Change or the human race will die out. It’s a rather harsh statement, but this green media mantra was also the inspiration behind a recent bicycle technology competition, held by bike manufacturer Specialized and Google, which challenged inventors to create a pedal powered machine that did more than just get riders from A to B.
The competition attracted over 100 entries from inventors across the globe, including team entries from engineering universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgia Teach and the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg – all attempting to harness the energy generated from the simple mechanics of pedaling, in order to put it to additional uses other than just forward motion.
Competitors had to build the pedal powered machines, film them in action and post the videos on YouTube. Entries included a bicycle ambulance – essentially a bike with a wheeled stretcher attached to the back, designed for use in countries such as Namibia; a pedal powered washing machine for countries where laundry is still mostly done by hand, and a pedal powered tennis ball launcher.
The overall winner, however, announced in January, was a contraption from a US team of designers named the Aquaduct: Mobile Filtration Unit, a bicycle designed to solve two problems for communities in developing countries – clean water and cheap transportation. Two water storage tanks built into the machine enable water to be drawn from one tank, through a filtration unit and into a smaller, clean tank – all while the user is traveling. The clean tank is removable and can be stored in the home, and the bike can be used as a filter while stationary too.
The winners only received $5000 and a few bikes from Specialized, rather than a grant to make their product market viable, but the competition may at least have provided some much needed publicity for innovations such as the Aquaduct.
