Schlagwort: Bicycle

  • Celebrate World Bicycle Day with these Arduino-powered bike projects

    Celebrate World Bicycle Day with these Arduino-powered bike projects

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    Cycling is a great way to spend time outdoors while simultaneously getting exercise and even as a mode of efficient transportation. And in the last few years due to the recent proliferation of e-bikes on the market and the pandemic, there has been an explosion in the number of people wanting to use bikes on a regular basis. A few people have gone a step further and have taken it upon themselves to create devices that make this experience safer, more convenient, or more fun. For this year’s World Bicycle Day, let’s celebrate these makers and how they were able to creatively embed Arduino products into their designs for a better cycling experience.

    Automatic shifter

    The purpose of a transmission is to convert the rotation of the motor into torque for the wheels, with more being needed at lower speeds for acceleration and less when cruising. Similarly, most bikes also have gearing wherein the rider can downshift to get up a hill or upshift to make larger strides on a straightaway. Jan Oelbrandt’s Shift4Me project eliminates the need to consciously think about this since it uses a magnetic cadence sensor attached to an Arduino Nano which allows it to automatically shift up or down depending on how quickly the pedals are moving. 

    Bikelangelo water “graffiti” trailer

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iix9U9V4jxc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Similar to how a persistence of vision (POV) display moves rapidly changing pixels through the air to produce the illusion of a larger image, maker Sagarrabanana devised a towable bike trailer that sprays water on the ground using seven individual jets which take the place of the pixels in a POV display. Controlled by an Arduino Nano, the jets’ timing is determined by the bike’s speed in order to precisely deposit even lines of water in a dot-matrix pattern. Text from the user is inputted on a mobile phone and sent to the Nano via an HC-05 Bluetooth® module for printing. 

    Biking position sensing

    Bike computers are great for collecting detailed information on speed, cadence, power output, elevation, and more, but none can say whether the cyclist was sitting or standing for a period of time. This is why Fabio Antonini used an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense and Edge Impulse to develop such a device. He started by gathering 20 minutes of him sitting on a plane, sitting while going uphill, jumping on the pedals going uphill, and pushing on a flat sprint, then after training, deployed it to the Nano. In order to tell what is being detected, the built-in RGB LED changes color to notify the user. 

    An unusual two-wheel steering system

    Prolific YouTuber and maker James Bruton is no stranger to unique robots and vehicles, and his take on the bicycle is no different. Unlike a traditional design that has a free front wheel and a locked rear wheel, this e-bike has a hub motor in both wheels that can turn independently thanks to an additional pair of motors. When the rider turns the front wheel, an Arduino Uno reads the encoder value and uses it to spin the rear wheel according to one of three modes: lock, mimic the front, and mirror the front. And although the resulting creating isn’t too practical, it’s a great way to see what’s possible when thinking out of the box. 

    Intelligent lock

    Nearly every bike lock in existence is operated by inserting a key into a cylinder and turning it to release the secured frame and/or wheel from a post. While this approach works, it also lacks several useful features such as keyless entry, mobile connectivity, and location tracking. The TapLock project reinvents the lock by relying on either a series of physical taps on the lock’s enclosure in a certain pattern or a paired phone to unlock. Beyond this, the TapLock’s Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense communicates with the mobile app to store the current location on a map and even remotely lock the bike. 

    Compact turn signals

    In a car, signaling is as easy as pushing a stock up or down to indicate your intention of changing lanes or turning, but for bikes, this role falls to the rider having to move their arm around. Tom Ouwerkerk’s solution was to buld a very compact signal by combing two eight-LED NeoPixel strips and an Arduino Uno to act as the signal. The strips sit on a gliding mechanism which moves either left or right thanks to a servo motor underneath, and it helps to clarify the intended direction of travel even further. 

    ML-powered adjustable suspension

    Higher-end, modern cars are beginning to add automatically adjustable suspension systems to their drivetrains which help to adapt the car to the current terrain, atmospheric conditions, and the driver’s comfort level. Jallson Suryo was able to create his own thanks to an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense and a servo motor that turns the bike’s front suspension fork to increase or decrease stiffness. Terrain recognition was accomplished by training an edge ML model on IMU readings and using them to distinguish between idle, smooth, medium, rough, and sprint conditions. 

    Connecting a stationary bike to a simulator

    Bicycling simulators are a great way to experience races against others, explore trails, or simply enjoy a pleasant ride no matter what the weather outside is. Zwift is one such software, and two important features are that your actual pedaling speed is matched in-game and the game controls the pedaling difficulty. Gene’s Green Machine was able to integrate his bike with the system by connecting an Arduino Nano 33 IoT board to a DPS5020 charge controller for reading the current wattage and setting the target resistance. All of this information is sent and received by utilizing the Nano’s capabilities. 

