Don't get excited just yet but a German inventor called Dirk Strothmann has a new product in the works that may offer a clue to future lighting systems.
Called Magnic Light "the world's smallest contactless bicycle dynamo" is designed to fit on a universal bracket to the front forks or rear stays of any bike and generate its own electricity by the induction of the wheel rim's movement. What, you're thinking, an aluminium rim will produce electricity by induction? Apparently so, according to the designer although carbon fibre will not work which we do not imagine will be too much of a problem for the Zipp, Ultimate and Reynolds wheels users on the racing scene.
The Magnic Light website mentions that the proposed light will be the subject of a Kickstarter investment bid but doesn't yet appear on the popular web funding platform.
UPDATE: Magnic Light now on Kickstarter here and video below.
Details: magniclight.com
Thanks to Chris Whitehouse for the spot
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
6 thoughts on “Magnic Light: “contactless bicycle dynamo light” +VIDEO”
“we do not imagine will be
“we do not imagine will be too much of a problem for the Zipp, Ultimate and Reynolds wheels users on the racing scene.”
Can only imagine racing with it in a 24 hour TT… Can’t imagin too many other races where you’d need lights! At least, not ones where you’d also be riding carbon rims.
Decathlon do a rear light
Decathlon do a rear light which works on the pulse caused by a spoke mounted magnet passing the light.
neat idea if it works but its
neat idea if it works but its got a few drawbacks. It would be obscured by the tyre from the other side so I guess you’d need one on each side for max visibility, even then it’s quite low down so you’d probably want a higher mounted light as well. good lukc to the inventor though.
Interesting. Reelights are
Interesting. Reelights are pretty hopeless power-wise with a load of enormous magnets on the wheels, so what it’s doing to produce enough electrickery without I am not scientific enough to begin to comprehend.
Wouldn’t the electro magnetic
Wouldn’t the electro magnetic induction occur in the rim, like a homopolar generator? How is the current passed from the rim to the light? or am i getting it all wrong, which is a possibility since the explanation in the vid seemed to be some guy scrolling up and down on a Wikipedia page about eddy currents.
Ingenious.
Looks like it
Ingenious.
Looks like it needs a bit of smoothing in there, and some way of staying on for short stops at traffic lights. Depends upon the power generation and consumption, but a supercapacitor might do it.
The technology could almost certainly be used to power a light in another location, using cables just like a hub dynamo.