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Mechanical Side Finished

A project log for Bicycle Regenerative Braking System

Turn excess kinetic energy into electrical energy rather than waste all it as heat. Built from commonly available and recycled parts.

recyclojunkrecyclojunk 08/31/2014 at 06:100 Comments

Finally the mechanical stuff has been finished (or so I hope). The dynamo is now a cordless-drill motor/gear-box instead of the original motor from a printer. There is also a choice of high or low gearing, so I can use it on low when going down a hill and needing the braking power, and on high when riding normally and not wanting it causing too much drag and noise. It also has a neutral for when silence is needed.

Now for the electronics. With only two weeks to go until the camp, I'm not completely sure I'll get all 16 of those switchmode converters done. And of course I also have to organise and pack everything else as well. So I am thinking of possibly cheating and just charging a 12V 7Ah lead-acid battery instead with a single buck/boost converter. The most power will be used by the cameras and laptop, which won't be any harder to run off of a 12v battery than 18650 cells. The only thing that really requires 18650 cells are the flashlights, which we will be using sparingly anyway.

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