    A video game controller

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95HjdLhC9jU?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Similar to the previous project, video game creator Jelle Vermandere wanted to ride his bike indoors along a virtual track. But this time, he took it a step further by not only integrating his bike using an Arduino Uno which determines the wheel speed via a magnetic reed switch, but building the game himself in Unity. He had to construct and animate models for himself, the bike, and the scenery. After adding an AI and ranking system to the game, he was able to successfully race within the virtual environment on a real bike. 

    Responsive LED system

    Motivated by the desire for a more advanced lighting system while on her nighttime bike rides, Natasha (TechnoChic) decided to affix strips of NeoPixel LEDs all over her bike that could react to music in real-time. The LEDs are controlled by an Arduino Nano 33 IoT that is, in turn, connected to her boombox via a 3.5mm audio jack for reading the audio signal. Two additional Nano 33 IoT boards were used for the wheels, along with more NeoPixels and batteries for each. 

    GPS tracker

    Bicycle theft has been rapidly increasing over the last couple of years, which is why being able to recover a stolen bike has become vital. Johan’s bike tracker project contains an Arduino MKR GSM 1400 which reads motion data from an IMU and uses it to determine if the bike has moved when it is not supposed to. Once movement is detected, the board reads GPS data from a MKR GPS Shield and sends it over an LTE data connection in real-time so that the bike can be found. 

    Integrated safety features

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7DILHsOUxs?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    The majority of mountain bikes lack useful safety features such as integrated lights, turn signals, and speed tracking, which is why Collin Wentzien embarked on his “(not so) electric bike” project. He built a series of features, including automatic brake/turn lights, a headlight, and an electronic horn with the goal of improving safety. Furthermore, his bike also got a bike computer upgrade which contains an Arduino Mega, GPS module, and dual screens for displaying relevant telemetry data. 

    Speedometer display

    After losing the display unit for her bike computer, Element14 Presents host Katie wanted to replace it with a DIY version that tracked the current speed via GPS instead of wheel rotations. An Arduino Nano 33 IoT board handled communication between the small 1.3” LCD screen and one of Quectel’s L80 small form-factor GPS modules. On each loop of the program, the time, speed, and distance are all shown on the screen thanks to the 4D Systems genieArduino display library. 

    BLE-enabled cycling computer

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foDdqgiLLsg?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    This last DIY bicycle computer was made by YouTuber cubicpixelDE, and it integrates an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense along with a myriad of bicycle sensors and a heart rate sensor over BLE to display valuable data to the rider. The entire system combines a 1.8” color TFT screen and the Nano 33 BLE Sense into a single, compact unit which fits alongside the handlebar and reads out data to a mobile app wirelessly. 

    The post Celebrate World Bicycle Day with these Arduino-powered bike projects appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Shift4Me is an automatic bicycle shifter

    Shift4Me is an automatic bicycle shifter

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Shift4Me is an automatic bicycle shifter

    Arduino TeamSeptember 9th, 2020

    These days many of us are turning to bicycling for fun and exercise. While some may enjoy being able to change up the resistance and pedal speed by shifting, if you would instead prefer to be in the ideal gear automatically, then Jan Oelbrandt’s Shift4Me could be just the thing you need.

    The add-on device works by determining the rider’s cadence via a magnetic sensor attached next to one of the pedals. If it’s significantly slower than a set range — 60 RPM in the video below — it shifts down to decrease resistance. If higher, it upshifts.

    An Arduino Nano is used for control, with a high torque servo to pull and release the cable. More specific information is available by registering on Shift4Me’s forum, and a quick demo is shown here.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caMIED0Iqpo?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK

  • Upgrade Your Ride with a 3D Printed Airless Bicycle Tire?

    Upgrade Your Ride with a 3D Printed Airless Bicycle Tire?

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    To showcase their new flexible filament, 3D printer manufacturer BigRep fabricated a 3D printed airless bicycle tire and took it for a spin on the streets of Berlin.

    Don’t Miss: BigRep Launches New Pro Flex Filament for 3D Printing

    Summer’s here! It’s time to dust off your trusty bicycle and take it for a spin in the park. But wait, why is the rear tire looking so flat? Hmm, maybe you should take the roller blades instead…

    Bicycle punctures are a royal pain, no doubt about it. And they’re also a fact of life for two wheeled transportation. But BigRep, a startup in Berlin that specializes in large format 3D printing, reckons they have a viable solution.

    They’ve fabricated a 3D printed airless bicycle tire, and they’ve taken it for a ride on the city streets. The tire looks very similar to the prototypes devised by Michelin and others for the automotive industry. Only it’s been scaled down to fit the rims of a conventional city bike.

