Białystok/ Treadmill bike - a joint invention of technical high school and university students

Treadmill bike ("Biegorower") won a PLN 5,000 grant in the Białystok Functional Area competition for research and implementation projects. It is one of the 13 awarded ideas of young people.

Treadmill bike was presented to journalists at a press conference in May. It`s a three-wheeled device that combines the features of a city bike and a treadmill. It has a hybrid drive. One of the constructors, Mateusz Kliza, a student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Białystok University of Technology explains that the bicycle can be powered by walking or running on the treadmill or by an electric motor. He adds that according to the law, the maximum speed of the treadmill bike is 25 km per hour; a speedometer is installed.

According to Klizy, this device is designed for people who like an active lifestyle. The idea was to help people "break out of the gym walls", where a lot of people run, and combine running with riding a bike outdoors.

Treadmill bike was constructed by technical school students from the Young Constructors` Club and university students from the "Orthos" science club. According to the headmistress of the Technical School in Bialystok Renata Frankowska, the regulations of the competition assumed the cooperation of a school with a university and partner companies. "As a school, we focus not only on didactics, we must also respond to the needs of our students, help them discover their talents, strengthen the idea of technical education in the city, in the region, hence the willingness to participate in this grant and cooperation with partners" - Frankowska says.

The treadmill bike was designed and built at the technical school and university workshops. Young constructors started working on the idea in November 2017. They presented the prototype in May. First, a virtual model was created, and then the constructors made the individual parts of the device. Some of the tasks, such as mounting the rear axle bearings, bending side profiles or painting the frame, were performed by the companies cooperating on the project.

"It is an absolutely innovative design" - said Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Prof. Andrzej Seweryn. He congratulated the young constructors on the idea and its realisation.

The authors plan to commercialise the project. According to Andrzej Grzędziński, a teacher from the Technical School in Bialystok, now the design will be improved and all defects eliminated. The device durability will be increased, technical documentation prepared, and then the authors will look for companies interested in manufacturing their treadmill bike.

Grzędziński estimates that the device would cost of a few thousand zlotys. He explains that the production cost of the prototype has not exceed the grant amount of 5 thousand zlotys. Grzędziński hopes that with a larger number of units, production cost will be lower.

The project "BOF Centre of Competence" of the Białystok Functional Area association is a series of various undertakings that focus on practical vocational training. The project is financed from EU funds (PAP)

author: Sylwia Wieczeryńska

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