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USB Bike Generator

by dbc1218 on June 15, 2010 Table of Contents USB Bike Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: USB Bike Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: BikeGen Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: The Tools and Parts you will Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: Build the Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Build the Generator Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 4 6 9

Step 5: Final Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Author:dbc1218
I enjoy building things more than actually using them.

Intro: USB Bike Generator

The USB Bike Generator is a small bike mounted electricity producing device optimized to provide power for two USB ports. There are so many small electronics that can be powered or charged from a USB connection it only makes since that people might want to do this while riding a bike. The basic idea for the USB Bike Generator is to use a suitable stepper motor as a generator and a voltage regulator circuit to maintain the 5 volts needed for the USB ports. In this instructable I will show you how to build this generator and through testing show that it is 70% efficient at converting the power from the generator to the power needed for the USB port. This is the third revision of my bike generator project, the first two can be found here http://www.instructables.com/id/Bike-Generator/ and here http://www.instructables.com/id/BikeGen/ I would strongly recommend that if you plan on building this USB Bike Generator you at least look over how these past to versions went together. This third rendition of my bike generator project came about after reading some of the comments made about my previous methods. Specifically, one comment from member ac-dc stated that my decision to use a linear regulator to go from 30 volts from the generator to 3 volts to power the light was at best 10% efficient. Now since one of the interests I've had listed on my profile since I joined this site has been efficiency I decided to read the rest of his comment after wiping the tears from my eyes. Ac-dc suggested that buck switching regulator would be better suited for a bike generator like mine. I had no idea what a switching regulator was so I started to do some research and found out that ac-dc was right and that I could significantly increase the efficiency of the electronics I was using. In my searching for switching regulators I came across this reference from Dimension Engineering, http://www.dimensionengineering.com/switchingregulators.htm. They offer a good explanation of the switching regulators and even sell them.

Image Notes 1. The u-bolts I made in the BikeGen instructable were used again here. 2. Two 8-32 machine screws and nuts hold the flat to the angle. 3. The Spring

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Image Notes 1. I think this will be the most convenient spot for the connector, because you could keep what ever you are powering in you pocket or rear pannier.

Step 1: BikeGen Testing

If you only want to learn how I built the USB Bike Generator and not why the BikeGen system wasn't the best, you can skip this step. In order to set a bench mark for the efficiency of BikeGen system I decided to do some testing. In my searching for switching regulators one of the best resources I found was this article http://www.dimensionengineering.com/switchingregulators.htm It explains how switching regulators work and how you can calculate the power lost through heat generation. The power lost to heat can be calculated using this equation: Power lost = (Input voltage output voltage) * load current So in order to find the power lost you need to know the input and output voltages as well as the load current. Luckily, I already had the tools for this job which required 3 digital multimeters and a small drill press. The test setup was fairly simple, I tightened the drill press chuck onto the shaft of the stepper motor and loosely clamped the motor in a vice. This was the same stepper motor that I have used for both the Bike Generator and and BikeGen Instructabes. This actually works out really well for two reasons. First the speeds that the drill press can spin are labeled and from these speeds I calculated how fast I would need to ride the bike based on how fast the generator is spinning. So using the tire size, rim size and the diameter of the small wheel mounted on the stepper motor for the BikeGen instructable I calculated the following speeds: Drill Press RPM 620 1100 1720 2340 3100 Bike Speed (MPH) 4.7 8.3 13.0 17.7 23.4

This range of bike speeds seems very reasonable. The second reason that using the drill press is a good representation of a bike rider is the power rating of the drill press motor. This drill press is rated at 1/3 horse power which is roughly 250 watts, this is attainable by an average person while riding a bicycle. The next step was to connect 3 digital multimeters into the circuit. I had cut some of the wires and use a few sets of alligator clips to make this happen. Check out the picture or the Test Setup pdf to see how I connected the meters. Basically the current meter was placed inline between the regulator and the charging circuit and the voltage meters connected after the diodes and after the regulator and were grounded at the same spot. This measures the values I need to calculate the power lost. Once everything was ready I plugged in the drill and turned it on. I tested the generator at every speed the drill was capable of and found out that at the first 3 speeds (620,1100,1720 RPM) there was not enough power to consistently charge the batteries. This was confirmed by the blinking LED on the charger. At 2340 RPM and 3100 RPM enough power was provided by the generator to charge the batteries. The values I measured at these two speeds are listed below: Motor RPM Input Volts Output Volts Output Amps Power Lost (W) Output Power (W) Total Power (W) Efficiency 2340 15.2 13 0.29 0.638 3.770 4.408 85.5% 3100 20.2 12.68 0.28 2.106 3.550 5.656 62.8%

