Cycle Powered Cinema, donations now accepted

sahdow09winterbikeThe plan to show live, people-powered movies in Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park is still alive and well. A recent Cycle Powered Cinema volunteer meeting drew about a dozen people, and I think we made some pretty good progress. Following are some brief notes on where we are now, and where we hope to be by the end of the month.

As of this moment, we’ve got one working bike setup, which was built largely with donations received at the Shadow Art Fair. If we can get one more unit built, we can pull off a live demo, with two bikes feeding into a battery. (The complete system, when built out, will have eight bikes. We think, however, that we can prove the concept with two, although it would require that we start peddling a few hours before the show in order to charge the battery.)

Here’s what we need to make that happen:

– One more bike stand and generator, at a cost of $399.
– A 25 amp fuse and holder, at a cost of about $5.
– A Blocking Rectifier Diode, at a cost of $49.
– A 12 vdc Regulator/Converter, at a cost of $235.
– Another DC to AC Inverter, at a cost of $100.39.

TOTAL: $788.39

[If someone has a bike stand that they’re not using, or any of these other items that we’re looking for, we’d love to take it off your hands. Just let us know, and stop by and get them from you.]

We haven’t approached a lot of local businesses yet, but the Corner Brewery has offered $200, assuming we can get a match from the community. And, to help see that happen, they’ve placed a donation jar on their counter. So, if you stop in, leave a dollar… or several. (The good folks of Sidetrack have also offered to help, but we haven’t discussed amounts and such yet.)

You can also donate online now, through Paypal. Just go to our main Cycle Powered Cinema page, and you’ll see the “Donate” button toward the top, on the left. The Depot Town CDC, a registered non-profit, has agreed to act as our fiduciary, so all financial donations will flow through them. The good news is, that means that your contributions toward this project will be tax-deductible.

[If you do decide to make a contribution, you’ll need the Depot Town CDC’s Federal Tax Identification Number for your records. It’s 38-3262368.]

I tested out the system by contributing $5 last night, and it apparently worked. I just got an email from Erik Dotzauer, the Director of the Depot Town CDC, and he says it was deposited in their Cycle Powered Cinema account.

Assuming all goes well, and we raise the $800 that we need, we plan to have a formal test by the end of May, on the banks of the Huron, behind the new VG Kids.

Then, assuming the test is a success, we’ll start raising funds to build more bikes, and planning for our first big event in Riverside Park.

Our dream, it’s worth mentioning, is to also work with individuals building bike powered systems for themselves, that they can then bring to our screenings. That would keep us from having to raise all the capital to build-out the eight bikes we anticipate that we’ll need to power a live event, and it’ll keep the systems in use, powering household appliances, cell phones, and the like, between our screenings. If you think you might be interested in building a system, let us know, and we’ll help you with plans, etc.

So, if you can spare a few dollars, please make a tax-deductable contribution. And, if you’re a business owner, please consider becoming a sponsor. This, if it works, would be an incredible thing for the community of Ypsilanti – free, bike powered Summer movies in the park – and you can help make it happen by contributing a few dollars now.

[To get periodic updates on the project, become a fan on Facebook.]

[See my previous update on the project, here.]

update: I’ve heard from a lot of you that you’d love to give, but that you’re putting away every spare dollar you can for Kwame Kilpatrick, who has been unjustly ordered to pay restitution to the people of Detroit who framed him. To those people, I say, can’t we all get a cut? Isn’t there enough to go around?

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16 Comments

  1. Genericreg
    Posted May 5, 2010 at 1:48 am | Permalink

    Mark, if CPC and Corner can arrange it so I see a donation jar in ABC when I’m there – hopefully this weekend – I’d donate some of the money I don’t have. As you already know, I’m afraid of your town (http://markmaynard.com/?p=6826) but that doesn’t mean I won’t support cinema, bikes, and human-powered everything there.

