The first step was to identify our means of producing power, which meant tearing apart several products in order to see how they produced electricity and how much of it they were able to produce.  The first victims were a “shake light” flashlight and a laptop computer cooling pad.

After our technology research and some initial user research, we determined that we would use the method of linear induction employed by the shakelight as our source of power.  Furthermore, we decided that we would apply this to the creation of a kayak paddle that could keep track of stroke rate and display it to the user for the purposes training for kayak racing.

Displaying information to the user had to be done in a way that would be readable as the display was moved back and forth during paddling. We decided that instead of displaying a precise number, the paddle would display a scale of speed and the user would be allowed to pick a target rate via a sliding window.

A prototype was developed using a pair of self-fabricated linear induction coils placed within a fiberglass tube. The coils were wired to a rechargable battery circuit which powered an arduino programmed to count stroke rate based on the number of cycles completed within the coils.  We took our model to a section of the Chatahoochee for some initial user testing, shown here.

After the success of our initial prototype, we moved forward with a refined version that would be completely enclosed within the shaft of the paddle. It featured a much smaller computer, stronger lights, and an improved interface.