The power lost was calculated from the equation I showed earlier, the other values were calculated from the following equations: output power = output voltage x output current total power = output power + power lost efficiency = output power / total power RESULTS So looking at these results I think there is something to be desired. First there was not enough power to charge the batteries until 2340 RPM which is 17.7 mph on the bike. This is a high speed and doesn't seem reasonable for a casual bike ride. Of course this speed is attainable but it would be a lot of effort to maintain the speed for an extended period of time. The efficiency seems very good at 2340 RPM (85%) but it drops to 62% at 3100 RPM. This is because the input voltage goes up at higher speeds which means more power is lost to heat. So unless I want to ride the bike at and average speed of 18mph everywhere I ride I will not achieve the best efficiency possible.

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Image Notes 1. The stepper motor mounted in the drill press for testing

Image Notes 1. This digital multimeter reads the input voltage to the regulator from the generator 2. This is the output voltage from the regulator 3. This is the load current

Image Notes 1. The batteries and the charger circuit

File Downloads

Test Setup.pdf ((792x612) 92 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Test Setup.pdf']

Step 2: The Tools and Parts you will Need

Below is a list of most of the tools and parts I used to build the USB Bike Generator. Tools Soldering Iron Solder Solder Sucker Desoldering Braid Digital Multimeter (3 of these were used in testing) Hacksaw Drill Drill Bits File

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Tap (8-32 screw size) Tape Measure Sharpie Dremel Parts Wire USB Car Power Adapter (read more about this in the next step) Stepper Motor 1N4001 Diodes (8 diodes are needed) 1-1/4" x 1-1/4" x 1/16" Aluminum Angle 1/2" x 1/8" Aluminum Flat 8-32 Machine screws and nuts

Image Notes 1. This is the USB car adapter I got for one dollar

Image Notes 1. Old 2. New

Image Notes 1. This is the stepper motor I used as a generator for the last two versions of my bike generator 2. This is the new stepper motor

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Step 3: Build the Electronics

There are three major parts to the electronics of the USB Bike Generator, the stepper motor, the rectifier and the voltage regulator. Stepper Motor The USB Bike Generator uses a stepper motor as a generator to produce the electricity. In general any electric motor can be used as a generator but not all motors are well suited as generators. The stepper motor I used in my last two instructables came from an old printer and was rated at 24 volts. Through testing I found that this motor provided up to 48 volts when unloaded and spun at 3100 rpm. People new to electronics should understand that high voltage doesn't always mean high power. In order to reduce this voltage to the 12 volts needed for the BikeGen instructable the regulator just burned off the extra voltage as heat. This meant the regulator was inefficient. In my searching for a new stepper motor I looked for two important aspects. First, the voltage rating of the motor need to match the 5 volts required by the USB ports. Second, the amperage of the motor needed to be higher, meaning there was more power potential in the motor. I found a somewhat local electronics surplus store that sells stepper motors and searched their website, http://www.electronicsurplus.com/home.cstm. They had a stepper motor listed at 5 volts and 3.3 amps, this seemed perfect. I went to the store and after looking at everything they had I got the motor. I would recommend finding a local surplus store in your area if you plan on building anything electronic, they are a great resource. Rectifier In basic terms a rectifier changes Alternating Current, AC, to direct current, DC. The coils inside the stepper motor are energized as the motor spins causing the current in the coils to alternate. This is the alternating current. The 5 volts need for the USB port need to be direct current. The rectifier, which is just 4 diodes, changes the alternating current from the stepper motor to the direct current needed for the voltage regulator. After doing the testing on the BikeGen regulator circuit I realized that the zener diodes I was using were getting very hot. One of them even failed because it overheated. I wanted to use a more suitable diode for this project and after checking back to the instructable that inspired this whole project for me, http://www.instructables.com/id/personal-powerPlant/, I decided to go with a 1N4001 diode which is rated at 50V and 1 Amp. I got the diodes in a variety pack from Radio Shack. Voltage Regulator The voltage regulator is a switching voltage regulator as opposed to linear regulator. At first my searching led me to the LM2575 switching regulator and I was planning on building the circuit myself. Just search "LM2575" and the data sheet will show up. On the data sheet the recommend circuit for a 5 volt output is shown with recommendations for all the components. I continued searching and found the exact circuit I needed from Lightobject, http://www.lightobject.com/LM2575-High-Input6V60V-Switching-5V-Power-Module-Regulator-P417.aspx. This seemed to be a better option for me because I didn't want to have to buy all the components in much higher quantities than I needed from a electronics distributor. As a last resort I went to the local dollar store because they always seem to have the things I need. To my complete surprise they had 12 volt car adapters with power for two USB ports. So I bought two and went home to take them apart. They had a switching regulator circuit already! It uses a MC34063 regulator IC and has all the supporting components. All of this for a dollar, you can do much better than that. Follow through the notes on the pictures to see how I connected all the parts together.

