Bicicleta Inteligente

Journal of Advanced Mechanical Design,
Systems, and

Manufacturing

Vol. 6, No. 2, 2012
236
Development of a Smart Bicycle
Based on a Hydrostatic Automatic Transmission*
Dinh Quang TRUONG**, Kyoung Kwan AHN**,
Le Duy KHOA*** and Do Hoang THINH***
** School of Mechanical Engineering
Daehakro 93, Namgu, Ulsan 680-749, Korea
E-mail: kkahn@ulsan.ac.kr
*** Graduate School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering

Abstract
This paper develops a newly bicycle concept named smart bicycle (SBIC) with
automatic transmission and energy recuperating ability. The SBIC operation is
based on a hydrostatic transmission (HST). Several HST designs have been
proposed. Moreover, a use of energy converting and storing devices is an optional
design for the SBIC to recovery energy during the deceleration or going downhill
process, and to support this energy to the hydraulic system during the acceleration
or going uphill process. The working efficiency of the bicycle is then increased and
could become competitive with the roller-chain technology. Simulations have been
carried out to evaluate the working performances of the proposed SBIC concepts.
Key words: Bicycle, Automatic, Hydrostatic Transmission, Energy, Recovery

1. Introduction
Nowadays, hydraulic systems have been considered as potential choices for modern
industries ranging from heavy-duty manipulators to precision machine tools. In bicycle
design, there are many attempts to replace the classic chain transmission with hydraulic
transmissions for a higher durability and a continuousness in changing speed levels.
In the traditional bicycles, standard chains suffer from a multitude of problems such as
working environment or un-desirable tendency to slip off the sprockets. On the other hand,
a hydraulic bicycle could be entirely enclosed, consequently, preventing un-wanted
contaminants from contacting with the mechanical elements. By using hydraulics, the
power is transmitted into the rear wheel via a working fluid traveling through narrow
tubing. This tubing could be mounted on the bicycle frame greatly reducing the possibility
of a disconnection. However, most of studies for a bicycle based on hydraulic transmission
in the literatures only achieved working efficiencies lower than 80%
(1)
. Meanwhile, it is
known that by using classic chain-drives, bicycle designs can reach efficiencies well above
90%
(2, 3)
. The reason is due to the reliance on conventional hydraulic technology in which
the losses through all components, especially from valves, are remarkable.
In order to overcome the above restriction of the hydraulic bicycles, this paper is to
develop a newly concept for a hydraulic bicycle with automatic transmission and energy
recuperating ability which is named smart bicycle. The SBIC operation is based on a
hydrostatic transmission. Several HST designs for the bicycle have been proposed.
Moreover, a use of energy converting and storing devices is an optional design for the
bicycle. This design is to recovery the energy during the deceleration or going downhill
process and then to support this energy amount to the hydraulic system during the
acceleration or going uphill process. As the result, the working efficiency of the bicycle is
increased. The overall transmission efficiency in this design could theoretically become
competitive with the roller-chain technology.
*Received 6 Nov., 2011 (No. 11-0678)
[DOI: 10.1299/jamdsm.6.236]
Copyright 2012 by JSME

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2. Smart Bicycle Design
2.1. Smart bicycle concepts
Pump-controlled systems are defined as hydraulic systems where speed of the end
effect is directly controlled by the pump
(4, 5)
. For rotary loads, pump-controlled systems are
well known as hydrostatic transmissions (HST) including open-loop and closed-loop
circuits. Advantages of open-loop HST over closed-loop HST are simple and capacity of
heat dissipating. On the other hand, the use of closed-loop HST can reduce size and oil
volume and increase bandwidth of the system
(6)
. Hence, the closed-loop HST is proposed to
be applied to the bicycle for an automatic transmission with high efficiency. In SBIC design
process, the regenerative braking system also should be considered, especially in case of
going downhill. In the traditional bicycle design, the rider applies a braking force during the
time of going downhill in order to keep the moving speed in a proper range with safety.
Most of kinetic energy is then wasted and converted into heat. Therefore, it is necessary to
find out a solution to regenerate this energy which can be used to combine with the rider
power for moving the bicycle in acceleration time or uphill time.
From the above analysis, to design the novel SBIC, two main targets are defined as:
An automatic transmission in the bicycle;
A possibility of recovering energy during decelerations or going downhill by applying
braking actions, and supporting this energy again for accelerations or going uphill.
Here, the bicycle input power is depended on the rider. Therefore, to enhance the first
target, the closed-loop HST control system must be designed with main components as:
A variable displacement bi-directional hydraulic pump: is used to convert from
mechanical power created by the rider to hydraulic power;
A fixed displacement bi-directional hydraulic motor: is used to convert from hydraulic
power to mechanical power which creates the rotation of the rear wheel, consequently,
creating forward movement for the bicycle;
A proportional four ports-two positions control valve: functions as a controllable
hydraulic brake. Advantages of using this brake are:
+ Enclosed-brake: it can be protected itself from bad environment effects, such as dirt.
+ Powerful brake: can handle very high loads without requiring the rider to apply a large
force on the hand-brake.
Two transmission gear boxes: are suggested to be used. Here, a gear box is connected
from the crank shaft to the hydraulic pump in order to convert from a low rider speed to
a high rotating speed of the pump. On the other side, the hydraulic motor produces a
high speed while the rear wheel speed is quite low. Therefore, the other gear box is
needed to connect from the motor output shaft to the rear wheel shaft. Furthermore, by
using the gear boxes, the hydraulic pump and motor can be selected with small sizes
which are suitable to install into the bicycle;
An angular speed sensor and a torque transducer: are used to measure the rider speed
and the HST output torque, respectively. Therefore, the speed sensor is attached to the
crank mechanism while the torque transducer is attached to the output shaft of the motor.
The sensor feedback signals are then used to manage the automatic transmission mode;
A main control unit (MCU): is used to enhance the automatic transmission. In the
automatic control mode, the MCU receives the sensor signals, consequently, adjusting
the pump swash plate angle. As the result, the bicycle speed is automatically controlled
with respect to the apply power from the rider and road profiles.
Others: a small reservoir, hydraulic pipelines, pressure relief valves

