Bowling Machine Energy Converter

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phil2oo8

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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.
 
Re: Bowling Machine Energy Converter

Never seen anything like you're suggesting. Guess most places simply plug the machine in to the mains. Then again, that is not always practical when outdoors.

Why not work on the idea yourself? It would tick numerous boxes (environmentally friendly etc) and could probably be applied to more than just bowling machines.
 
Re: Bowling Machine Energy Converter

any kind of energy converter will draw more power than it produces. so basically if you have a motor powering the wheels, then you attach some sort of generator/alternator to those wheels, the force required to turn the generating device will draw more additional power from the motor than it will create itself. so youll actually use the battery up faster!

the only way energy recovery works in automotive applications is by using power generated from outside of the motor itself, such as in the brakes, transmission, inertia of the cars large mass, etc. in your situation you are asking the motor itself to generate the power, which wont work. if you were switching the motor off after every ball say, and then using the inertia of the wheels as they slow down to generate the power then that would be different. but id imagine the motor switching off and on every ball will use more power anyway, not to mention having to let it get back up to speed.

the simplest answer is to buy another battery, preferably a larger one as well. then when one gets flat just switch them over. presumably you dont have a mains power source present, otherwise you could just run the machine off of a converter plugged into the mains. another solution would be a petrol/diesel generator, or even simpler than that - parking a car next to the machine with its engine running and using a converter off of that. assuming the machine is outdoors, as if its indoors id imagine you have mains power anyway.
 
Re: Bowling Machine Energy Converter

If you can work out how to do it you have found yourself a niche market and it's an interesting idea to work on. I'm sure you could make a few bucks out of that.
 
Re: Bowling Machine Energy Converter

Boris;406792 said:
If you can work out how to do it you have found yourself a niche market and it's an interesting idea to work on. I'm sure you could make a few bucks out of that.
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if you can work out how to do it then youve also cracked the secret to perpetual motion and youll become a very rich man!! :D the only power source is the motor, which is driven by the batteries. you cant charge the batteries off of the motor using any kind of device without resulting in a net loss in power (e.g. the batteries will drain faster, the opposite of what you want). any kind of charging device will use more power than it creates, that is just the laws of physics. you cant create additional energy within a closed system from nothing (not within the scope of this discussion anyway).

the only way you can do it is to have an additional power source. either in the form of another battery just to lengthen the usable time of the machine, or in the form of some kind of generator (be it a petrol generator, a car parked nearby, etc) to add additional power into the system. i think a car is probably the best bet, it wouldnt take long for a cars powerful electrical system to recharge the battery if you had the correct converter from 12V to 24V. youve got 100+ kW of power in most modern cars, whilst a bowling machine motor is probably only 2kW at most.
 
Re: Bowling Machine Energy Converter

Jim2109;406797 said:
if you can work out how to do it then youve also cracked the secret to perpetual motion and youll become a very rich man!! :D the only power source is the motor, which is driven by the batteries. you cant charge the batteries off of the motor using any kind of device without resulting in a net loss in power (e.g. the batteries will drain faster, the opposite of what you want). any kind of charging device will use more power than it creates, that is just the laws of physics. you cant create additional energy within a closed system from nothing (not within the scope of this discussion anyway).

the only way you can do it is to have an additional power source. either in the form of another battery just to lengthen the usable time of the machine, or in the form of some kind of generator (be it a petrol generator, a car parked nearby, etc) to add additional power into the system. i think a car is probably the best bet, it wouldnt take long for a cars powerful electrical system to recharge the battery if you had the correct converter from 12V to 24V. youve got 100+ kW of power in most modern cars, whilst a bowling machine motor is probably only 2kW at most.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know that much :D

As you said though as an example using the spinning of the wheels as they run down without power being applied to them, proves there are ways of doing it, we just have to find one that is practical.

I'm sure there is a lateral enough thinking mind to come up with something, not necessarily already on the machine itself, in order to create enough energy to at least maybe double the battery life. Like perhaps a series of mice in wheels running crazily, or perhaps a donkey on a treadmill chasing an unreachable carrot. Well... maybe not them, but you get what I mean. I thought of suggesting solar, but apart from being incredibly expensive, the night net sessions are a bit of a problem.

There has to be some sort of system that will save you a few bucks and do a part for the environment.
 
Re: Bowling Machine Energy Converter

perhaps someone could invent a device that harnesses the fear from the batsmen and converts that into power. or if they arent scared, perhaps a device that harnesses their ego instead :D
 
Re: Bowling Machine Energy Converter

i don't mean to fully recharge the battery, thats impossible,,, A level physics you know isn't wasted time, but what i mean is the chemical energy in the battery is converted to electrical energy through the circuit which is then used in the motor to spin the wheels of the machine,,, once those wheels spin they have kinetic energy, What i mean is those wheels are being spun, we can all agree on that, and they must have a huge amount of revs. In between balls those wheels continue to spin which is wasted energy to all extents because there not launching balls. My idea was to have two materials rub as those wheels spin rapidly which with correct materials would case a static electricity build up in side the machine as the wheel rotates, like a van der graaf generator, and this static build up is redirected to the battery which gives it a little bit of charge,,,, my point isnt to charge the battery just to give it a means of extending the session or for at the end of the session the ball is still being released at good force, because the issue is floating out balls at the end.
 
but having those two materials rub together would increase the friction in the system, meaning you would need more power to get the wheels to spin at a given speed for instance 3000rpm which might be equivalent to 80mph. Someone before was mentioning this. Between balls if you had this happening in then normally is draws 2kW. What would happen is you may apply this mechanism and it would for instance generate 200W, but whilst running the mechanism, for the machine to spin at its predetermined 3000rpm it would now be drawing 3kW. It a nice idea, but the system isn't analogous to what they're doing with KERS in hybrids etc, as these are generally attached to the brake system of a car. The wheels in the bowling machine are more analagous to the driveshaft of a car. I'm not sure of the set up of your bowling machine, but attaching the bowling machine to mains power via some extension cables may or may not be the easiest way. A better battery with a larger capacity, perhaps the battery is on the way out as well, over time there performance will decay. Look at these ideas perhaps. Maybe people are taking too long between deliveries etc. In any case good luck with your endeavours!
 
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