Bowling Machine Energy Converter
Alright,
We had the bowling machine out last night and the battery was so weak towards the end of the session it was getting down with no pace behind the ball. This is after the battery being charged for a week with no breaks. As a lower order bat i usually only get into the nets late in the session, when the bowlers are usually tired and starting to bowl spin or give up and go do catching practice, so i like to use the machine because i can get shot specific practice in a more controlled manner but like i said due to me coming in late the machines only just ticking over and its not got enough force behind it.
So last night i lost my temper and got my thinking head on. As everyone knows the bowling machine works by 2 spinning wheels powered by a battery, usually 24v, but if you've ever used a bowling machine alot of energy is dissipated by the machine having to be constantly spinning even when people aren't batting with it because they take so long to get up to speed, especially in the 70-80 mph region.
So i was just wondering has anyone ever seen a system similar to the hybrid mechanism in cars. Simply put, some of the Kinetic energy from wheels is converted back to chem/electrical energy in the battery then reused rather then being wasted between balls just spinning through. This obviously isnt perfect because lots of energy is wasted as sound and friction in the components but it should be able to put enough charge back into the charger to get through a whole session at good pace rather then a feeble effort at the same end time.
Just wondering because if there is one out there i wouldnt mind one, and if not theres a market out there for someone because even within Bolas products there's baseball, hockey and cricket never mind other sports that use machinery to deliver balls.
Alright,
We had the bowling machine out last night and the battery was so weak towards the end of the session it was getting down with no pace behind the ball. This is after the battery being charged for a week with no breaks. As a lower order bat i usually only get into the nets late in the session, when the bowlers are usually tired and starting to bowl spin or give up and go do catching practice, so i like to use the machine because i can get shot specific practice in a more controlled manner but like i said due to me coming in late the machines only just ticking over and its not got enough force behind it.
So last night i lost my temper and got my thinking head on. As everyone knows the bowling machine works by 2 spinning wheels powered by a battery, usually 24v, but if you've ever used a bowling machine alot of energy is dissipated by the machine having to be constantly spinning even when people aren't batting with it because they take so long to get up to speed, especially in the 70-80 mph region.
So i was just wondering has anyone ever seen a system similar to the hybrid mechanism in cars. Simply put, some of the Kinetic energy from wheels is converted back to chem/electrical energy in the battery then reused rather then being wasted between balls just spinning through. This obviously isnt perfect because lots of energy is wasted as sound and friction in the components but it should be able to put enough charge back into the charger to get through a whole session at good pace rather then a feeble effort at the same end time.
Just wondering because if there is one out there i wouldnt mind one, and if not theres a market out there for someone because even within Bolas products there's baseball, hockey and cricket never mind other sports that use machinery to deliver balls.