22 replies to this topic

[sonic]

Well.
I had a pretty cool idea.

Anyone who knows anything about me knows I am not a hippy,green dicked tree hugger.
But there are a lot of people who are.
And it seems to me the same demographic that goes to gyms and runs on treadmills and such would also be interested in saving the environment...

So picture this.
Right smack in the middle of like Colorado or maybe in GayFransico would be a gym. Not just a normal gym. A gym with solar panels on the roof, energy saving lights, tvs, computers, environmentally nice paints and stuff. But that is not all. Members would pay a monthly fee that would be similar to basic gyms. The kicker that sets it apart is the bikes, stairsteppers, and other machines that while you are using them, creat electricity. With the electricity that is made, along with the electricity that comes from the solar panels we sell back to the grid. 100% of the profit from selling the electricity goes to local and national environmental agencies. So instead of paying money to go to a normal gym, you pay money to go to a gym that has all the same benifets of the traditional workout plus your exercising to help your body and the earth.

Imagine the grant opportunity. All the money companies would want to donate. Im planning on calling GE tomarrow to ask them to make the bikes,and other electricity making machines.haha..

Critique?


OH YEA. DONT STEAL MY IDEAS OR I WILL KILL YOU

Edited by sonic, 05 March 2009 - 09:50 PM.

[Sida]

Human hamsters...nice

[Waser Lave]

That's already been done, I saw it on tv months ago. There's a few of them around already:

http://www.oregonliv...n_on_pedal.html

[Lawivido]

Lol sucks for you J.

[The Dirty Filipino]

They should make club floors generate electricity from movement too!

Oh wait, London beat us to it.

Well maybe when we go hardcore dancing or moshing, they can make electricity from that too.

[-neospacian]

just because the idea is taken doesnt mean you cant open one of your own and that is actually a very good idea. allot of people will partake if you implant it a certain community.

[sonic]

Lol sucks for you J.

Yeah it does "D"
lol

But yeah, after i posted this i googled the idea and there is a limited amount of places doing it, the major one being some california company that owns LAFitness. I think if I did the right marketing and finding a way to increase the amount of energy that can be produced (the current institutions are pretty pathetic, one biker only creating enough energy to power a 60watt light bulb....) it might be pretty successfull

But finding other ways the gym can help the enviroment would be interesting too. Any ideas?
And Bryan, wanna be my buisness partner?

Also what kind of studies should i diverse myself in incase i want to develop the bikes myself.
I am starting to get kind of obsessive with this idea. Ha.
Luckily i have a pretty strong footing in particle physics but pretty limited knowledge in electrical applications(mostly cause its not as interesting)

Im going to hit the library today and see what I can dig up.
Also what would be a good comunity to attempt this in?

[The Dirty Filipino]

Yeah it does "D"
lol

But yeah, after i posted this i googled the idea and there is a limited amount of places doing it, the major one being some california company that owns LAFitness. I think if I did the right marketing and finding a way to increase the amount of energy that can be produced (the current institutions are pretty pathetic, one biker only creating enough energy to power a 60watt light bulb....) it might be pretty successfull

But finding other ways the gym can help the enviroment would be interesting too. Any ideas?
And Bryan, wanna be my buisness partner?

Also what kind of studies should i diverse myself in incase i want to develop the bikes myself.
I am starting to get kind of obsessive with this idea. Ha.
Luckily i have a pretty strong footing in particle physics but pretty limited knowledge in electrical applications(mostly cause its not as interesting)

Im going to hit the library today and see what I can dig up.
Also what would be a good comunity to attempt this in?

Sorry dude, I wont be able to apply the idea because I'm only going to be in the States for another few months.

You're going to need a lot of money to initiate the idea though, unless you're really good with marketing and can get a financial backing donated to you. (Which would be hard because you don't really have any 'qualifications' that separate you from the norm crazy abstract idea maker people.

It's concept of the idea isn't too difficult, it's just making the product with a good amount of efficiency.