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of proposed HST for the SBIC

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Based on the main HST components, the structure of the SBIC transmission system is
suggested as displayed in Fig. 1. Several SBIC designs have been then proposed to
investigate the working performances and to find out the best design solution.
2.1.1. Concept 01 SBIC01 based on a closed-loop HST without regenerating energy
In this concept, the HST is built to enhance only the first design target automatic
transmission. From the derived transmission diagram in Fig. 1, the first SBIC concept is
called SBIC01 and proposed as in Fig. 2. As seen in this figure, there are two decisive
components which directly affect to the performance of the bicycle: the hydraulic pump and
proportional control valve. Here, the pump displacement is determined by the swash angle
which can be varied by the MCU automatic control mode or by the rider manual control
mode. The proportional control valve is employed to adjust the flow rate outing from the
motor during a braking process. The port open areas are adjusted by a control signal of the
solenoid which is given by the MCU or by the rider. Besides using the hydraulic brake, the
traditional drum brake is still remained in the SBIC01 as an added option for the rider when
the bicycle drops into emergency cases such as going downhill with high speed.

1. Pedal-Crank 8. Proportional 4/2 Control Valve Hydraulic Brake
2. Angular Speed Sensor 9. Fixed Disp. Bi-directional Hydraulic Motor
3. Gear Box 01 10. Torque Transducer
4. Variable Disp. Bi-directional Hydraulic Pump 11. Gear Box 02
5. Check Valves 12. Drum Brake
6. Reservoir 13. Rear Wheel
7. Pressure Relief Valves
Figure 2. SBIC Design concept 01 SBIC01

1. Pedal-Crank 9. Fixed Disp. Bi-directional Hydraulic Motor
2. Angular Speed Sensor 10. Torque Transducer
3. Gear Box 01 11. Gear Box 02
4. Variable Disp. Bi-directional Hydraulic Pump 12. Electric Motor / Generator
5. Check Valves 13. Battery
7. Pressure Relief Valves 15. Drum Brake
8. Proportional 4/2 Control Valve Brake 16. Clutches
2.1.2. Concept 02 SBIC02 based on a closed-loop HST with regenerating energy
From the demands for an automatic transmission as well as a regenerative braking
system, the second design idea for the SBIC is named SBIC02 and displayed in Fig. 3. In
this design concept, it can be seen that the HST mechanism is almost similar as in the first
design SBIC01. There is only one different thing in the SBIC02 that is a regenerative part.
The regenerative circuit is installed besides the drum brake. This circuit includes an electric

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239
motor/generator and a compatible electric battery. In addition, there are three clutches are
positioned between: the 1
st
gear box and hydraulic pump; the 2
nd
gear box output shaft of
the hydraulic motor and electric motor/generator; the 2
nd
gear box and rear wheel shaft.
During the braking phase, the regenerative circuit is activated. The kinetic energy of the
bicycle is partially recovered by the electric motor/generator (at this time, it functions as a
generator) and stored in the battery. On the contrary, in the normal operation, the energy in
the battery is combined with the rider power to supply the pump control mechanism about
torque and speed for system acceleration or going uphill (at this time, the electric
motor/generator functions as a motor). Furthermore, the battery energy is also used to
supply for the main control unit and other electric devices in the bicycle.