Image Notes 1. Here is the guts of the regulator, the MC34063 is the 8 pin IC, there is an LED power indicator, and 2 USB ports 2. This is the negative side or ground for the power input 3. This spring is the positive side of the power input

Image Notes 1. These are the specs for the stepper motor

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Image Notes 1. I built this rectifier circuit to test the new stepper motor

Image Notes 1. I soldered the diodes directly together to build each rectifier, 2. The side of the diode with the line is the cathode and the other side is the anode. Start by soldering two diodes together cathode to anode. You will need 4 sets.

Image Notes 1. Take two sets and solder the cathode, line sides, together

Image Notes 1. Then solder the anode, non-line sides together

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Image Notes 1. I soldered a 4 conductor wire to the rectifiers. Then wrap the connection with electrical tape so the junctions won't touch and short the circuit 2. I soldered these junctions together to have one positive output from the rectifier 3. These junctions were soldered together to form the negative output of the rectifier

Image Notes 1. This is a completed rectifier 2. The stepper motor has 4 wires which connect to the ends of 2 coils inside the motor. You can tell which two wires are connected to the same coil by measuring the resistance between the wires. The two wires from each coil in the motor connect to these two junctions in the rectifier 3. This junction is the positive output of the rectifier 4. This junction is the negative output of the rectifier

Image Notes 1. The positive and negative outputs of the two rectifiers

Image Notes 1. The spring and clip were removed and the wires were soldered in their place

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Image Notes 1. The 4 conductor wire was then soldered to the 4 wires coming from the stepper motor

Step 4: Build the Generator Mount

To mount the stepper motor to the bike I used a method very similar to the BikeGen instructable. A small wheel was attached to the stepper motor and the motor was mounted perpendicular to the bike wheel on the rear rack. The small wheel on the stepper motor rubs against the braking surface of the bike wheel to spin the motor. A spring was used to force the stepper motor toward the bike wheel to ensure constant contact between the two wheels. I started by cutting two 6 in. pieces of 1-1/4" aluminum angle. One of these pieces mounts to the rear rack and the other mounts directly to the motor. Two sections of each piece were cut out to allow for clearance between the motor, rack and wheel. I reused the home made u-bolts from the BikeGen instructable to mount to the rack. Two short pieces of the 1/2" aluminum flat bar were bolted to the angle aluminum to hold the screws that retain the spring and the motor. The small wheel attached to the motor started out as a few parts from Servocity, http://www.servocity.com/. They sell very nice shaft connectors and wheels that make mounting anything to a motor very easy. While I can't offer exact dimensions for any other mounting situation I do believe this to be a fairly universal method of mounting a stepper motor to any bike with a rear rack. I have considered many other mounting options for my bike it all my ideas seem to work back to this one. The parts were fairly easy to make and the precision required was not that high. I made all of the cuts with the hacksaw and drilled all the holes with my battery drill or the drill press. Simple tape measure and sharpie to mark everything and a center punch to get all the holes right was enough. If anyone has any fresh ideas on the mounting of the stepper motor I want to hear them. I would like something more permanent and rigid, while still maintaining wheel serviceability.

Image Notes 1. Cut two 6 in. long pieces 2. I used a C-clamp to hold the aluminum to the table and then cut it with the hacksaw.

Image Notes 1. The u-bolts I made in the BikeGen instructable were used again here. 2. Two 8-32 machine screws and nuts hold the flat to the angle. 3. The Spring

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Image Notes 1. Once the pieces are cut your going to want to file the edges smooth, they get pretty rough from being cut with a hacksaw.

