Some engineering students at Rowan University in New Jersey are developing a way to harness bicycle-pedal power to run a small grain crusher.
It's latest effort I've read about in the ongoing attempts at many colleges and nongovernmental agencies to jump-start small-scale economies in developing nations where electricity is scarce and expensive.
In the Rowan project, an aluminum grain crusher is attached to the bicycle, which is mounted on a stand. Pedalling the bicycle crushes the corn, lentils, split peas and barley fine enough for cooking.
Production
Dr. Beena Sukumaran, the civil and environmental engineering professor pictured above, says they're trying to make a simple design that can be produced by people in developing countries. Also, the design incorporates any style and size bicycle.
The Massachusetts Institute for Technology also works on similar projects. One, by Kendra Johnson, is a bicycle-powered grain mill that can grind wet corn into a fine masa dough for making tortillas.
The mill can save the many hours it takes women in Central and South America to mash corn with a mortar and pestle.
Asociación Maya Pedal in Guatemala has created a wide assortment of machines using bicycles that have been donated from the US and Canada.
They also have developed mills, as well as blenders, water pumps, metal sharpeners, coffee depulpers, wood saws and washing machines using bicycles as the power source.
It's a good reminder that the unused bicycle in your garage could have a more useful life someplace else.
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