Our project will require mostly custom -made parts, but the circuits and light will be the most difficult aspect.
We stared by designing two options for our circuit. One incorporates user activated switches to add more bulbs to the circuit, the other uses an Arduino program to time when the lights are added to the circuit.
Design 1 used switches, which the user would have to manually flip in order to add more bulbs to the circuit. Wells within the circuit would allow the current to flow from point A to B no matter how many bulbs were activated, not what their configuration to each other was.
Design 2 used Arduino programming instead of manual switches to add bulbs to the circuit. This was the user could focus on pedaling and physically observing the difference in resistance as the amount of bulbs (and type) in the circuit changed.
Finally, to test this configuration, we assembled a mock circuit using the Design 1 schematic (to an extent) using a 9 volt battery, five 270 ohm resistors and five LEDs to test the switches and configuration. Our mock up did not include a well, so the negative end of the 9 volt battery served that purpose.
The mock up worked exactly as planned, and the LEDs could be lit up in any configuration simply by flipping the needed switches. This means that either Design for the circuit will work, so if we cannot make the Arduino program fit our needs in time, the switch design will work just as well.
Additionally, we spent part of our time gathering resources and researching previous Energy Bike designs.
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I really like your project idea and I think your sketches explain the concept really well. Can't wait to see the final product!
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