The Cykill Exercise Bike-Powered Gaming Console

After outlining why gyms, personal trainers, yoga, and even walking the dog are sub-optimal methods for staying in shape, Maker “FuzzyWobble” goes on to outline his “Cykill” device. His gaming + fitness setup takes the form of an Xbox powered in a way that won’t even turn on unless you’re pedaling a stationary bike at an acceptable level. Adding another element to this fitness motivation is that if you stop pedaling, it actually cuts power immediately, stopping your in-progress game, and potentially even damaging the system’s hard drive!

This “regrettable hack,” as ‘Wobble describes it, uses an Arduino Uno to intercept the signal that the stationary bike normally sends to the control panel. It then sends a signal to a power switch tail that supplies power to the Xbox, allowing it to turn on. Settings and intensity levels are set via a new custom panel, and user feedback is provided there by a series of LEDs.

Astute readers may note that one could simply unplug the Xbox from the cruelly-programmed power switch tail and plug it into the outlet directly. ‘Wobble has considered this possibility, and suggests gluing things together to avoid the temptation. Of course, one could always reprogram it to stay on, but that would take at least a few minutes, when you could just jump on the bike and start gaming (nearly) immediately!