Just don't put too much thought into how much energy the machine can produce. You have to realize that a lot of the energy is being transferred into friction and is also minimized to other sources.

As for a good community, any (popular) city would do, with a big middle-working class. Maybe like east phoenix/paradise valley/scottsdale would be good, unless you could talk to a University and see if you can get a good amount of machines in the gym, just to start. (The School of Sustainability would be a good department to talk to at ASU for instance). But if you really want to fly with the idea, I definitely think it'd be used most in like LA on the West Coast, or some popular cities back in the Northeast.

[pyke]

Interesting kind of gym. Too bad there isn't a way you can convert free weight lifting to create energy from it

[The Dirty Filipino]

Interesting kind of gym. Too bad there isn't a way you can convert free weight lifting to create energy from it

Of course there is. Covert inertia into power for batteries or something. Plus I think I remember reading something on wireless energy transfer. But idk how it is in terms of efficiency and what not.

[Fatal]

Cool idea but too bad you'll never do it

[Ives]

You'd be better off doing a niche market which isnt so expensive, something like a hardcore gym where guys can go to compensate for their dick size. At least, at first. Ecogyms just require a shitton of money, and theres probably competition.

[Seaner]

Increase profits by selling steroids under the counter if you open a hardcore gym. Bros love dianabol.

[sonic]

Cool idea but too bad you'll never do it

Bull honkey.
I am already in the stages of building the first EcoBike. So far its just a bid on a generator on ebay and a buddies bycicle. But mofo its in the work.

[daemonacht]

Haha yah, that sounds awesome, maybe you could even make it so the drinking water is filtered rain water, or have a room where you lay down overtop of solar panels to get a wicked tan:P

ahah ive thought of too many ways to make money in my time dude. Its like an addiction:)

[sonic]

Haha yah, that sounds awesome, maybe you could even make it so the drinking water is filtered rain water, or have a room where you lay down overtop of solar panels to get a wicked tan:P

ahah ive thought of too many ways to make money in my time dude. Its like an addiction:)

I'm addicted to this EcoGym idea.
I thought of those doors in new york. The revolvolving ones? The can be hooked up to a generator and can produce electricity.

[sonic]

Response in text

[Fatal]

Bull honkey.
I am already in the stages of building the first EcoBike. So far its just a bid on a generator on ebay and a buddies bycicle. But mofo its in the work.

Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh............................. Ok.

Rofl, nig biddin on a generator.... whats next?

[redlion]

Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh............................. Ok.

Rofl, nig biddin on a generator.... whats next?

Dude... he doesn't have anything else to do. Why not?

In reference to generating electricity from different machines, its been well established that bikes, rowing machines, treadmills, ellipticals, and weighted machines can all generate electricity. Actually manufacturing a military press machine that has a generator attached to it is a different story. Bikes are easy because someone already makes them. The hardest part will be figuring out how to wire 30+ different kinds of machines with generators, and actually getting a decent efficiency from them.

Also, whoever said wireless energy transfer, that isn't applicable to this setting. most wireless energy transfer is limited to touch plates that radiate energy. Very inefficient, and the opposite direction of the current we want. We want to collect energy, not dispense it.

[Fatal]

Dude... he doesn't have anything else to do. Why not?

I'm sure he has more practical things to do. No single man can compete in business anymore, you have to be a big corporation.

Edited by Fatal, 11 March 2009 - 06:14 PM.

[redlion]

I'm sure he has more practical things to do. No single man can compete in business anymore, you have to be a big corporation.

Small business is definitely a viable money maker. Just not in a recession. Venture capital is effectively nonexistent right now, what with banks fucking everyone who ever put money in them. Onward to the resource economy!

[Fatal]

Small business is definitely a viable money maker.

Yeah, Maybe a little restaurant or a little convenience store or something, but no, small businesses trying to do something big and expensive like this, especially in technology, will lose to big corporations because they can do the same thing cheaper and easier.

Edited by Fatal, 11 March 2009 - 10:09 PM.