Week 3 - Hardware

Being a company that installs energy harvesting units into machines, and/or creates machines that are designed specifically for that purpose, there will be the need for some sort of small CPU in each work out machine. This CPU will not be as intricate as the one in a desktop computer, but it needs to figure out how much power the LCD screen or other workout aids need, and to send the rest off to a battery. This battery is also important, for there will either be a battery connected to each machine (which would ease rearrangement), or all of them could be individually connected via wires to a large storage battery. After years of use, these batteries would also need to be replaced, or at least maintained so that the efficiency stays as good as possible.

Besides the actual machines, the company would need desktop computers, as well as one, if not more, servers. This of course depends on how large the company is. Nevertheless, Energizing would need to keep track of all its customers, and retail stores through some sort of management, which would of course be in need of computers to process and store/back up all data.

A factory where the company would assemble these machines would need hardware too. Robotic computers would be needed to assemble the delicate parts, as well as a section for repairs. These computers would be more of the troubleshooting type, where they know the step by step process of putting a cardio machine together and apart, detect any faults in the system, and what kind of faults there are; ie. if it is mechanical, or software related.

Like with any other company, this one could expand to include many other branches involved in "greening" the gym system in America.

Week 1 - Energizing

I've been a pretty serious athlete for almost a decade now. We all know that working out isn't something easy, but is necessary for our well being. Think of all those machines in a gym, ellipticals, bikes, cross country walking things, ergometers... They're stationary machines plugged into the wall, to display the stats of your workout such as time, calories burned, average watts, etc. When I practice with the crew team, we row indoors simultaneously, which creates a repeating intense noise as we all pull the chain, and cause a fan to turn inside.

We could harvest this energy into electricity. The electricity could be used to fill up batteries, or even to at least power the machine's LCD display. How about the TVs at the gym? Or the fans that keep us cool during a workout. A gymnasium could become a self-sustaining system. But that's only the beginning.

This kind of system creates free energy, as long as people going to the gym are willing to "work" without getting paid. Well at the least the membership dues would be less, or people could even get paid for going to the gym. Maybe that would even help eliminate or reduce the growing obesity problem in the US.

Although individual systems have been developed such as bicycle lights that are powered by the bike itself, there has never been (at least I've never heard of it) a working system powered by many humans to achieve a way to continue the "green" revolution which will hopefully decrease our need for imported oil, and other nonrenewable energy sources.

The company would create machines that are designed for this purpose, as well as do installations, upgrades, and all other technology to facilitate such a system... more to come later.