Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74

Study on virtual force sensing and force display device

for the interactive bicycle simulator
Song Yin, Yuehong Yin ∗
Research Institute of Robotics, State Key Laboratory of VSN, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, PR China
Received 29 October 2006; received in revised form 10 June 2007; accepted 10 June 2007
Available online 19 June 2007

Abstract
In this paper, a set of novel force display devices for the interactive bicycle simulator is presented for indicating the human–bicycle contact forces
at handlebars and foot pedals. The force display devices are attached, respectively, to the handlebars and pedals of the bicycle. The bicycle is placed
on a Stewart platform to provided bicycle riding on different terrains and configurations. The electromagnetic torques used to simulate the forward
and steering resistance forces are controlled by adjusting the armature current of the DC motor, according to the developed rider–bicycle dynamic
(RBD) model. A virtual bicycle riding environment is successfully constructed by the developed devices together with the motion generating
subsystem and the visual subsystem. Experimental results have shown that the developed RDB model and the constructed force display devices
are effective in capturing and displaying the information on forces.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Virtual reality; Interactive bicycle simulator; Force display device; Virtual force sensing

1. Introduction Recently, a team in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU)

Since the appearance of flight simulators last century, a vari-
ety of motion simulators such as automobile, ship, motorcycle
and bicycle simulators have been developed and are being widely
used for assisting design, training for driving, studying on the
interaction between human and vehicles, entertainment and so
on. Compared with physical prototype, experiments with motion
simulators take on many advantages, such as being economi-
cal, safe, not subjecting to the weather and environment, and
so on. Since the interaction between rider and bicycle gravely
affects the balance of rider–bicycle system during bicycle riding,
bicycle simulator, which is rarely developed, is among the most
challenging motion simulators. Distler et al. [1] developed two
setups of bicycle simulator to conduct psychophysical experi-
ments. Kwon et al. [2] carried out extensive theoretical study
on the interactive bicycle simulator. They developed two gen-
erations of bicycle simulators and connected them together to
realize bicycle racing [3].
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 21 34206310.
E-mail address: yhyin@sjtu.edu.cn (Y. Yin).
has developed an interactive bicycle simulator (see Fig. 1) to
study the interaction between human and the artificial environ-
ment. The interactive bicycle simulator consists of handlebar
and pedal force display subsystem, motion generating subsys-
tem, visual subsystem [4] and controllers. These subsystems
coordinate to realize vision, motion and force and construct a
realistic environment for bicycle riders. In order to simulate the
external environment, for example, different terrains and config-
urations, the bicycle is attached to a Stewart platform as shown
in Fig. 1.
The operational principle of the bicycle simulator is sketched
in Fig. 2. The rider on board operates the bicycle to change
the current status. Sensors installed on the simulator detect
this change. Then their output and the information from terrain
database are sent to the rider–bicycle dynamic (RBD) model for
calculation. The RBD model calculates itself and sends out the
calculated status to activate the handlebar and pedal force dis-
play subsystem, motion generating subsystem, visual subsystem
to respond to the rider’s operation and to provide the feelings of
motion, force and vision to the rider.
Among these feelings, the forces experienced by the rider
mainly include inertia, steering force and pedaling force. The
first kind of force—inertia force is realized through specific

0924-4247/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.sna.2007.06.018
66 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74

2. Rider–bicycle dynamic (RBD) model

A well devised rider–bicycle dynamic model is critical for

the implementation of the bicycle simulator. However, modeling
the rider–bicycle system is a very challenging task, which may
result from the following three facts. (1) The bicycle is a two-
wheeled vehicle and can move freely in many directions, that is
to say, it is a multiple-degree-of-freedom system. (2) Road con-
ditions may vary greatly from place to place and the interactions
between tire and road have not been completely understood.
(3) The rider contributes a lot to stable riding and the nature of
human is nondeterministic. Here, several assumptions are taken
to simplify the RBD model.

Fig. 1. Interactive bicycle simulator developed by SJTU.