1. Pedal-Crank 9. Fixed Disp. Bi-directional Hydraulic Motor
2. Angular Speed Sensor 10. Torque Transducer
3. Gear Box 01 11. Gear Box 02
4. Variable Disp. Bi-directional Hydraulic Pump 12. Electric Generator
5. Check Valves 13. Battery
7. Pressure Relief Valves 15. Drum Brake
8. Proportional 4/2 Control Valve Hydraulic Brake 16. Electric Motor
17. Clutches
2.1.3. Concept 03 SBIC03 based on a closed-loop HST with regenerating energy
As the analysis in 2.1.2, the regenerative circuit is necessary in bicycle design for
energy saving purpose. Another design solution for the SBIC enhancing this target is
derived as SBIC03 and depicted in Fig. 4. In this SBIC03, the electric generator and the
electric motor are separated instead of combining together as in the SBIC02. Therefore, the
working principle of the SBIC03 is the same as that of the SBIC02. Advantages and
disadvantages of the two regenerative circuits in these designs can be shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Basic comparison between the regenerative circuits in SBIC02 and SBIC03
Characteristics Integrated Electric Motor-Generator Separated Electric Motor-Generator
Size Compacted component Two components
Install More difficult Easier for distributive installation
Controllability More difficult Easier to manage and control
Table 2. SBIC design constraints
Constraints Values Units
Maximum power of a rider Pr_max 0.5 (0.65) kW (hp)
Maximum weight of the rider Mr_max 75 kg
Weight of bike and equipped devices Mbike 25 kg
Maximum rotational speed of pedal-crank ncrank 90 rpm
Maximum speed of the bicycle vbike 32 km/h
Gear ratios are within a range R1, R2 1:10 to 1:20
Diameter of the wheel Dw 0.6858 m
Overall efficiency of hydraulic motor and pump
p m
0.92

Efficiency of gear transmission
G
0.96

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2.2. Basic hydrostatic transmission design for the proposed SBIC (SBIC01)
2.2.1. HST design specifications
Firstly, all constraints to design the HST for the bicycle can be listed up in Table 2. To
calculate the required torque, road conditions need to be defined as:
Road surface: Asphalt Concrete;
Rolling resistance: R
r
= 17/1000, for the type of bicycle tires on concrete;
Maximum grade (slope) of road: R
g
= 12 %.
Next, the bicycle must be designed to satisfy following criteria:
The bicycle must be able to reach an acceleration of a = 1.1 m/s
2
(= 3.21 rad/s
2
);
To select the HST drive with the hydraulic pump and motor specifications to ensure:
+ Maximum of working pump flow, and maximum of working torque to spin the rear;
+ Possibility to be installed on the bicycle frame while the working performance and the
safety conditions (such as stress, deformation, etc) are guaranteed.
2.2.2. Force and torque analysis for the bicycle design
It is well-known that bicycles handle best when 55 % of the total bicycle and rider
weight is on the rear wheel while 45 % is on the front wheel
(7)
. From 2.2.1, the total
weight of the bicycle and rider is
_ max
100
total r bike
M M M = + = kg (1)
The reaction force at the rear wheel is
0.55 100 9.81 0.55 550
rw total
F M g = = N (2)
a) Maximum torque required to spin the rear wheel
550 0.5 0.343 94.325
s rw w
T F r = = = Nm (3)
where: is a coefficient of friction between the wheel tire and the road surface. It is
assumed 0.5 for dry asphalt and rubber;
w
r is the rear wheel radius.
b) Desired torque to move the bicycle
Assumed that the bicycle is able to accelerate with a = 1.1 m/s
2
. Therefore, the force
needed to generate that accelerator can be computed as
100 1.1 100
a total
F M a = = = N (4)
From Eqs. (1), (4), and the road conditions, the total force at the rear wheel to move the
bicycle with the maximum grade of 12% is
( ) ( )
_
100 9.81 0.017 0.12 110 247
rw total total r g a
F M g R R F = + + = + + N (5)
The total torque at the rear wheel is then obtained as
_
247 0.343 84.721
w rw total w
T F r = = = N (6)
Equations (3) and (6) show
s w
T T > means the bicycle is able to develop sufficient
traction before the wheel slip to climb the maximum grade with acceleration of 1.1 m/s
2
.
2.2.3. Calculation for the HST design
In order to design and select the suitable hydraulic pump and motor for the HST, the
maximum operating pressure is considered with:
max
100 p p = bar (7)
By the trial method, ratios for the gear boxes 01 and 02 (see Figs. 1 and 2) are selected
( )
( )
1
2
1: 20 frompedal-crank tohydraulic pump
15:1 fromhydraulicmotor torear wheel
R
R
=
(8)
a) Hydraulic motor calculation
From Eq. (3), the required maximum torque at the hydraulic motor shaft is obtained
,max
2
94.325
6.288
15
s
m
T
T
R
= = Nm (9)
Maximum displacement of the motor is then derived as
6
,max
,max
5
2
2 3.14 6.288 10
3.951
100 10
m
m
T
D
p

= =

cc/rev (10)

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Because the maximum velocity of the bicycle is 32 km/h (Table 2), the angular speed of
the wheel to enhance this bicycle velocity is computed
30 32 30
247.47
3.6 0.343 3.6 3.14
bike
w
w
v
n
r

= =

rpm (11)
From Eqs. (8) and (11), the maximum angular speed of the hydraulic motor is given
,max 2
247.47 15 3713
m w
n n R = = rpm (12)
Maximum flow rate via the hydraulic motor is then obtained as
,max ,max
,max
3.951 3713
14.66
1000 1000
m m
m
D n
Q

