Statement of Work

This report provides a brief description of the design process of an electric bike (E-bike) using
different elements of a typical system design process . The bike to be designed is a pedal-assist
type bike which can provide both assistive and resistive service according to the users desire.
These two services are designated mode 1 and mode 2 respectively while mode 0 refers to the
case in which the motor is turned off. At mode 0, the user can use the E-bike like a conventional
bicycle. Modes 1 and 2 each have three levels of assistance and resistance respectively. These
levels correspond to different speeds from low to high. The passenger will also be able to control
the speed of the bike during different modes of operation with the help of the gear mechanism.
Also, the braking mechanism provides an easy way to resist the motion of the bike for safety and
control.
The bike will use an electric actuation system consisting of a motor and a battery. The motor will
be less than 500 Watts in capacity as required by the law in Ontario. Similarly, based on the
requirements of a typical electric bike and market availability, Li-ion battery is chosen for
powering the motor like in the electric bikes available in the market currently.
In the Introduction section, a brief introduction of the electric bike is provided followed by the
design methodology. In section 2, the key elements of the design problem are briefly explained
based on the diagrams provided in the Appendix section. This section also includes a
requirements section which describes the key requirements of the entire bike system. Section 3
deals with the pre-concept actuation strategy of the electric bike. The actuation system described
here is the electric actuation system consisting of a battery and an electric motor. The basic idea
is that the user inputs the desired mode of operation in the provided digital display console based
on which the controller operates the motor to provide the desired output.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Electric bikes...............................................................................................................................3
1.2 Design Methodology....................................................................................................................3

2. Definition of Design Problem..............................................................................................................4

2.1 Operational Concepts...............................................................................................................4
2.2 External Systems Diagram.......................................................................................................5
2.3 Functional Objectives Hierarchy..............................................................................................5
2.4 Top Level Function Diagram...................................................................................................5
2.5 Physical Architecture...............................................................................................................5
2.6 System Requirements.5

3. Pre-concept Actuation Strategy............................................................................................................6

References...................................................................................................................................................7

Appendix : Diagrams...................................................................................................................................8

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1. Introduction

1.1 Electric bikes

Electric bikes(E-bikes) are getting increasingly popular now-a-days because they are
environmentally friendly and cost-effective in the long run [6]. They can be used both like a
normal bicycle for short distance commutes and for exercise. They have more range
compared to a normal bicycle provided by the electric assistance mechanism and they can
provide a very reasonable speed of up to 32 km/h [1]. Hence, these E-bikes can be used to
travel longer distances providing a very good alternative to conventional bicycles. The range
depends on the storage capacity and quality of battery and is limited by the rating of the
electric motor which cannot exceed 500 W [1] for Ontario. Other places have similar
restrictions on the power of the motor to differentiate them from motor bikes.
There are two types of electric bikes currently in use [2]. They are:
1. Pedal-assist
2. Throttle
Pedal-assist bikes assist the rider when the rider is pedaling while the throttle-type electric
bike can provide assistance whether the rider is pedaling or not. This report is concerned with
the design of pedal-assist type electric bike.

1.2 Design Methodology

The first step involved in the design of an electric bike, like any other engineering system, is
the definition of the system level design problem. This can be done by defining the essential
elements of the design problem which are as follows: [3]
1. Operational Concept
2. External Systems Diagram
3. Functional Objectives Hierarchy
4. Top Level Function Diagram
5. Physical Architecture
This report uses these key elements for the design problem definition and provides a pre-
concept actuation strategy for the operation of the bike.

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 2. Definition of Design Problem

2.1 Operational Concepts

2.1.1 Bike Operational Modes

There will be three operational modes in the electric bike. These modes are based on the
requirements of the passengers and are described below:

A. No Assist Mode
The passenger selects mode 0 which indicates that no assist is required.
Passenger pedals turning the wheels to move forward without any assistance. This
is the basic operation mode in which the actuation system is turned off.

B. Power Assist Mode

The passenger selects mode 1 which indicates that he needs assistance.
Assistance is provided based on the level of assistance request. The passenger can
select the level of assistance in the digital controller which shows the controls for
Power Resist Mode when this mode is selected. The levels of assistance are
indicated as L1,L2 and L3 which refer to low , medium and high speed
assistances. L1 refers to a motor speed of 10 km/h , L2 to 20 km/h and L3 refers
to a motor speed of 30 km/h.