  2. Andy
    Posted May 5, 2010 at 2:30 am | Permalink

    Mr. Maynard, you can count the Elbow Room in for $200

  3. Knox
    Posted May 5, 2010 at 7:24 am | Permalink

    Thanks, Andy. As a patron of the Elbow Room that makes me very happy.

    Unless, of course, that was someone pretending to be you.

  4. Edward
    Posted May 5, 2010 at 9:24 am | Permalink

    Fantastic. I’m glad to see this moving forward.

  5. Posted May 5, 2010 at 2:21 pm | Permalink

    Mark — any possibility of posting or pointing to some kind of diagram for building one of these individual bike rigs? Do you have a mechanic or electrician-type who is heading up this aspect?

  6. Andy C
    Posted May 5, 2010 at 3:08 pm | Permalink

    This is the best site I could find for doing this…
    http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/pedalpower/josephSP2004/index.html

    Here’s a link to a pre-assembled one. We tried to buy one of these before but it was back ordered indefinitely so we canceled the order. I still want to get one and breakdown where all the parts came from for making our own in the future.
    http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm

    Also good info…
    http://www.scienceshareware.com/articles/byo-stand/build-your-own-generator-bike-trainer-stand-1.htm

    Our 1st bike used a Permanent Magnet 12VDC Motor TENV 1/6hp 1800/3900RPM 31GS Frame Leeson Electric Motor # M1120046 ( $191) bought from…
    http://www.electricmotorwarehouse.com/m111014.htm

    The place is in Flint so I drove up there.

    Once we get all the odds and ends listed in the post, we’ll actually be able to assemble one and document it. Until then it’s all theory and info gathered from websites.

    Hope that helps. -Andy C

  7. anonymous
    Posted May 5, 2010 at 9:38 pm | Permalink

    I just found out that there will be a Maker Faire this summer in Dearborn. Cycle-powered cinema is the kind of thing people would love to see there!
    http://www.makerfaire.com/

  8. Andy
    Posted May 6, 2010 at 3:32 pm | Permalink

    it is in fact me… and you can visit me tonight thru Monday and I will get you a check

  9. Posted May 6, 2010 at 5:48 pm | Permalink

    Cool, Andy, I’ll drop by this weekend and see you. And thanks for the support.

    I should also mention that Linda French wrote in, saying Sidetrack was in for $200.

    So, with a few more donations from you guys, we can get what we need and schedule the test run.

    And remember, donations are tax-deductable.

  10. Andy C
    Posted May 6, 2010 at 5:56 pm | Permalink

    Karaoke Mark?

  11. Posted May 6, 2010 at 6:06 pm | Permalink

    I was thinking People Powered Tasers would come before karaoke, Andy.

  12. Edward
    Posted May 7, 2010 at 7:32 am | Permalink

    Or community powered vibrators at the Shadow Art Fair. You could have a private booth with a cot in it, and a lot of people peddling outside of it, generating power for an array of sex toys.

    Community Orgasm Project

  13. Posted May 8, 2010 at 8:12 am | Permalink

    It would be worth contacting the GO Tech group

    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/notbago/

    which has a monthly show and tell of projects they have built out in Scio Township.

    Another enthusiastic group is the AHA Shop

    http://allhandsactive.com/

    which has more of a student group feel to it.

  14. genericreg
    Posted May 10, 2010 at 6:05 pm | Permalink

    Thought you’d like to see

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/vendor_pedals_shakes_XyjM2qbQHHxUGfmC3eFf1I

  15. applejack
    Posted May 21, 2010 at 10:45 pm | Permalink

    Mark – have you checked out Kickstarter.com ? post your project idea and then folks all over the web can check it out and contribute. Very cool site, and might be a good fit with the Cycle-Powered Cinema Project

  16. Posted May 22, 2010 at 9:19 am | Permalink

    Yup. That’s part of the plan, Applejack. I’ll keep you posted.

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  1. […] Cinema initiative, can find my last update on the project, which is considerably more detailed, here.] This entry was posted in Special Projects, Ypsilanti, cycle powered cinema and tagged Andy […]

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