Spin Cycle

Invented by Josh Kerson

The Past and Present of SpinCycle

Although electric vehicles have been around for over a hundred years, recent advancements in battery, motor, and solar technologies have brought them to a point where now they can be economically practical and efficient.

Josh Kerson is a student inventor who has designed and built a solar charged, human hybrid, electric recumbent tricycle!  This is a hybridization of solar energy collected from photovoltaic panels, and the rider's energy converted into electrical energy from a generator that they pedal.  (Think of it like an infinitely variable electronic transmission!) An assistive drive train electronically mixes energy produced by the human operator with energy from a solar charge. Arm or leg power is used to run a generator that powers a small electric motor, which drives the rear wheel. Solar panels and a battery provide supplemental power for the motor.  Power output wise, the vehicle gets about the equivalent of 2000 miles to the gallon of gasoline!

The inspiration for his generator to motor idea came from the old crank style telephones!  (If you hold one crank and turn another that is connected by the telli wire, there is almost no waste, they seem to travel together)

Who could benefit from this design?  Well, as an assistive technology, people with disabilities could use this and feel a significant push from every input they produce (kind of like power steering in a car.)  This differential power control can be geared toward people with different kinds of abilities and disabilities, benefiting everyone according to their need. This could increase a person's mobility, and allow them to enjoy the cycling experience at a traditional speed, along with their fully able friends.  (The student's adaptations on a previous project, a peddle-powered recumbent trike, enabled a man with disabilities to go cycling with his kids for the first time in his life.)  Also, people interested in getting around in something other than their car could use this trike to commute to and from work or use its as a delivery unit, fossil-fuel-free.

The student would like to see the final product delivered with photovoltaic solar panels to be mounted on the customers garage for a charging station with a second set of batteries that you could swap around to let one charge one day while you use the other ones to get around.  He also dreams of having a windmill charge the bike or a hydro dam or some other non polluting source of energy like the fuel cells that produce H²O for its
combustion by product.

Kerson is working on collecting data on the vehicle's range, efficiencies, and problems in general.  He plans to add full suspension, disc brakes, aluminum framing, and possibly a faring to shield the rider from the elements and improve the aerodynamic efficiency.  He hopes that in two or three years we will see the first SpinCycles available worldwide.

(The SpinCycle was recently featured on the national Discovery Channel, on a show called "Science Live” It has also appeared on our local new station - Channel 22 News Springfield, and in local paper, the Union News)

This site will be gradually evolving with more information and photos.  However, if you have any questions or comments about the site or SpinCycle, please contact Josh Kerson or the Webmaster.