An exercise treadmill that produces enough electricity to power a television set, radio and telephone has been developed at Singapore’s Ngee Ann Polytechnic, its creators said on Wednesday.
Electrical engineering students and exercise buddies Ng Bing Rong (23) Lee Beng Chuan (24) and Neo Boon Kiat (25) said the idea struck when they saw an old treadmill stored at the school.
”Instead of spending so much money to go to the gym, where you have to bring your own minidisc player, or paying for electricity, you’ll generate electricity and burn calories” with the innovation, The Straits Times quoted Ng as saying.
”The radio and TV will also encourage you to get off the couch and exercise,” he added.
It took two months to adapt the treadmill to converting energy from the user’s footsteps into electricity and store it in a battery.
The trio also installed a radio, a 12cm TV set and a power socket to charge a cellphone.
It takes about four hours of brisk walking to fully charge the 12- volt battery, which powers the radio and TV and charges the phone for about 12 hours. – Sapa-DPA