    The tire is the work of designer Marco Mattia Cristofori, who you can also see taking it for a test ride in the video below:

    What’s the Point of a 3D Printed Airless Bicycle Tire?

    The beauty of a 3D printed airless bicycle tire is that it can be customized in terms of treads — whether for paths from pavement to mountain trails — and wheel size.

    But can you expect to buy one in the not-too-distant future? According to BigRep, the prototype tire is primarily intended to showcase the potential of their new new Pro Flex filament. The material is based on TPU, and its flexible nature makes it perfect for an application like this.

    Used in conjunction with a BigRep One, an industrial 3D printer with a square meter build volume, Pro Flex can be used for rapid prototyping of items as diverse as skateboard wheels, sporting shoe shells, and ski tips.

    Moreover, this is but one of a handful of BigRep projects concerning things of a circular nature. The company has also created a 3D printed custom wheel rim for a car, and a group of engineers used a BigRep machine to print out a functional bicycle frame.

    So it’s unlikely that BigRep will be going into the bicycle tire business anytime soon. But they’ve certainly blazed a trail for others to follow in their wake.

    3d printed airless bicycle tire
    3d printed airless bicycle tire

    License: The text of „Upgrade Your Ride with a 3D Printed Airless Bicycle Tire?“ by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

    Subscribe to updates from All3DP

    You are subscribed to updates from All3DP

    Website: LINK

  • Danish Engineering Students Use BigRep ONE 3D Printer to Create Functional Bicycle Design

    Danish Engineering Students Use BigRep ONE 3D Printer to Create Functional Bicycle Design

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Mechanical engineering students from the Aalborg University Esbjerg have used a BigRep ONE to 3D print a functional bike frame in one piece. PhD doctorate Peter Riddersholm Lauridsen shares an inside look at this project, and explains how 3D printing enables students to hone their engineering skills. 

    In universities across the world, 3D printing is becoming an integral tool for students in the field of engineering and design. As many projects have shown, this technology has lead to the actualization of some big ideas, and that innovation is only amplified when a gigantic 3D printer like the BigRep ONE rolls onto campus.

    The German manufacturer BigRep is known for its mammoth industrial-grade FDM 3D printers, its flagship being the BigRep ONE. This machine offers a 1005 x 1005 x 1005 mm build volume, dual-extrusion capabilities, auto-leveling, and the list of features goes on… Needless to say, the production scale leads to nearly limitless creative possibilities. We even collaborated with BigRep on a gigantic 3D printed fidget spinner back when they were all the rage.

    Read more: Inside BigRep: Bringing in Big Bucks, Building Smaller Printers

    Mechanical engineering students from the Aalborg University Esbjerg in Denmark are currently using the BigRep ONE for their own unique project. Led by PhD doctorate Peter Riddersholm Lauridsen, the goal is to 3D print a functional bicycle frame in a single piece.


    Mechanical Engineers Hone Skills with 3D Printing Bicycle Frame Project

    We talked to Lauridsen about why his team opted to create a 3D printed bicycle frame for their semester project. He explains that there are many factors an engineer must be aware of, such as the load carrying structure, material properties, dynamic loading on structures, and improving performance with new materials.

    “A bike is a simple mechanical construction and obvious to use in a project. The idea was to design a topology optimized bike frame because 3D-printing makes it possible to make these complex structures. In the university, we have bought a BigRep ONE that makes it possible to print the bike frame in one piece. That was also one of the reasons why I specifically was going for a bike frame in the semester project,” says Lauridsen. 

    Looking for a material that is easy to print with, the bicycle frame is printed in orange PLA. The mechanical engineering team successfully printed the frame on their first try. In the future, they plan to repeat the project with a stricter focus on material performance and topology optimization.


    Pedaling Towards a Functional Future with 3D Printing Technology

    Despite being produced in plain PLA, Lauridsen claims that the bike frame is able to carry at least 90 kg of weight and works under certain conditions. In fact, the PhD doctorate states that this bike can be used to transport yourself around the university. He believes that the mechanical capabilities of a 3D printed bike frame will only improve as time goes on and the technology advances.

    “I think it will be possible to design a usable 3D printed bike frame. The technology in the field evolves quickly and in a few years will this be possible. The print materials are also getting stiffer due to the added glass fibers and carbon fibers. Hopefully is it possible in near future to print with even higher percentage of glass fibers or carbon fiber in the filament,” Lauridsen concludes.

    During the next semester, each student will have their own 3D printer to further explore the technology. For the mechanical engineers at Aalborg University Esbjerg, the BigRep ONE displays a large and open window into what will be possible in the future, as well as what engineering feats can be accomplished today.


    Website: LINK