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• Find out about our Education / Workshop programmes
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Dan Smythies ('Danny Dink'), the inventor of the RinkyDink, started taking bits of machinery apart when he was 5 years old. He began, appropriately enough, with an electricity meter "one of those old ones with all the wheels in... we had one in the flat..." he remembers.

He continued taking things apart to find out how they worked for the next 20-odd years, until he started putting them back together again, and the RinkyDink Mk.1 was born.

The first step to cycle power was simply to attach a car alternator to a bicycle wheel - and it worked! The Mk.1 Dink was only efficient enough to power a small ghetto-blaster, but soon it was mobile...

The breakthrough came when Dan met Bill Wright, who had been working for years designing super-efficient generators to power radio equipment for Flying Doctors in Africa. Bill had designed a unit with an (unrivalled) efficiency of 70% (most generators manage only ...%); Dan bought his prototype moving magnet generator, and it powers the RinkyDink to this day.

From that moment, the RinkyDink Sound System has become a familiar and welcome sight at festivals, environmental showcases and street events throughout Europe as well as Britain. On one occasion they even stopped a riot...

It was a hot afternoon on one of London's anti- Criminal Justice Bill demos, and the Dink arrived in Hyde Park just as people were getting a bit worked-up after a long afternoon's march, and a few scuffles were beginning to turn serious... But with RinkyDink favourites like 'Sugar Sugar' and 'Dancing Queen', smiling and dancing seemed to be a better idea than fighting; the Dink ended up leading the party out of Hyde Park again, dispersing a happy crowd in its wake.

Over the last couple of years, through being so visible, so audible, the RinkyDink has gathered attention and a group of fellow-travellers which extend the concept and the possibilities much further.

Efficiency: Efficiency can be defined as how much energy you get out of a system as against how much you put in
efficiency of

• Steam Engine: 4%
• Car 17%
• Permanent Magnet generator 70%
• Bicycle 90%

How does it work, then ?

Rinky Dink Education Programme

It's an educational vehicle !

Think about it for a moment: The RinkyDink is a perfect demonstration of some basic principles and it's all built round the instant attraction of music every kid we've ever met ends up thinking the end result is pretty cool !

RinkyDink really does make learning interesting and fun !

Energy :
this much leg power equals this much electricity if you want it out, you've got to put it in !

Mechanics
gearing and drive, the RinkyDink is mechanically visible it doesn't all happen in a sealed box or under a lid the workings are clear

Electricity
the role of different components (and what happens if you change them round)

Environment
How much power do we need ? What for ?
RinkyDink have developed teaching modules, in collaboration with educational charity Groundwork, on basic energy and alternative technology themes. These have been used in schools all round the country (references available).

There are workshop sessions aimed at three age-groups :

Infants School :
recognising and finding the parts of the machine

8/9 years old : The Energy Chain
sunlight -> plants -> food -> muscle energy -> generator power

GCSE : electricity, volts/amps/watts, gearing and elementary mechanics

Other educational & workshop programmes in preparation :

• Build your own pedal power generator (60-100w) for under £50
• Energy from the Sun. Part-magic, part performance, part scientific demonstration of the fundamental principles of energy.

It has been said that any sufficiently developed technology is indistinguishable from magic. The same goes for alternative & sustainable and renewable technologies - renewable magic! We're looking into some of the old illusions from the great days of the circus & the music hall - we'll astound you with the simplest things!