U of I doesn't really have a flat landscape. Drivers might not notice because petroleum engine can provide enough energy for converting into potential energy. But bike riders aren't that luck, most of the time they need to break down hill, wasting energy in form of heat. On the uphill ride, rider have no choice but to ride harder.
The question is: Is it possible to store the energy down hill and release it on the up hill?
My plan is to store the energy in form of elastic potential, so the bike will stress the elastic system on bike during the down hill ride and the system will pull the back wheel. Since energy conserve, and the system have internal resistance. It is still needed to step the peddle, but with much less force. So Ideally the rider ride a bike from Sibel to Union and ride back. He/she only provide the energy to overcome resistance, and he/she has no change in potential. Because the height form the starting point to the ending point are same.
The model I'm planing to use is a rubber connecting to a steel core. When is connecting to the wheel, the wheel will turn the steel core with the rubber coiled on. Thus the extra energy can be stored in stead of wasted it on break. On up hill ride it can be release.
The system might not work because the rubble/ spring can only store limited energy. If more is force on them, they will be stress thus no use anymore. And energy have been converted twice, each time the system would lose some because 100% efficiency is impossible. The energy waste might be more compare with the break system. Some advance engineering technique or design might solve this.
Before the elastic system been use on a real bike. A smaller model might be needed to test the idea.
This is a pretty sweet idea... now, I think some would argue that your model is a bit overcomplicated as a solution for the particular problem you describe... what do you say?
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool idea. I personally don't ride a bike but the idea itself sounds so awesome. It's kind of like an electric bike in my eyes and that would solve the problem of over exhaustion of biking across campus but I am a little unsure of the problem you are trying to solve. Is it exhaustion or greater biking efficiency? The idea actually sounds really useful and I think you should seriously think about experimenting with it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really unique idea, I've never thought of it that way. It's definitely possible, and I like the way you backed up your idea with strong and detailed explanations. The only thing I would suggest is to label the parts of the Toulmin model in your argument more clearly to make it easier to follow.
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