Playing with energy: BYU students design toy that generates power

PROVO — A team of Brigham Young University students has achieved a feat that has eluded soft drink and clothing manufacturers for years.

They have found a way to harness the energy of youth.

Six students from BYU's engineering department unveiled Tuesday a playground merry-go-round that generates electricity as it spins. The goal is to provide an inexpensive, simple power source for remote school houses in developing nations.

Their prototype is the result of two semesters of intense planning, design and construction as part of a class.

"Throughout the semester, we've been like, 'You know what? We have the coolest project,"' said student Adrian Williams. Other students who worked on the project were Elizabeth Despain, Josh Farnworth, David Theurer, Matthew Vogel and Aaron Worlton.

The student team, which includes four mechanical engineering majors, an industrial design major and an electrical/computer engineering major, was approached with the idea for the merry-go-round last fall by Ben Markham, a retired engineer who got the idea for the device while serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana with his wife, Julie.

"Some of the schoolhouses we saw there were just uncomfortable and dark," Markham said. "It's just not conducive to learning."

Students at BYU enthusiastically embraced the idea, but the design process proved challenging. The biggest challenge, students said, was to match the speed of the merry-go-round, which is about 10 RPM, to the speed required by the generator, at least 500 RPM.

Since transmission devices are normally designed to work in the opposite direction, from fast to slow, the team had to design their own "reverse" transmission, using a truck axle and gear wheels from an average car — a design created based on materials readily available in Ghana.

"You can't buy what we have," said Geoff J. Germane, a faculty adviser.

Germane, who has coached dozens of student-driven projects, said this one is the "most intriguing" he's seen.

"This has the potential to benefit a lot of people in a way that they might not otherwise receive help," he said. "Engineers really just have a desire to improve the quality of life."

Markham has formed a non-profit organization with the hope of building the merry-go-rounds and similar playground items. Future classes at BYU and BYU-Idaho will work on swing systems and zip lines that generate electricity.

The current team christened the organization Empowered Playgrounds.

"It kind of encapsulates the idea of what we're trying to have happen," said Theurer, a mechanical engineering major. "Not just to generate electricity, but to empower (kids) to light the way for their own education."

Markham said he was optimistic about the idea when he took it to BYU — and is "very pleased" with the result.

"(The students) really embraced the humanitarian aspect of this project," he said. "Any time there was a challenge or stumbling block, they were out here working long hours — far beyond what they would do for a normal class."

Markham hopes to test the prototype in Ghana this fall.

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com

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