= = lpm (13)
b) Hydraulic pump calculation
From Eq. (13), the required flow rate which is supplied by the pump is
,max
,max
14.66
15.934
0.92
m
p
m
Q
Q
= = lpm (14)
The theoretical flow rated supplied from the pump is calculated
,max
,max
15.934
17.32
0.92
p
tp
p
Q
Q
= = lpm (15)
From Table 2 and Eq. (8), the maximum speed of the pedal-crank and the gear ratio of
the 1
st
gear box are 90 rpm and 1:20, respectively.
The maximum speed of the hydraulic pump is obtained
,max
1
90 20 1800
crank
p
n
n
R
= = = rpm (16)
Table 3. Technical specifications of the selected components for SBIC
Component Specifications Values and Units
Bi-directional pump model PM10-A-11-S1-P12-00-10-R-20-05-A-00-00
Displacement (Variable type) 11.83 cc/rev
Theoretical flow (3600 rpm) 42.58 lpm
Theoretical absorbed power 23.07 kW
Theoretical absorbed torque 18.84 Nm
Moment of inertia 0.0014 kgm
2

Swash plate angle control method Electro-proportional servo control 12 VDC
Weight of pump integrated servo control block 16.3 kg
Covering size 140 x 190 x 190 mm
Bi-directional motor model KM 1/5.5 G30A XXA 4NM2/0
Displacement (Fixed type) 5.45 cc/rev
Theoretical flow at speed 4000 rpm 22 lpm
Theoretical absorbed power 11 kW
Theoretical absorbed torque 105.1 Nm
Moment of inertia 35.7 x 10
-6
kgm
2

Maximum operating speed 4000 rpm
Weight of motor 2.6 kg
Proportional valve model spool valve type 4WRBA6XA30-2X/G24N9Z4/M-892
Nominal flow rate 28 lpm
Maximum working pressure 325 bar
Control signal Voltage range [0~10] VDC
Response time for 100% signal change Less than 70 ms
Weight 2.0 kg

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Therefore, the maximum displacement of the pump is required as
,max
,max
,max
1000
17.32 1000
9.622
1800
tp
p
p
Q
D
n

= = = cc/rev (17)
Finally, the hydraulic pump, hydraulic motor, and proportional control valve are
selected as given in Table 3.

Figure 5. A sketch drawing of the proposed SBIC

Figure 6. 3D views of the proposed SBIC

3. Verification of the designed SBIC
3.1. Installation Possibility of the designed HST on the bicycle frame
Based on the design concept 01 for a HST bicycle, the sketch drawing of the SBIC is
then carried out as displayed in Fig. 5. From Fig. 5, the considered problem is that how to
connect from the hydraulic pump control system to the pedal-crank and from the hydraulic
motor to the rear wheel shaft. The solution is using gear boxes in which the gears are
conical shapes. Therefore, based on all dimensions of the HST devices, the 3D graphs of the
proposed SBIC are built in Pro/Engineer design software and are shown in Fig. 6.
From Figs. 5 and 6, it can be seen that installation of the HST circuit on the bicycle
frame is possible. In the next section, stress and deformation analysis are performed in order
to verify the applicability of the SBIC for the life.
3.2. Stress and deformation analysis for the designed SBIC
3.2.1. Overview
Frame is one of the most important parts of a bicycle because it decides the stiffness as
well as balance condition of the product. Therefore, designing a suitable frame always
requires a lot of time and effort of engineers. A promising solution is to turn to a proven
tool of structural engineering: finite element analysis (FEA) method
(8)
. The method plays a
major role in the design of almost all new airplanes, ships, bridges, and tall buildings built
today. The bike industry also realizes the potential value of FEA for improving product
designs and a faster development cycle
(9)
.

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3.2.2. Model analysis method
The FEA process requires three types of input data: geometry, material properties, and
load distribution. For the bicycle frame, geometry means the overall frame dimensions
(such as tube lengths, intersection points, and angles) as well as the tubing specifications
(diameters, wall thickness, tapers, ovals, etc)
(10)
. In the proposed SBIC structure, the
diamond frame as in classic bicycle designs is recommended on which the proposed HST
system is installed. Figure 7 displays the frame and geometrical dimension of SBIC.

(a) Proposed frame for the designed SBIC (b) Geometrical dimension of SBIC frame
Figure 7. SBIC frame structure
In order to balance between robust structure and economy effectiveness, alloy steel is
chosen to construct the bicycle frame. Properties of this steel can be consulted in Table 4.
Table 4. Material properties of alloy steel
Specifications Value & Units
Elastic modulus 2.1 x 10
11
N/m
2

Poisson ratio 0.28
Mass density 7700 kg/m
3

Yield strength 2.206x10
8
N/m
2

Ultimate tensile stress 6x10
8
N/m
2

a) SBIC loading analysis
The 75 kg rider is applied as the maximum load. It can be divided into 2 sub-weights,
called rider weight 1 and rider weight 2, which impact to the bicycle frame at two positions:
the rider seat and the pedal-crank shaft, respectively. For the stress and deformation
analysis, two cases are then carried out as riding mode and non-riding mode. In riding
mode, it is considered the total rider weight is concentrated the pedal-crank shaft as
depicted in Fig. 8a. Conversely, in non-riding mode, the rider load is distributed as 60 kg on
the seat and 15 kg on the pedal-crank shaft as in Fig. 8b. Because the HST is mostly
constructed by the hydraulic pump control system and the hydraulic motor, only these two
components are considered for loading force distribution. The weight of other components
in the HST are assumed 5 kg and distributed uniformly along the bicycle frame.