Image Notes 1. These sections are the ones that need cut off.

Image Notes 1. This section is gone. To do the other side I just clamped the piece to the other corner of the table

Image Notes 1. The two sections have been removed from this piece and a small notch was cut in it to allow clearance for the motor shaft

Image Notes 1. These two marks are for the holes to be drilled, to mount this piece to the motor

Image Notes 1. This piece mounts to the bike rack. The line represent the bars on the rack and the dots are the marks for the u-bolts used to mount this piece

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

2. Use a center punch and hammer to make it easier to drill the holes in the right spots

Image Notes 1. A 3-1/2" hole saw was used to make the small wheel that attaches to the stepper motor from 1/4" ply wood

Image Notes 1. This is the plywood wheel 2. This is the clamping shaft coupler from servocity.com

Image Notes 1. I wrapped the plywood wheel with electrical tape and some thin foam padding to ensure good grip on the braking surface of the bike wheel

Step 5: Final Results

Before I did the final assembly of everything I tested the performance of the new stepper motor, diodes and switching regulator. I used a dead 5V 1000maH battery as a load and measured the current and voltage input and output of the regulator. I used the drill press again to turn the generator at its 5 different speeds. The results are listed below. RPM Vin (volt) Ain Vout Aout (Amp) Input Power (W) Output Power (W) Efficiency 620 1100 5.81 6.61 0.15 0.26 3.70 4.21 0.15 0.28 0.87 1.72 0.56 1.18 64% 69% 1720 2340 3100 7.15 7.43 7.67 0.34 0.38 0.40 4.55 4.78 5.05 0.37 0.42 0.44 2.43 2.82 3.07 1.68 2.01 2.22 69% 71% 72%

As you can see the regulator is right at 70% efficient between 1100 and 3100 rpm. Also it generated enough power for the USB ports even at 620 rpm. I also increased the size of the wheel mounted to the generator to slow it down compared to the old BikeGen stepper motor. All of the work comes to this final point. The USB Bike Generator can power two USB ports as you ride your bike, to charge your electronics. The electronics of the system are 70% efficient above 12 mph bike speed and can generate adequate power at 7 mph. I have tested a rechargeable battery, handheld GPS and an Eton radio with the USB Bike Generator and they all work. I have also tested a Ipod touch 3gen and have found its is possible to charge but because of the variability of the power source and the pickyness of the Ipod its not very reliable. I welcome all comments, questions, and suggestions. Thanks

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

Image Notes 1. I think this will be the most convenient spot for the connector, because you could keep what ever you are powering in you pocket or rear pannier.

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A simple waterproof LED light case for bicycle, easy installation and adjustable. (Photos) by iwico

Comments
36 comments Add Comment

thegodfather279 says:
could you use a car outlet power supply that has an AC plug and a USB plug instead of the dual USB power supply?

Oct 7, 2010. 6:30 PM REPLY

zogworth says:
You mean an inverter?

Jan 19, 2011. 1:07 PM REPLY

Most things that you could run off a small dynamo would be DC anyway, so you'd be inverting up to 110/240 VAC then recifying down to DC for your phone/satnav/what ever charger with associated wastages.

traeblain says:

Jul 6, 2010. 4:02 PM REPLY Last question...but why did you choose to abandon the intermediate battery approach you used on your previous generation? I would think the battery could take the flaky charge gracefully, then you'd have clean output power to your devices and would correct for issue with the ipod charging reliability?

dbc1218 says:

Jul 6, 2010. 4:37 PM REPLY I think a battery could be used but I would want something to protect it and whatever device I'm using. I wouldn't want to over charge it or drain it to low. That would require another circuit to control everything, which I might try in the future.

brickbreaker says:

Dec 2, 2010. 1:15 PM REPLY Well obviously more research is required before you start building a battery addon for this build but I would like to point out (if its not too obvious) that modern devices with lithium batteries have a set up that prevents over charging. Maybe hacking an old device to be your bike-battery would be easier than building your own circuit? Just a thought.

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

tomtortoise says:
can you please make a simple schematic to better explain the rectifier wiring.

Jul 6, 2010. 4:29 PM REPLY

dbc1218 says:
Will this do?

