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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
> ----------
> From: John Bowditch
> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 10:04 AM
> To: 'Informal Science Education Network'
> Subject: RE: bicycle generator
>
> Hi
>
> I've built a number of these exhibits over the years and agree that a hand-cranked version is far better. We have one here at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum that has worked very well and is very simple and robust. In addition, I built two others that are at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Mi. These are collectively called "Tower of Power" These two example have been running for over ten years with little problem.
>
> I remain concerned that the real problem with these exhibits is that they don't illustrate the internal workings of the generator. Therefore I am attempting to design and build exhibits that get at this defect. I envision a sort of up-dated 19th century machine with many poles that has the coils and magnets exposed. This would obviate the "black-box" nature of the generator. At the same time, using a multi-polar design could eliminate the need for speed-increasing gearboxes, belts, or other superfluous power-transmission devices. At this time, my work in this area is limited due to other exhibit priorities. However, I am building a very small version that will append our current exhibit. This new exhibit will feature both a very simple replication of Faraday's original 1831 experiment with a bar magnet and coil as well as a very low-powered version of the "let it all hang out" generator described above.
>
> Anyone else out there working in these areas?
>
> John Bowditch
> Exhibits Director
> Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
>
> ----------
> From: Informal Science Education Network on behalf of Ian Russell
> Reply To: Informal Science Education Network
> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 7:22 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: bicycle generator
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> At 01:07 19/11/2003 -1000, Bruce Quast wrote:
>
> >Our museum is looking to replace our well-worn bicycle generator exhibit
> >with a new one. The current exhibit consists of a Schwinn exercise bicycle
> >hooked up to a generator that is wired to a series of light bulbs. The
> >faster the visitor pedals, the more lights light up. Next to the lights, we
> >have illustrations of household items that could be powered by the different
> >amounts of electricity generated.
> >This exhibit is a good one, and still quite popular, so we'd like to offer
> >the same type of exhibit, but we think maybe it can be done better.
> >
> >Has anyone seen an exemplary version of this exhibit anywhere?
> >
> >Anybody know of a fabricator that builds one of these in an off-the shelf
> >version?
>
> I prefer a hand-cranked version of this exhibit. It's safer for any tiny
> children wandering or crawling nearby, and easier to FEEL differences in
> the power load.
>
> Details are here http://www.interactives.co.uk/hands_electrical.htm
>
> This is a customizable off-the-shelf item, but I've heard rumours that
> import regulations make it more difficult for American science centres to
> obtain exhibits from European sources than to export their own. It would be
> interesting to know if there's any truth in this. Not that I want to spark
> off a science centre trade war or anything...
>
> [log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
> *
> People forget what you said, people forget what you did,
> but people will never forget how you made them feel.
> *
> Ian Russell
>
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>
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