(a) Rider load in riding mode (b) Rider load in non-riding mode
Figure 8. Loading force distribution on the SBIC frame

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b) Stress and deformation analysis results
Parameters of FEA process are chosen as follows: mesh size 10mm, maximum mesh
angle 45
o
, force all feature includes 48375 nodes, refine based on element quality 23754
elements. Analyzing processes are carried out on a personal computer (Pentium Dual Core
2.8 Ghz, Random access memory 3 GB) with the support of Inventor 2010 design-modeling
software. The frame deformation and internal stress analyses are performed and the results
are then in turn shown in Figs. 9 and 10. From these figures, it can be seen that the
maximum deformation and the maximum stress on the bicycle frame were 0.136 mm and
13.01x10
6
N/m
2
, respectively. These values were small enough in comparison with the
characteristics (elastic modulus and yield strength) of the frame materials shown in Table 4.
As a result, it is realized that the proposed frame structure can make sure for users safety.

(a) Deformation analysis of the SBIC frame (b) Stress analysis of the SBIC frame
Figure 9. Analysis results in riding mode

(a) Deformation analysis of the SBIC frame (b) Stress analysis of the SBIC frame
Figure 10. Analysis results in non- riding mode

4. SBIC model designs and simulations
Here, three SBIC models based on the three design concepts have been built:
To investigate the operation of the HST circuit;
To build a control system for the main control unit to ensure the automatic control mode
of the SBIC with the desired criteria;
To investigate the energy regenerating ability of the SBIC with the concepts 2 and 3.
The SBIC models are built in the co-simulation environment which is a combination of
AMESim software and MATLAB/Simulink sofware. The HST circuit is built in AMESim
while the control system is built in the Simulink and then embedded into the AMESim.
4.1. SBIC Model 01 SBICM01
4.1.1. AMESim model
From Fig. 3 and the description, the model for the SBIC01 design named SBICM01 is
built as shown in Fig. 11.

Figure 11. SBICM01 model built in AMESim integrated Simulink controller

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Here, the bicycle performance is investigated when the pedaling speed is constant at 75
rpm
(2)
. For evaluating the SBIC efficiency, the total input energy (Input Power block) and
total output energy (Output Power block) of the system during a testing period of time
need to be checked. The energies can be computed by using Eqs. (18) and (19).
( )
0
, kJ
30000
end
t
HSBICInput r r
E T n dt

(18)
where: T
r
and n
r
are the torque and speed of the pedaling supplied by the rider power.
( )
0
, kJ
30000
end
t
HSBICOutput w w
E T n dt

(19)
where: T
w
and n
w
are the final torque and speed output from the rear wheel.
Therefore, the bicycle efficiency is then obtained as
( ) 100, %
HSBICOutput
HSBIC
HSBICInput
E
Eff
E
=
(20)
The setting parameters for the SBIC model 01 are taken from 2.
4.1.2. Simulink controller
In the automatic control mode, as an initial step to evaluate the effectiveness of using
the proposed SBIC, the controller is firstly built with only one input variable instead of
using two input variables as the description of this control mode in 2.1.1. Here, the input
variable is torque signal at the rear wheel while there are two control output variables: the
control signal (u
p
) to adjust the pump swash plate angle, and the braking signal (u
br
) to
adjust the control valve open area. This controller can be called Automatic torque control.
a) Pump displacement control
The purpose of this control task is to adjust the transmission ratio between the pedaling
speed and the rear wheel speed with respect to the loading torque measured on the rear
wheel shaft by tuning the swash plate angle. In other words, the HST functions as a
transmission system with infinite ratio or a multi-speed transmission system. In the
literature, there are many researches focusing on how to create a cyclist comfortable
(11, 12, 13, 14)
.
The function of a multi-speed transmission system of bicycles can be considered to provide
cyclist choices between high cycling cadence with low cycling torque and low cycling
cadence with high cycling torque under ones fixed output power
(12, 13, 14)
.
As above analysis, the HST control system should shift continuously the system
transmission ratio to ensure a fixed output power in order to make a cyclist comfortable.
From the SBIC01 and Figs. 2 and 11, the output power of the system can be computed as
( ) , kW
30000
w w
HSBICOutput
T n
P

= (21)
From Eqs. (12), (13), (14)~(17), the relation between the rotational speeds of the rear
wheel (n
w
) and the pedaling (n
r
) can be derived as
( )
1 2
, rpm
m p p
w r
m
D
n n
R R D

= (22)
here:
1 2
, R R , and
m
D are constants; ,
r p
n , and
m
are assumed to be constants.
From Eqs. (21) and (22), it is clear that for an increase in rear wheel torque, the wheel
speed needs to be reduced in the same ratio to ensure a fixed output power corresponding to
a constant pedaling speed, subsequently the pump displacement needs to be reduced in the
same ratio by reducing the swash plate angle, and vice versa.
In the HST design for bicycle, the pump always rotates in one direction which causes
the bike moving forward. It can be assumed that with a range [0, 1] of the pump control
signal, the swash angle is tuned within the corresponding range [0, 90
o
] (0 means zero
displacement while 90 means maximum displacement). The pump displacement is then

