Regenerative Braking for Bicycle Safety

If you have always wanted to generate electricity on your bicycle but wished for a way that would not add extra work and resistance to your bike ride, then this project is for you. 
We will build a regenerative brake for a bicycle, based on 2 geared motors which will power a functional ultra bright LED stop light/safety flare for your ride.
The intention of this project is to create an elegant mix of sustainability and personal transportation safety.
We wish to enhance bicycle safety by alerting visually all vehicles around you, that you are braking, making them aware of a possible change in your trajectory,  whether it is because you wish to make a turn or just slow down or stop.

It will require no extra pedal stroke effort as we will be harvesting the energy that usually gets released as heat from friction.
It will require no extra buttons, or switches as we wish to keep the cockpit of the bicycle the same, and maintain the mode of operation.
No batteries required.

This tutorial requires some soldering, light dremel work and basic circuitry (i.e connecting LEDs in parallel).
Lets go to the next page for materials.

Step 1 Materials and Tools

Here are the materials sourced.

Generators: 
2 mini gear motors(24:1) from Pololu.com
Aluminum Mounting Hub for 3mm Shaft Pair, 2-56 Holes from Pololu
Mini Metal Motor bracket from Pololu
Various nuts and bolts 

Assembly:
Architectural Aluminum (alloy 6063), Rect Bar W/ Rounded Edge, 1/8" Thk X 5/8" W X 6'l
from McmasterCarr

Misc:
Plexiglass 1/4 in at 10x10 in 
UltraBright LEDs (Radioshack)
Speaker wire( Radioshack)
Heat Shrink (Radioshack)
Electrical tape (Radioshack)

Tools:
Screwdriver
hex set
Socket wrench
Drill, some bits,
Soldering iron,
Lasercutter (optional)
Dremel + various bits
Protractor
Micrometer
Wire stripper

Comments

[Noblenutria]

This is really cool. How much electricity does it generate? Do you know how much volts, amps, watts?

[BillBiker]

Simply Brilliant!!! I always wanted brake lights :) . To the person wanting to know if they would wear out your tire faster, answer about the same as if you are riding it! Message me I may want to order one from ya. (I'm a very busy person with not alot of time :( ).

[lovelikerobots]

Thanks BillBiker. We are gearing up to do a kickstarter campaign and will let you know once we have some in production.
Best
Alexander

[wobbler]

Brilliant lateral thinking! (No pun intended)

[lovelikerobots]

Haha thanks for the compliment wobbler!

[spange]

Does this not wear out your tire more quickly?

[husamwadi]

hey if you dont want those monkey lights.....heh heh heh :)

[AngryRedhead]

I'm not a cyclist, but I love the photos in steps 4 and 5.  Very nice!

[lovelikerobots]

Lovely. Thanks for the compliment!

[Lelamat]

Very good idea, possible add something like this to my bike. Thanks for sharing.
Good luck on the contest !

[lovelikerobots]

Apppreciate it. Much luck adding this to your bikes!

[rainger]

This is great! Going to add this to my bikes ASAP!

[lovelikerobots]

Thanks so much rainger!

[dwebb5]

Great project. Thank you for putting in the weight of it.
Can you give a cost, what you paid, and what it might cost if you had to purchase all of the parts.?
This might make more electricity than you need if it is in stop and go city traffic.

[lovelikerobots]

Hi dwebb5
The cost with the current parts is somewhere between $40 and $50. I don't doubt it could be done a bit cheaper. Good luck.

[Fabio M]

Very good idea.

If you use an incandescent light bulb instead of LEDs the load on your generators will increase, helping to slow down your bicycle..

[lovelikerobots]

Thanks Fabio M. I will try. The resistance is pretty decent as is.

[opruif9a]

(removed by author or community request)

[LorienD]

I'll be sure to shop elsewhere. Thanks for the annoying SPAM.

[lovelikerobots]

Kiteman thanks for your feedback. The idea is to have a direct relationship between pressing the brake levers and external light output. The design could easily charge batteries and it's an iteration we are working on but we really like the direct "safety flare" relationship.

Rimar2000. Very happy to hear :)

[rimar2000]

Very interesting. I think that should be mandatory brake lights on bicycles. I also ride a bike, you gave me a good idea.

[Kiteman]

Am I right in thinking the only loads on the generators are the LEDs? No resistors?

Oh! Why not use this to charge batteries to run the normal lights?

(Legal point - in the UK, rear cycle lights and reflectors must be red.)