Easy Workout Logging With Ethernet-enabled Exercise Bike

It will be easy to keep your exercise routine on track if you don’t have to do anything at all to log your workouts. [Reefab] developed this add-on hardware for his exercise bike that automatically logs his workout on the Internet.

He’s using RunKeeper to store and display the workout data. They offer a token-based API which [Reefab] implemented in his Arduino sketch. The hardware to grab data from the exercise bike is quite simple to set up. A rare-earth magnet was added to the fly-wheel with a reed switch positioned next it in order to measure the number and speed of rotations. This is exactly how a consumer bicycle computer works, needing just one accurate measurement corresponding to how far the bike travels with each revolution of that wheel.

In addition to the networked-logging feature [Reefab] included a character display so you can follow your speed and distance data during the workout.

6 thoughts on “Easy Workout Logging With Ethernet-enabled Exercise Bike

  1. Hmm… every hack like this that I have seen adds some type of RPM sensor on to the bike, even bikes that already have cheap digital monitors. Why haven’t I seen any where the person hacked into the sensor already there?
    I briefly looked at mine and it is just a square wave pulse that increases in frequency with RPM. Pretty standard. Getting a pulse on this line wakes up the CPU on the monitor.

    I haven’t hacked mine further than looking at the signals, but I wonder why nobody seems to be doing it that way.

    1. Hmm… I believe he did hack into the sensor already there.

      from the description:
      >”The sensor used is the reed switch that was already present in my stationary bike connected to the Arduino with a pulldown resistor.”

      1. Ahh… I didn’t even click to the original article because of this in the article description:

        “A rare-earth magnet was added to the fly-wheel with a reed switch positioned next it in order to measure the number and speed of rotations.”

        Which indicated that these components were added. Now I will have to take a look :)

      2. @Retroplayer:
        fair enough. On the other hand, I didn’t bother to read had’s description and just clicked through to the original article. It seems that had sometimes adds their own details or just guesses in their summaries.

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