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directly controlled by a control signal, u
p
, (within the range [0, 1]) defined as
,max
,max
0 0
0
w
w p
w w
w
IF T
T u
IF T T
T

=

<
(23)
( )
,max
,max ,max
0
1 0
p w
p
p p w w
D IF T
D
u D IF T T

=
<
(24)
where:
,max
90Nm
w
T = is determined from the normal maximum torque of the rear wheel.
b) Braking control
The purpose of this control task is to keep the rider and bicycle in safety in all cycling
conditions. In traditional bicycle designs, the rider applies a braking force by using one or
both of the mechanical brakes including: front brake and rear break drum brake. However,
the use of front brake can cause dangerous for the rider as well as the bicycle, especially in
case of going downhill. Therefore, in the proposed SBIC01, the front brake is replaced by
the hydraulic brake with the two control modes. Besides the manual braking mode, the
automatically braking mode helps the rider to fast react to the emergency cases, for
example, so fast going downhill. As the result, the rider and bike become safer.
The braking action is decided by the braking command, u
br
, outputted from the
controller which is decided based on the differential of the wheel torque.
( )
( )
( )
0 0
; 0 , 0 1
0 & 0
w
br br
w w
br w
IF T
u u
dT dT
k IF T
dt dt

= <
| | | |
<
| |
\ . \ .
(25)
where: , and
br
k are a suitable constants to adjust the valve control signal range.
( ) 1
br
ValveOpenArea u MaxOpenArea = (26)
4.1.3. Simulation results
The simulated load profile is generated during 120 seconds as shown in Fig. 12(a). The
control target is to select continuously the suitable transmission ratio to ensure the output
power is a constant corresponding to the constant speed of the pedaling.

(a) Simulated loading torque (b) Flow rate at hydraulic pump port

(c) Pressure at hydraulic pump port (d) Output energy at the rear wheel shaft
Figure 12. Simulation results with the SBICM01

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Vol. 6, No. 2, 2012
247
The simulation result shown in Fig. 12(d) depicts the output energy curve with respect
to cycling time while the pump control performance is expressed by Figs. 12(b) and (c).
From this figure, it can be seen that the output power reaches to a linear trajectory. That
means the output power is mostly kept as a constant. On the other words, the SBICM01
control system has enough ability to create a cyclist comfortable for the rider.
In addition, the system working efficiency is also a very important factor to evaluate the
bicycle design. From the simulation results, the efficiency of the SBICM01 is obtained as
01
01
01
4.44943
100 100 97.84%
4.54754
HSBICM Output
HSBICM
HSBICM Input
E
Eff
E
= =
(27)
The result in Eq. (27) proves the effectiveness of using the proposed SBICM01 to
achieve the high working efficiency.
4.2.1. AMESim model
A model named SBICM02 is built for the designed bicycle concept 02 (SBIC02). In this
model, the HST circuit is integrated with the energy regenerative circuit (see Fig. 3). For
evaluating the energy regenerative capacity of the SBICM02, the block Regenerated
Power has been built in the AMESim model. This measured energy is based on Eq. (28)
( )
02
0
, kJ
30000
end
t
HSBICM Gen gen gen
E T n dt

(28)
where: T
gen
and n
gen
are the torque and speed of the electric generator.
The setting parameters for the SBICM02 are taken from 2.
As described, the proposed SBIC02 bicycle has the main advantages which are two
control modes, and the ability in regenerating energy during braking phase when the bicycle
goes downhill or decelerates.
a) Automatic control mode
The controller is designed with the two functions, pump displacement control and
braking control, as the same as the control system in the SBICM01 (4.2.1).
b) Energy regenerative control
In this SBICM02model, only the energy regenerative capacity during the braking
actions of the drum brake is considered while the way to use this energy such as for
acceleration, going uphill is not concerned. The clutches are then used to perform the
ON/OFF logic to recovery the energy when the rider applies braking forces to the drum
brake. During braking actions on the drum brake, the clutches 1 and 2 are disconnected
(control signal = 1) while the clutch 3 is connected (control signal = 0) to convert most of
kinetic energy into rotational torque and speed of the electric generator. On the contrary,
during other operations, the clutches 1 and 2 are connected while the clutch 3 is
disconnected to create the automatic transmission for the bicycle.
The simulations have been carried out to evaluate the performance of the designed
SBICM02. The simulated load profile is also generated during 120 seconds as shown in Fig.
13(a). As a result, the system working performance is then expressed by Figs. 13(b)~(d).
Based on the road profile, the rider applies braking forces to the drum brake. The clutches
01 and 02 are then directly controlled by the braking control signal while the clutch 03 is
controlled by the inversed control signal as
03 03
1 ; 0 1 1 0
c br br c
u u u or u or = = = (29)
Consequently, the working performance of the hydraulic pump is then displayed in
Figs. 13(b) and (c). The results show that the pump displacement is well controlled with
respected to the variation of the load profile.
The system working efficiency of the SBICM02 is obtained as

