Bike powered one person cinema
From Open renewables
Contents |
what is the bike cinema
a bike powered DVD player that is intuitive to use and totally automated. This project was commissioned by Hackney City Farm. bike cinema in the press
points of interest
- built on http://www.arduino.cc/ AVR AT mega168 microcontroller
- can put the DVD on pause and turn off LCD and sound if the power in drops below a certain level
- shows the user the power (voltage X current) in and out of the system.
- all technical details are freely available
software technical details
- open source software (released under GPL)
- software simulated virtual battery (virtual battery makes the lead/acid chemistry more “intuitive” for the user)
- charge controller protects battery from over charge and low voltage
- voltage and current measured on load and charging circuits 20 times per second
- 16 LEDs showing rate of power in, rate of power out, and charge in the virtual battery
- automation of 2 circuits (LCD&Sounds, DVD)
- infra red remote control of the DVD (NEC pulse system)
hardware technical details
- the back of the box with details
- inside the box picture with details
- bike cinema electronics
- bike cinema electrical measurements
maintenance details
- updating firmware. The system is built on an Arduino. The latest software is available here. The Arduino developing environment can be downloaded from the Arduino website. Plug the computer into the USB port on the bottom of the unit and upload the latest software.
if it goes wrong
fixing common bike cinema problems
contributors/thanks
I'd like to thank the following for their contributions:
- Hackney City Farm for the commission
- Shawn Ballantine for the lead!
- Lou Smith for his help with building the case
- Chris Martin Jones for electronics consulting
- PlastBox on the arduino forum
- oztules, GWatPE and others on the homegrown power forum
