We’re stoked to be joining the Open-Source movement with our Arbduino Pedal Power computer. The Arbduino and its source code gives you the tools you need to develop your own safe, interesting, motivating, and dependable Pedal Power activities.
We have used the Arbduino for over 5 years in our own Pedal Power Utility Boxes. These rugged Pedal Power hubs contain ultracapacitors, pure sine wave inverters, LED Pedalometers, and clearly labeled input / output jacks. If you can afford a Pedal Power Utility Box, we highly recommend them. They are tried and tested, and will save you time, so you can focus on producing your event. You won’t have to mess with wiring and circuitry or waft solder fumes.
But if our Utility Boxes are out of your budget, or if you’re going for something slightly different from what we offer, or if you just like doing projects like this, we now offer the key component as a standalone offering: the Brain.
With the Arbduino you’ll not only get a circuit board, you’ll get access to the newly open source code. The code will show you how to monitor system conditions (voltage and wattage), turn on and off devices and lights. This means you can connect or disconnect pedalers to a voltage sink, and you can turn on and off a load. Please seen the video in the upper right to see a real live example.
Our Open Source approach:
Open hardware? Not yet. We have not chosen to publish our parts list yet. However, the parts list and schematic will come with an Arbduino. You can get access to our parts list by purchasing an Arbduino in built or kit form. We do not plan to publish the schematic or board layout files of the Arbduino.
Open Source? Yes. As promised, we have published the code for our Arbduino, which is what we use to run our Pedal Power Utility Box. We also use the Arbduino in other products: the sLEDgehammer, the 48-Volt Utility Box with MegaDivida, and other custom projects. The only code we have published is for the most common of our Utility Boxes: the AC Power Pedal Power Utility Box.
Free? No. It has taken 7 years of development to get to the point of offering a reliable platform for Pedal Power developers. We have supported this process through the sale of our Pedal Power Utility Boxes and related gear (generators, Pedalometers, Etc.). We accept donations from those who appreciate the value of our code to their project, and we charge money for the Arbduino. Prices below. We also do custom coding and consulting for Pedal Power projects at rates posted below.
Prices:
– 265 as shown fully soldered.
– 150 in kit form. You solder. Takes about 30-60 minutes.
– 95 for relay & LED kit — allows you to protect your system and turn up to 2 devices on and off AND allows you to use our Pedalometer system (LED light sequence that tells pedalers how hard to pedal) or make your own Pedalometer, just like our Pedal Power Utility Boxes.
– Consulting and custom coding: $120 / hour. Nonprofit and education discount: 25% or $90/hour.