This project started out with the history and philosophy of all places. I watched this video about the origin of treadmills. They were invented as a form of extracting labor out of prisoners, and the 'treadmills' powered literal mills, which is the origin of the term.

Separately, I saw a kind of poetic beauty in the idea of modern society being enslaved to 'screens', and loving in a prison of our own making. So, I sought to combine the two ideas. Viola! 'The Treadmill Powered TV' simply run on the treadmill to generate the power for your TV. The perfect way of getting into shape.

I liked the concept even more, when I realized that in a battery-less system if you stop running, the TV would power off, and it would take a minute for it to boot back up. So, the device incentivizes keeping a steady pace- something I struggle with while running. Plus, no battery means practically infinite lifetime(the limiting factor would probably be mechanical or the electrolytic caps in the electronics).

After I made 'The Treadmill Powered TV', I realized that it's a little impractical and inefficient. And the project is slowly morphing into a 'Human Powered Off-Grid Power Generator'.