Pedal PC

September 3, 2020 9:47 AM

My human-powered office
posted by aniola (13 comments total)

That's a terribly clever and thoughtful setup, and it's not even the prototype. I love the battery meter in the top-right corner of the page, too. It's totally giving me Black Mirror-goes-DIY vibes.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:57 AM on September 3, 2020

I was worried when I saw that the blog hasn't been updated since December of last year. But obviously, he's got to be pedaling to keep the site up. And the Twitter feed is reporting progress.
posted by meowzilla at 10:28 AM on September 3, 2020

And the Lord sayeth, Stick into thine arse also a broom, that thee may sweepeth the floors as thee go.
posted by biffa at 10:41 AM on September 3, 2020 [3 favorites]

This is fascinating as a series of design choices. I'm curious if the use of a flywheel and treadle, such as is on a spinning wheel, might not be a more humane solution than pedaling constantly. I know that I could probably manage to tap my foot on a treadle while working but almost certainly could not pedal and concentrate on work.
posted by gauche at 10:50 AM on September 3, 2020

Also, it annoys me to no end how many pieces of gym equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, &c.) have to be plugged in rather than generating their own power.
posted by gauche at 10:51 AM on September 3, 2020 [3 favorites]

I guess this is this person's blog but I feel like they sort of buried the lede that their whole house seems to be off-grid, which certainly makes the project more interesting than just something they use sometimes. Running the actual DSL router off of the generator/battery is one heck of a choice. But as they note, it's pretty amazing how much computing power you can get for 10W or less these days.
posted by GuyZero at 11:35 AM on September 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Although I have to say I'm not sure I could pedal and work at the same time for an extended period. I sure couldn't do CAD drafting while pedaling!
posted by GuyZero at 11:37 AM on September 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

I like how it has a small box fan to cool the power supply.
posted by sjswitzer at 11:43 AM on September 3, 2020 [7 favorites]

Also, it annoys me to no end how many pieces of gym equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, &c.) have to be plugged in rather than generating their own power.

I used to have an elliptical that generated its own power, which was great except when you had to stop in the middle of a workout to go to the bathroom or answer the phone or something, because then it would lose all your time/calories/whatever info and you'd be back to zero when you came back. (You'd think it would have had a tiny battery to preserve that stuff, but nooooo.)
posted by Daily Alice at 12:09 PM on September 3, 2020

So many people love work so much more than I do.
posted by penduluum at 12:47 PM on September 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

I see this as about not externalizing costs.
posted by aniola at 1:06 PM on September 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Also exercise generates happiness.
posted by aniola at 1:06 PM on September 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is...amazing. I am amazed.
posted by medusa at 6:57 PM on September 3, 2020