C. Power Resist Mode

The passenger selects mode 2 which indicates he wants resistance to his
pedaling action. This mode is intended for resistance training exercise. Based on
the level of resistance R1, R2 or R3 , the motor turns in opposite direction turning
the wheel backwards providing low, medium and high resistances which
correspond to speeds 5, 15 and 20 km/h respectively. The passenger can select the
level of resistance in the digital controller which shows the controls for Power
resist mode when this mode is selected.

Passenger can also change the speed of the bike using the bike gear mechanism
like in a conventional bicycle.

2.1.2 Battery Charge operation

During this operation, the passenger charges the E-bike by simply plugging the
charging device to AC mains providing an easy means to store charge in battery.

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2.2 External Systems Diagram
The external systems diagram is shown in the Appendix diagram 1 and is based on the
operational concept of the bike described above. Passenger provides the input, based on
which different modes of operations are provided. These are modes 0, 1 and 2 which
correspond to normal operation, motor assistance and motor resistance as shown in the
diagram. Passenger can also change the speed of the bike in these three modes by using the
gear change mechanism.

2.3 Functional Objectives Hierarchy

The operational objectives of the system are broken down into two parts: battery charge
performance and operational performance objectives which have been given weights of 0.3
and 0.7 respectively to define their relative importance. Battery charge performance, which is
defined by the speed and reliability of the charge action is very important for an electric bike.
The operational performance of the bike is characterized by passenger comfort and system
response speed. Since safety is of prime concern, good system response speed is a crucial
objective of this design process. Passenger comfort is also important which depends on
several factors include the seat quality, ease of pedaling and the ability to absorb vibrations as
shown in Appendix diagram 2.

2.4 Top Level Function Diagram

This diagram is based on the external systems diagram and is shown in Appendix diagram 3.
On the left-hand side are the inputs which the system transforms into the outputs shown on
the right hand side.

2.5 Physical Architecture

The physical architecture of the electric bike is shown in Appendix diagram 4. It shows three
main components of the electric bike which are control, structural and actuation system
components. Each of these components are broken down into sub-components as shown in
the diagram. This diagram shows all the major components and sub-components of the entire
electric bike system.

2.6 System Requirements

The key requirements of the electric bike system are shown in Appendix diagram 5. This
diagram shows the key input/output and functional requirements along with the system-wide
and technology requirements for this design.

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3. Pre-concept Actuation Strategy

The electric bike will use an electric actuation system which converts electrical energy
provided by the battery system to rotate an electric motor attached to the bike frame
which in turn rotates the wheel. Based on the user input, the motor can be turned in either
direction to provide assistive or resistive action as indicated in the schematic figure
below.

Fig : Schematic of Pre-Concept Actuation Strategy of the E-bike

For this actuation strategy to function per operational requirements, there are certain key
things that need to be considered. The major components of the actuation system are:
1. Battery
Battery used in the electric bike has the following key requirements:
It must be rechargeable.
It should have a long-life span.
It must be safe and easy to replace.
Based on the above key requirements, the most suitable battery-type currently available
in market are the Li-ion batteries. These batteries are rechargeable, have relatively long
life span and have very high capacity to weight ratio as compared to other batteries like
Ni-Cd batteries which makes them ideal for an electric bike. [4] But these batteries are
more expensive than other batteries available in the market. However, over the bikes
entire life-cycle, the cost associated with replacing Li-ion batteries vs other types of
batteries is lower.

2. Motor
The capacity of motor for electric bikes is limited to 500 watts for Ontario. [1] Similar
specifications are provided for other regions and cities throughout the world. So, an
electric motor within legal limits will be chosen for the system which will drive the wheel
when different modes of operation are requested.

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 References

[1 Ontario Ministry of Transportation, "Electric Bicycles," 2017. [Online]. Available:

] http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/driver/electric-bicycles.shtml.

[2 Mountain Bike Riding Com LLC, 2016. [Online]. Available:

] http://electricbikereport.com.

[3 D. Buede, The Engineering Design of Systems: Models and Methods, John Wiley
] & Sons (Canada), 2002.

[4 Nexeon, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.nexeon.co.uk/about-li-ion-

] batteries/.

[5 Wikipedia, 2017. [Online]. Available:

] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_bicycle.

[6 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.electricbike.com/. [Accessed 2017].

]

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Appendix : Diagrams

1. External systems diagram

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2. Objectives hierarchy

3. Top level function diagram

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4. Physical Architecture

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5. System Requirements

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