Turning sweat into watts

We're continuing to develop options for powering the Nano Membrane Toilet in scenarios where grid power is not available.   The latest option is a bike-generator. The generator is compound by a rear-wheel hub motor, a bike stand, and a 26" wheel mountain bike. After a short testing period, an average power of 82 Watts has been generated while pedalling for 15 min by male students. Nevertheless, a more comprehensive statistical study will be carried out to better characterize the generator and user capabilities. Currently, our efforts are focusing on improving the comfort of the rider and reducing the footprint of the bike.

How do you ‘flush’ without a ‘flush’?

The C4D Nano Membrane Toilet workshop

A flush suggests water but what we actually mean is how do you move waste from the toilet bowl to the waste holding tank. The new method for the Cranfield toilet has to meet the following criteria:

1. No additional water can be used
2. No additional power can be used
3. The action has to be in keeping with the user’s normal behaviour 
4. A constant barrier must be maintained between the holding tank and bowl

To do this the design team began by scoping existing methods before moving into concept generation and development. Testing is soon to commence evaluating materials and shapes.

First model of the cross section integrating the flush mechanism with the toilet seat

CAD model from flush mechanism development

Gears of flush mechanism prototype

Latest cross section model from the flush mechanism development

A video of the the latest model of the cross section experimenting with the gears for the flush mechanism