Finally here! I arrived in Kampala yesterday and today I met up with Victor, a friend of mine who agreed to help me construct the power-generating bike. He works for Fundi Bots, and showed me the space where they teach robotics to kids (from 6 years old to high school seniors.)

Here he’s showing me an award they got for an MTN Innovation competition.

And a small motor that Victor thought we might be able to use.

(Though later he switched to dynamos from old bikes with motion-generated lights.)

I told Victor that it had been 10+ years since I had taken an electronics lab, so he was patient with me when he drew out the circuit diagram for our planned voltage rectifier.

But the thing that I was most excited about while I was there was all of the other projects that Fundi Bots is working on. I had thought they were just doing training with kids, but actually they’re creating self-titrated irrigation systems, boreholes that collect data on differences in the water table over time, and wheelchairs that use regenerative braking to power a small motor. It’s really amazing stuff!

Victor is too busy this week so I’m going to head up to Gulu then come back early next week to work on the project, but I think it’s going to turn out really cool!