by me was 335 Watt-hours Saturday and 268 Watt-hours Sunday.

Pedal Powered Printing: Earth Day 2007 at Golden Gate Park

 

April 2007: Earth Day 2007 - the PPPM travels to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, where it powers a Thinkpad and HP PSC 1210 printer, plus two 2.5 Watt LED PAR 20 Lights, all through the Power Board. Onlookers were encouraged to print PPPM Flyers if they wished, which resulted in peak power demands of only 45 Watts for the entire collection of devices. The rider (me) got a break whenever the Laptop or Printer "went to sleep." Pedaling continued for three hours nonstop.

The Pedal Powered Prime Mover: Burning Man Green Mini-Generator

 

April 2007: At the Green House event in San Francisco, the PPPM simultaneously powers: Cell Phone charger, Desktop Fan, DVD Player, 2 LED and 2 Compact Fluorescent Lights and a Laptop (battery charging). Burners were interested to hear that a single 60 Watt incandescent light required more power than everything listed above combined.

The Pedal Powered Prime Mover Generates Dominican Republic Village Power

   

More at the University of Michigan BLUElab

The Pedal Powered Prime Mover Helps Power BioSUB - Down Under!

Lloyd Godson, BioSUB Pioneer - is living underwater in the BioSUB NOW!

At this very moment, April 6 2007, Lloyd Godson is living 20 feet or so underwater in a habitat he has named the BioSUB. With Algae providing Oxygen and absorbing Carbon Dioxide, Lloyd has done everything he can to create a self-sufficient system. And the PPPM is part of the system.

Lloyd plans to spend two weeks underwater, carefully monitoring all of the scientific aspects of the habitat, and of course exploring the physical and mental experiences as well. He is connected to the surface with advanced communications, and in addition to Email he is giving interviews and creating Webcasts.

More at the BioSUB and Australian Geographic

After you arrive, if you want to know the latest news, just click through the "Enter the BioSUB" link and then click on the button labeled "The Latest" at the bottom of the screen.

There are many images to view, and several archived Webcasts. I'm certain much more information about the actual experience will be added shortly.

Lloyd is using the PPPM to charge his laptop computer, and to run the pump that circulates the algae that is keeping him alive. He has backup power of course. This is a serious effort and not a risky "stunt." He may also be powering some of the habitat lights, but I am not certain of everything he is using the PPPM for.

I have been mailing Lloyd - in his underwater habitat - and he seems to enjoy the contact from "outside" his compact, self-contained world. Please connect with him if you are curious about how the project is going. Lloyd is a certified diver and a Marine Biologist, so he can probably answer any question you may have about this unique experience. I encourage you to at least let him know you dropped by if you take a look at the site.

The Pedal Powered Boycott Coca Cola Experience - Renewable Tunes

"The generators are going, look at them go, it's like a steam engine, but it's not a steam engine, it's a muscle engine, it's working, check out the sound, it sounds amazing, this is a proper gig, and it's pedal-powered."

More at the Boycott Coca Cola Experience

Max Keeps the Light On

This generator and another like it are going to be used to power all the sound and lighting for Annex Theatre's show, "Keep the Light On" here in Seattle in early 2008! See http://www.annextheatre.org/pages/season21.html for more info!

Deb Todd Wheeler - Live Experiments in Human Energy Exchange

More at Deb Todd Wheeler, Green Street Gallery