Systems, and
Manufacturing
Vol. 6, No. 2, 2012
248


(c) Pressure at hydraulic pump port (d) Energy comparison
02
02
02
37.1108
100 100 96.32%
38.5271
HSBICM Output
HSBICM
HSBICM Input
E
Eff
E
= =
(30)
achieve the high working efficiency. Furthermore, by using the electric generator to
regenerate the energy during the braking states, the energy has been recovered and can be
stored by the battery. The amount of generated energy during the test process is 8.23 kJ
which is about 21.36 % compared to the input energy (Fig. 13(d)). It strongly points out that
the SBIC model 02 brings not only a high performance but also a good economics.
A model named SBICM03 is built for the designed bicycle concept 03 (SBIC03),
consequently, the AMESim model is as same as that of the SBICM02 (see 4.2). The
difference between the SBICM03 and SBICM02 is the automatic control system. In this
model, the bicycle is design in order to achieve three following targets:
Automatic/Manual transmission control mode with multi-speed selection;
Adaptive Human Power (AHP) controller is integrated into the automatic control mode;
Energy regenerative ability.
4.3.1. AMESim model
It can be seen that the SBICM03 only differs from the SBICM02 about the Automatic
Control Mode. Here, there are control two inputs, the pedaling speed and the torque at rear
wheel shaft, and two control outputs which are the control signals for the hydraulic pump
and proportional control valve.
As the description for the SBIC03 concept, this bicycle has two main advantages:
There are two control modes: automatic control mode and manual control mode.
Moreover, the adaptive human power control technique is also integrated in the
automatic control mode to create for the controller a human power feeling which helps
to classify the power of the rider such as: strong, medium, weak, etc. With this ability,
the controller can adjust the pump displacement not only corresponding to the output

Systems, and
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Vol. 6, No. 2, 2012
249
torque but also corresponding to the human power input. Consequently, this bicycle
design can bring to the user a very cyclist comfortable.
The ability in regenerating energy during braking phase when the bicycle goes downhill
or decelerates.
a) Automatic control mode
The controller is designed with the two functions: pump displacement control and
braking control. The braking control task is built as the same as the control system in the
SBIC model 01 and model 02 (see 4.2.1). Meanwhile, the detail design of the pump
displacement control task is given as the following description.
The purpose of this control task is to adjust the transmission ratio between the pedaling
speed and the rear wheel speed with respect to the two factors (the pedaling speed and the
loading torque measured on the rear wheel shaft) by tuning the swash plate angle. In other
words, the HST functions as a transmission system with infinite ratio or a multi-speed
transmission system. The description in 3.1.2a shows clearly why changing the pump
swash plate angle with respect to the loading torque variation can bring to the rider a cyclist
comfortable. However, there is also one remained factor which can improve the cyclist
quality. It is the power of the rider. The human power feeling concept is based on physical
actions of the rider corresponding to a road which causes the loading torque increasing.
With the riders are people who possess small power (such as children, elders), the pedaling
speed will be reduced when going to a road profile requesting high supply torque. On the
other hand, with the riders are people who possess large power (such as adults), the
pedaling speed might not be reduced when going to the same road.
From Eqs. (21), (22), and the above human power feeling concept, the controller is
designed to ensure a fixed output power corresponding as:
Case 01: for an increase in rear wheel torque: the wheel speed needs to be reduced,
consequently, the pump displacement needs to be reduced.
Case 02: for a decrease in rear wheel torque: the wheel speed needs to be increased,
consequently, the pump displacement needs to be increased.
The amount of swash angle reduction or increment is depended on the rider power:
+ For case 01: the larger human power is, the smaller reduction of the swash angle is
needed; and vice versa;
+ For case 02: the larger human power is, the larger increment of swash angle is needed;
and vice versa.
Based on the above principle, the pump displacement is directly controlled by a control
signal, u
p
, (within the range [0, 1]) defined by rules shown in Eqs. (31) and (32)
,max
,max
0 0
0
w
w p
w w
w
IF T
T u
IF T T
T

=

<
(31)
( )
,max
,max ,max
0
1 0
p w
p
hp p p w w
D IF T
D
k u D IF T T

=
<
(32)
where:
,max
90Nm
w
T = is determined from the normal maximum torque of the rear wheel,
k
hp
is a so-called sensitive gain which is defined based on the rider power.
First of all, a variable called sensing power factor is defined as
| | | |
,max
,max
, 0,1 , 1,1
r
r
r
hp hp
r
n
d
n
n
dt n

| |
|
|
\ .
= (33)
The control logic for this gain is then derived as following 4 rules:
Rule 01: ( ) ( )
0 & 0 1
w hp
IF T THEN | | 0.3 0.3 , 0, 0.3
hp hp hp
k k = (34)

Systems, and
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Vol. 6, No. 2, 2012
250
Rule 02: ( ) ( )
0 & 0.2 0
w hp
IF T THEN < ( | 0.3 3 , 0.3, 0.9
hp hp hp
k k = (35)
Rule 03: ( ) ( )
0 & 1 0.2
w hp
IF T THEN < ( | 0.7 , 0.9,1.7
hp hp hp
k k = (36)
Rule 04: ( ) 0 : 0
w hp
IF T THEN k < = (37)
From Eqs. (31)~(37), the automatic control mode can enhance a good performance.
b) Energy regenerative control
The SBICM03, has the same energy regenerative control mode as that of the SBICM02.
Therefore, the energy regenerative control is followed the design in the SBICM02.


