Chapter 1

THE PROJECT AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Many of today's deskbound workers, students, celebrities or even

an ordinary being, regularly head to the gym to try and keep the fat from clinging

to their waistlines. And as part of the increasing population of self-conscious

individuals, it is a great way to work up on their sweats and use these as an

advantage in finding an alternative source of energy in a safe, fun, carbon-neutral

and healthy manner. Energy generation using exercise machines caught the

interests of engineering students like us. Beyond body-powered gyms and dance

clubs, ideas are also in the works to provide electricity for more ordinary, useful

things. By adopting power-producing exercise machines in this way, gyms can be

a lot beneficial to society in promoting themselves as environmentally friendly

and also reduce their electric bills. However, it is can also be helpful and

beneficial for home users in order to power some home devices and partially

offset electricity bills producing significant amounts of utility grade electricity --

allowing family members to participate in the production of renewable energy.

Background of the Study

In a world wherein the scarcity of energy seems to be a problem on

the pedestal, a lot has been thinking of creating a system of energy-converting

material that can be used in generating power. In addition to that, gyms are one
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of the most accessible places that have a lot of exercise machines that can be

useful in establishing this study. These equipment and machines produce

kilowatts of energy and for the most part, the energy generated is completely

wasted, so there is an untapped potential to make the energy useful. Thus, the

energy produced is in mechanical form rather than electrical form.

If a gym were able to execute such a system on a large scale, across

many or all of its machines, the power generated by the gym’s customers would

offset the gym’s electricity bill. Ideally, enough power would be generated that it

could be returned to the power grid, possibly even turning electricity costs into a

net profit. As public awareness of global warming and carbon neutrality grows,

the environment is becoming a greater reason for implementing such a system at

gyms. If a gym were able to reduce its power consumption, or even produce a

net amount of power, its carbon footprint would be reduced, improving its

environmental impact.

The reasons for considering the environment are not only ethical, but also

commercial. If a gym could advertise itself as a “green” gym, its public image

would improve and more customers might be attracted. In fact, the increase in

membership could make such a system profitable even if the electricity savings

alone could not offset implementation costs. Because of these reasons for

generating electricity from exercise, there have been several efforts to research

and develop such a system. But instead of directly implementing and analyzing

large-scale systems, this project’s focus is on optimizing the design of an

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individual machine and analyzing whether it would be cost-effective if

implemented on a larger scale.

Statement of Objectives

General Objective:

To be able to produce a machine that converts energy and at the same

time is beneficial to its users in terms of physical fitness and health.

Specific Objectives:

1. To design a gym equipment that converts mechanical energy into

electrical energy.

2. To fabricate a working prototype of one possible design.

3. To test its reliability of the machine based on standards.

4. To evaluate the machine based on evaluation criteria.

Conceptual Model

Analyzing the project study of using energy generated from exercise

equipment to creating a more self-sustaining gym is what we’re focusing into. To

do this, a single piece of exercise equipment will be used as a test subject. The

factors considered in choosing what type of machine to conduct our study with

were: ease of connection to a generator, cost, efficiency, and popularity of the

machine type. After determining what type of equipment was ideal, research was

done to find a cost-efficient way to generate and use the energy.

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Below depicts the development process of this study:

Significance of the Study

The study will help in promoting sustainability by creating the first step to

developing a self-sustaining recreation centre. The exercise machines will be

having an internal circuitry to produce energy while working out that is used only

to power the equipment itself and additional attachments such as the display and

user interface. However, we need an addition to the existing design that will allow

for the collection and storage of this energy, which can be used to power the

gym’s lights, televisions, fans, etc. Additionally, our device should not require

much regular maintenance as well as perform reliably for long periods of time.

We provide a sturdy and durable design to accomplish this.

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Our final product also benefits environment preservation. The successful

design lessens the burden on traditional sources of generating energy. These

traditional sources consume scarce fossil fuels and often leave behind toxic

byproducts. Our product instead captures other sources’ otherwise wasted

energy, and the only environmental cost is the raw construction materials.

Additionally, the ideal project not only pays for itself, but also creates long-

term energy savings over its entire period of operation. This also benefits the

society economically because the total amount of savings will outweigh the costs

of system implementation.

Scope and Delimitations

This study focuses on converting mechanical energy into electrical energy.

The mechanical energy is produced by an individual by doing random exercises

using the machine. Target individuals are the health conscious, the physical

experts and enthusiasts, but in general it can be used by anyone who is capable

of exerting effort and has the discipline and the dedication to exercise. The aim is

to make an individual physically fit and at the same time making use of the

energy they exerted after a series of exercise.

Definition of Terms

1. Prototype - a first of preliminary version of a device or vehicle from which

other forms are developed

2. Gym – a room or building equipped for physical exercise

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3. Exercise Machine – is any machine that lets you exert effort to be

physically fit

4. Pulley – provides mechanical advantage for the user when raising

weights/plates

5. Foam – provides comfort for the user during abs, biceps and legs routines

6. Rubber – used to have a good grip on the equipment handles

7. Crank Generator – serves as the core or heart of the equipment. Use to

generate power from linear motion of the plates

8. Bearing – give smooth movement for the oscillating members of

equipment

9. Wire rope – the main link on converting rotational, oscillating, reciprocating

motion to linear motion

10. Pinch point – a place or point where congestion occurs or is likely to occur

11. Gadgetry – electronic parts of the machine