Jul 6, 2010. 8:12 PM REPLY

tomtortoise says:

Nov 15, 2010. 1:53 PM REPLY thanks sorry for the late reply but i needed to make a mount first and get parts but i needed to use a different motor for my mount but the wires are weird. from the motor the order is orange, yellow, brown, green but when it goes to the white PCB mount plug it is yellow, orange, brown, green should i hook up the rectifiers in motor order or PCB plug order

dbc1218 says:

Nov 16, 2010. 5:38 PM REPLY You should check the wires to find out which ones are connected to the same coil inside the motor. Get your DMM and set it to resistance than touch the probes to two wires. If you see a few ohms of resistance than those two wires are connected to a single coil in the motor. These are the two connect to one of the rectifiers. There are two coils in the motor that's why you have four wires. Don't go by color or connectors just measure and find out what it actually is.

mobby666 says:

Nov 7, 2010. 7:44 PM REPLY With the right regulator you should be getting over 90% efficiency. Using a solar cell setup & a boost regulator should give you power to supliment your generator & reduce it's drag on your wheel. Look at BEAM robotics sites for other ideas about harvesting solar power. Nice Oct 16, 2010. 11:23 PM REPLY Great project! I might try this, but with a smaller wheel giving the required alternator speed. Surely the output of the stepper motor is pulsed and therefore could be stepped down using a small transformer? Jul 8, 2010. 1:00 PM REPLY I still don't see how you have found a place to ride that doesn't require any stopping! As soon as you stop, everything starts dying! ;) A battery is the only practical way to store energy in your design. All of your electronic gadgets will see a steady voltage all the time. All you've done is present part of the project ... now get busy and make it practical with some energy storage!

proelectron says:

texasclodhopper says:

pteranosaur says:
Clod Hopper-More research,you need MORE RESEARCH...lol

Aug 17, 2010. 12:52 PM REPLY

watermelonhead says:

Jul 18, 2010. 1:28 PM REPLY Actually, in the second rebuild of this project, he did just that... instead of directly powering the headlights, it recharged its batteries. He also says that this is not to power, but "The USB Bike Generator can power two USB ports as you ride your bike, to charge your electronics."

varunmehta says:

Jul 19, 2010. 8:51 AM REPLY Rather than dismantling the whole male plug system (car style) on the USB charger and connect the wires, how about making a female receiver, like that in the car. You can plug this USB drive charger into it + if tomorrow you make a new enhancement or want to connect something new to it, you can reuse the same stepper motor and circuit to achieve it!

laznz1 says:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10657566 epic win!

Jul 10, 2010. 1:38 AM REPLY

traeblain says:

Jul 6, 2010. 3:58 PM REPLY I know this is why your previous generation motor didn't work, but I think there could have been better options than moving to a new motor (although I have not built this and don't know the ins-and-outs of your work). My first question is why not try a new wheel for the previous stepper motor? My calculations (assuming you're using a 700x23 wheel and tyre) simply using an aggressive inline skate wheel (47mm) you could move your target down to 12.9mph which is pretty good for casual riding. Not sure your target speed though. It may help to understand as I believe you got the last motor from an old printer? Where this one may cost a bit more money.

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

dbc1218 says:

Jul 6, 2010. 4:30 PM REPLY The main reason I didn't want to reuse the stepper motor from the printer was that its voltage output was to high, which caused the regulator to become inefficient. I think the goal should be to first create the voltage you need, in this case 5v, and then try to develop as much current as you can at that voltage, to get the most power and efficiency. As far as a speed target, I wanted something that would maintain high efficiency over a large speed range. I didn't want to have a really high efficiency at one certain speed because then I would have to ride at that speed all the time to get the best performance. As far as the cost goes, I spent $10 on the new stepper motor from electronics surplus.com They have that same motor on sale on-line for $10 as well.

retasker says:

Jul 8, 2010. 3:13 PM REPLY Ah, but that is the whole point of using a switching regulator. I don't know what is actually in your $1.00 USB convertor, but a properly designed switching regulator would allow you to transfer power efficiently and get more current out than you put in by operating with a higher input voltage. That is, with the proper switching regulator design including an input storage capacitor, you could use a higher voltage stepper motor to generate 12V for your convertor which would then step the voltage down to what you need. You see a tiny bit of that at the higher input voltages where you get slightly more current out than you are putting in. However, as it is now, you are barely getting enough voltage to make the switching regulator necessary. Based on the output voltages you list you would actually now be better off with the linear regulator - especially at the lower speeds. I suggest you try the old stepper motor with the higher voltage output with your new switching regulator. If you do this, make sure you don't get so much voltage that you destroy the switching regulator - I don't know what the input rating is although it is at least 15V if it is designed to operate in a car and probably more. Or try your new stepper motor setup with your older linear regulator. Additionally, you could get more efficiency by using schottky diodes for your rectifiers since they have a lower voltage drop than the 1N4001 diodes (0.4V vs 0.7V each)

dbc1218 says:

Jul 9, 2010. 8:14 PM REPLY Using the old stepper motor will not work, I know because I fried two of the regulators during testing. The MC34063 is rated at 40V and the new stepper motor puts out 30V unloaded at 3100 rpm. I think the high load of the dead battery is what caused the voltage to stay around 7V for the new motor, but I'm not quite sure how this works. At lower loads or lower output power the voltage will go up and the input current will decrease, right? But won't a higher load cause the voltage to drop even further because it can't compensate for the load? I guess my real question is what conditions are needed for max power output and what conditions are needed for max efficiency? Are they the same or is it a trade off.

ian_eo says:

Jul 8, 2010. 10:04 PM REPLY why not use a 5v regulator to regulate the voltage to 5v. its not efficient having some voltage changes during changes in speed. if you can get it to more than 5v without a regulator thats not a problem. Jul 8, 2010. 5:10 PM REPLY The motorcycle people had this figured out Long ago. They use permanent magnet alternators very much like a 3 phase stepper. What they do to regulate voltage, is short the windings with SCR's before the bridge rectifier. The SCR's are only triggered when the system voltage becomes high enough. Shorting the windings is counter intuitive, but when you analyze the situation, a perfect inductor driven with a voltage source (induction) consumes No Real power. In reality the windings do have a small resistance, which consumes small power when shorted. Also, core losses go way down. Unloaded, core losses are way up. Your pancake stepper is Loaded with this! A hybrid stepper would do you way better. I ride a bent with a 3W 6V shimano hub gen up front. Had to make my own spokes to fit. That should be an ibble! I use this for LED lighting. Ive been thinking of pulling the above trick for charging. Jul 8, 2010. 1:06 PM REPLY There are some very nice front Hub Generators available. Not for cheap however. Schmidt ($300) & Shimano ($150) (plus wheel building labor, rim, spokes, etc if needed) make very good models that put out a nominal 6 volts/ 3 watts at about 20 kph. The huge advantage of these hub generators is you eliminate the mechanical drag you get with any tire drive system. The only drag is the electro magnetic drag which is porportional to the power consumption of the device using the power. Another huge avantage of hub generators is you can use them all night long. Most high end bicycle lighting systems have battery life listed in just a couple of hours. When on, the drag is pretty much undetectable by the rider. 3 watts is far less than what we typically put out when pedaling. Oh, yeah, they are silent too. Adding a Zenor diode would protect against over voltage. That's what most generator specific head lights use to keep the bulbs from burning out at higher speeds. The "Switching Voltage regulator" in the schematic should do the same thing. Adding a large electrolytic capactor to the full wave bridge circuit would help smooth out the 'dc' (direct current). Bicycle generators put out AC or alternating current. Seen on an oscilliscope, it looks like a sine wave, swinging from positive to negative. The frequency depends on the speed of the bicycle and the number of sets of windings in the generator. The full wave bridge circut changes the AC to pulsating DC, Looks like a bunch of Gateway Arches (st louis), lined up end to end. The Capacitor smooths that out quite a bit. The size of the capacitor would depend on the expected power output of the circuit. More power consumption, and you need a larger capacitor. Some commercial generator specific lights use capacitors to keep the tail light lit when at a stop sign or traffic light. I have one that keeps a small LED bulb going in the head lamp when stopped for a minute or so.

alzie says:

rickpaulos says:

martinator says:
That is a HUGE generator!!!! Why not use a bicycle hub generator? Google: bicycle hub generator

Jul 7, 2010. 5:46 AM REPLY

dbc1218 says:

Jul 7, 2010. 6:36 PM REPLY After this third generator I think I've come to the realization the the hub would be a very good place for the generator. I'd like to get a dynamo just to do some testing and see how it stacks up.