(c) Pressure at hydraulic pump port (d) Energy comparison
The simulations have been carried out to evaluate the working performance of the
designed SBIC model 03. The testing conditions are the same as those when testing the
SBICM02. It is seen that the pedaling speed is constant with 75 rpm. That means the rider is
strong and has enough ability to go uphill without reducing the cycling speed. As a result,
the system working performance is then expressed by Figs. 14(b)~(d).
Based on the road profile, the rider applies braking forces to the drum brake. The
clutches 01 and 02 are directly controlled by the braking control signal while the clutch 03
is controlled by the inversed control signal as shown in Eq. (32). Consequently, the working
performance of the hydraulic pump is then displayed in Figs. 14(c) and (d). The results
show that the pump displacement is well controlled with respected to the variation of the
load profile (Fig. 14(a)) and the braking control signal.
The system working efficiency of the SBICM03 is obtained as
02
02
02
52.266
100 100 96.64 %
54.081
HSBICM Output
HSBICM
HSBICM Input
E
Eff
E
= =
(38)
achieve the high working efficiency. Furthermore, by using the electric generator to
regenerate the energy during the braking states, the energy has been recovered and can be
stored by the battery. The amount of generated energy during the test process is 15.744 kJ
which is about 29.11 % compared to the input energy. It strongly points out that the SBIC

Systems, and
Manufacturing
Vol. 6, No. 2, 2012
251
model 03 obtains the highest working efficiency (Fig. 14(d)).

5. Conclusions
This paper develop the newly concept for a hydraulic bicycle with automatic
transmission and energy recuperating ability which is named smart bicycle (SBIC). The
SBIC operation is based on a hydrostatic transmission (HST). Three HST designs for the
bicycle have been proposed. The key components in these HST are a hydraulic pump, a
hydraulic motor, a small reservoir, hoses, valves and a main control unit to store and
manage power of the pedal-crank. Moreover, a use of energy converting and storing
devices, such as an electric generator and a battery, respectively, is an optional design for
the bicycle. This design is to recovery the energy during the deceleration or going downhill
process and then to support this energy amount to the hydraulic system during the
acceleration or going uphill process. As the result, the bicycle efficiency is increased.
The designed SBIC is then validated to ensure the design possibility as well as its stress
and deformation. In addition, the three models with respect to the three SBIC designs have
been built in the co-simulation of AMESim and MATLAB/Simulink. The simulations have
been then carried out to carefully investigate the working performances of the proposed
bicycle designs. The simulation results prove clearly that the third design SBIC03 could
bring the best solution for bicycle design technology. The overall transmission efficiency in
this design could theoretically become competitive with the roller-chain technology.
References
(1) Socks, M.T., 2006. Design of a High-Efficiency Hydrostatic Bicycle Transmission. Thesis
(S.B.).
(2) Wilson, D.G., Kataoka, T., Schmidt, T., Anderson, J., Thiel, P., 2001. Human Power.
Technical Journal of the IHPVA 52.
(3) Schmidt, T., Wilson, D.G., 2003-2004. Human Power. Technical Journal of the
IHPVA 55.
(4) Luomaranta, M., 1999. A stable electro-hydraulic load sensing system based on a
microcontroller. Proc. of the Sixth Scandinavian Int. Conf. on Fluid Power, Finland,
419-432.
(5) Rahmfeld, R., 2000. Development and Control of Energy Saving Hydraulic Servo
Drives. Proc. of the 1st FPNI-PhD Sym., Hamburg, Germany, 167-180.
(6) Blackburn, J.F., 1960. Fluid power control. MIT Press.
(7) http://www.calfeedesign.com/tech-papers/geometry-of-bike-handling/
(8) Pieter, V., Jeroen, B., 2006. Finite Element Anisotropic Beam propagation method.
Lecture at Gent University.
(9) Jacob, H., 2009. FEA Design of a track bicycle frame. Lecture at Cornell University.
(10) Peterson, L.A., Londry, K.J., 1986. Finite Element structural Analysis: A new tool for
bicycle frame design. Bike Tech 5 (2).
(11) Neptune, R.R., Kautz, S.A., Hull, M.L., 1997. The effect of pedaling rate on
coordination in cycling. J. of Biomechanics 30, 10511058.
(12) Kyle, C.R., 1988. The mechanics and aerodynamics of cycling. In: Burke, E.R.,
Newsom, M.M. (Eds.), Medical and Scientific Aspects of Cycling. Human Kinetics,
IL, 235251.
(13) Whitt, F.R., Wilson, D.G., 1982. Bicycle Science. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
(14) Chien, H.C., Tseng, C.H., 2004. An automatic transmission for bicycles: a simulation.
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