Nyckname says:

Jul 8, 2010. 12:12 PM REPLY Take a look at the "Contactless dynamo powering bike safety lights" featured last year. Magnets attach to the spokes, coils on the frame, and you don't lose energy to the friction of the generator pressing against the wheel. Always wore me out when I was a kid.

uberwald says:

Jul 7, 2010. 4:04 AM REPLY Couldn't you get higher RPMs on the motor by making the wheel smaller? just glancing at it, I think the bicycle wheel is probably around 4-6x the circumference of your generator wheel, so every rotation of the bike wheel rotates the motor that many times. If you made the wheel half the size, you'd get twice the RPMs on the generator motor and be able to get your output at lower speeds... right?

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/

dbc1218 says:

Jul 7, 2010. 3:37 PM REPLY Yes by making the wheel on the stepper motor smaller it could spin faster and that would mean more power. The other side to that is spinning the motor faster means higher voltages are produced and when you only want to output 5v the higher voltage means less efficiency. Check out the equation on the testing step. The wheel I currently have one the motor is 3-1/2" and the rim diameter is 24-3/8" that makes about a 7:1 ratio. I found through the testing I did that I didn't need to spin the generator much faster than 2300 rpm to get decent power and efficiency. With the 7:1 ratio that means 27 mph on the bike which is fairly high speed for casual riding.

uberwald says:

Jul 8, 2010. 11:25 AM REPLY I was thinking much more along the lines of 8-12 mph being a "normal speed" for anything but a road bike, and so you should seek to optimize your generator for those speeds, with the lower efficiency at higher speeds not making too much difference since you'll still be getting "enough." Though you might be able to generate some sort of "overvoltage" circuit to run some other process or charge a backup set of batteries at the higher voltages so that you're not just converting it all? hmmm... where's an EE when you need one? Jul 8, 2010. 11:22 AM REPLY Spinning the stepper motor faster and generating a higher voltage will INCREASE efficiency, not decrease it. If you go back to your link to Dimension Engineering and re-read the page ALL the power loss calculations refer to use of a linear regulator, not a switching regulator. A switching regulator has essentially a negative input resistance. This means that for a particular output power the input current will DECREASE as the input voltage INCREASES to keep input power constant., and vice versa. For a switching regulator the "lost' power is the input power minus the output power. Lost power = (input current x input voltage) - (output current x output voltage) The input current changes with input voltage to keep input power constant for a fixed output power. Measuring the input current is a little tricky because the input current is in pulses, not a steady value. Using a True RMS digital multimeter will give accurate readings, but using an averaging type meter (typical inexpensive meter) will give less accurate readings but will be OK if you only want readings that are fairly close. The only limitation to spinning the motor faster is that the voltage might exceed the rating of the switching regulator input. Check the maximum input voltage on the data sheet and keep below it for all operating conditions. The MC34063 has a maximum input voltage of 40V. To be safe, your design at the fastest bike speed should not go above 30V to give a good safety margin. I am an engineer and have been designing with switching regulators for many years. Your find at the dollar store was a great find as designing with a switching regulator can involve custom coils and transformers. BTW excellent Instructable, I am impressed with the research you did for this project ...... Jim

Analog1Jim2 says:

lahtib says:
Have you considered the use of a capacitor? It might provide some stability while removing the concerns of a battery charge?

Jul 7, 2010. 11:34 AM REPLY

gguillotte says:

Jul 6, 2010. 2:37 PM REPLY How does it handle rain, heat, storage? Would some sort of casing be feasible? How hot does the motor get? Would it work to charge a small battery and feed the battery to USB ports to even out the variability?

dbc1218 says:

Jul 6, 2010. 3:07 PM REPLY I don't know about rain yet but I went out for a test ride last night. I rode about 4 miles and it powered my GPS, Garmin etrex Vista, for the whole ride. The motor does not get hot and I know from my drill press testing that the regulator IC can get fairly warm. The 5v battery I used for testing was a Energizer Xpal XP1000 which could potentially be used to even out the output but I don't know how that could be done. Its easy enough to just charge the battery and then charge whatever device you need with it. Some sort of case would be nice but I would like to make the stepper motor a more permanent fixture on the bike first.

gguillotte says:
Thanks!

Jul 6, 2010. 3:21 PM REPLY

anres321 says:
Nice !! now a flatscreen and some speakers XD

Jul 6, 2010. 2:08 PM REPLY

fungus amungus says:

Nice work!

Jul 6, 2010. 11:39 AM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Bike-Generator/