(1) The rider–bicycle system is composed of rear wheel, upper
part of the rider, bicycle frame together with lower part of
motion of the motion generating subsystem [5] and the last two the rider, handlebar assembly and front wheel, five rigid
kinds of forces are expected to be replicated by some force dis- bodies.
play devices and are the focus of this paper. As for designing (2) The bicycle frame and handlebar assembly are symmetric
functional subsystems for the bicycle simulator, the Stewart plat- with regard to the rear and front wheel planes, respectively.
form can be chosen as the motion generating subsystem like (3) Available friction force is large enough to prevent tires from
most motion simulator do [2,6], and a lot of commercial prod- sliding, that is to say, the slip angle and longitudinal slip of
ucts are also available for vision and acoustic subsystems, such the tires remain zero.
as graphical workstation, projector, 3D glasses, HMD and 3D (4) The influence of pedaling and steering on mass distribution
sound box. However, since forces and the fashions in which is neglected.
man feels forces are different, existing force display devices are (5) Frictions in joints are omitted.
usually designed for a specific purpose and not suitable for the (6) The rider only leans his/her upper body sideward on the
bicycle simulator. Distler et al. [1] installed a set of mechanism bicycle.
to realistically simulate the physical aspects of bicycle riding.
This set of mechanism used two flywheels to simulate the iner- The following notations have been used.
tia of the bicycle and a small motor to regulate the resistance
forces during riding. However, invariable flywheels have diffi-
culty in simulating variable inertia of rider–bicycle system and lmt : mechanical trail.
this set of mechanism is helpless in simulating steering forces. lw : wheel base.
Kwon et al. [2] adopted more complex devices to simulate steer- α: steering tube angle.
ing and pedaling forces. They connected a DC motor and a MR δrw : yaw angle.
clutch in series to simulate active and passive steering reaction ϕrw : lean angle of the bicycle frame.
forces and combined an AC motor and a MR brake in parallel γ: lean angle of the rider.
to replicate pedaling force. Although this kind of force display β: steering angle.
devices is more powerful, its construction is too complex to con- θrw and θfw : rotating angle of the rear and front wheels around
trol easily. In this work, a set of novel force display devices is their own axes, respectively.
also constructed. Before entering on this task, the rider–bicycle λ: gradient of a slope.
dynamic model is established, since it’s the key of the whole mi : mass of the ith rigid body.
bicycle simulator system. ri : position vector of the mass center of the ith rigid body with
respect to O.
ωi : angular velocity vector of the ith rigid body.
jk
Ji : element (j, k) of the inertial matrix of the ith rigid body
with respect to its mass center.
T and Mh : pedaling torque and steering torque exerted by the
rider.
Mrb and Mfb : braking torques exerted on the rear and front
wheels, respectively.
Sf and Sr : longitudinal scalar forces acting on the front and rear
wheel by ground, respectively.
Ff and Fr : side scalar forces acting on the front and rear wheel
Fig. 2. Operating flow of the bicycle simulator. by ground, respectively.
 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74 67

2.1. System kinematic equations

The angular velocity vectors of the rigid bodies can be

obtained as Eq. (1) according to the principle of linear super-
position of angular velocities.

ω1 = ϕ̇rw x + θ̇rw y + (δ̇rw + ϕrw θ̇rw )z
ω2 = (ϕ̇rw + γ̇)x + δ̇rw z
⎧
⎨ ω3 = ϕ̇rw x + δ̇rw z
⎪
× ω4 = (ϕ̇rw + sαβ̇)x + (δ̇rw + cαβ̇)z (1)
⎪
⎩
ω5 = ω4 + θ̇fw y4
Fig. 3. Rider–bicycle system and coordinate frames.

The position vectors of the mass centers with respect to point

O are given in Eq. (2). Obviously they are functions of the
Nf and Nr : normal scalar forces acting on the front and rear angular variables and bicycle geometrical parameters.
wheel by ground, respectively. ⎧

r1 = − rz1 ⎨ r 3 = r 1 + O1 C 3
⎪
r 4 = r 1 + O 1 O3 + O 3 C 4
The rider–bicycle system is shown in Fig. 3 with coordi- r 2 =r 1 + O1 O2 + O2 C2 ⎪ ⎩
r 5 = r 1 + O 1 O3 + O 3 C 5
nate frames and all angular variables concerned. The five rigid (2)
components, whose mass centers are marked as C1 , C2 , C3 , C4
and C5 , are connected with each other through four rotational
joints O1 , O2 , O3 and O4 . O0 -x0 y0 z0 is the inertial coordinate The linear velocity vectors voi for Oi and vi for Ci (i = 1,2,
frame. Frames O-xyz and O-x y z are originated at O and O . . .,5) can be obtained from Eqs. (1) and (2) as
which are the contact points of rear and front wheel with the ⎧
ground. Planes x0 O0 y0 , xOy and x O y all lie in the ground. ⎧ ⎪ v3 = v1 + ω3 × O1 C3
⎪ O1 v = v = ω × r ⎪
⎪
Axes x and x point to the heading directions of the rear and front ⎨ 1 1 1 ⎨ vO3 = v1 + ω3 × O1 O3
vO2 = v1 + ω3 × O1 O2 (3)
wheels. Frames O-xyz and O1 -x1 y1 z1 are obtained by rotating ⎪
⎩ ⎪
⎪ v4 = vO3 + ω4 × O3 C4
O0 -x0 y0 z0 around axis z0 at an angle of δrw and δrw + δfw , respec- v2 = vO2 + ω2 × O2 O2 ⎩ ⎪
v5 = vO3 + ω4 × O3 O4
tively. Frame O-xyz rotates around axis x at an angle of ϕrw and
reaches O1 -x1 y1 z1 , whose plane- x1 O1 z1 coincides with the rear The linear acceleration vectors ai for Ci are the time deriva-
wheel plane. Frame O2 -x2 y2 z2 has the same orientation with O1 - tives of vi (i = 1,2, . . .,5).
x1 y1 z1 . γ Denotes the angle at which the upper part of the rider According to assumption (3), the following results hold.
rotates around axis x2 . Planes x3 O3 z3 and x4 O4 z4 coincide with
the front wheel plane. Axis z3 is along the axis of steering tube v5 = vO3 + ω4 × O3 O4 = ω5 × O O4
and axis x4 is parallel with x . ⎧
⎨ θ̇rw = θ̇fw
Several important geometrical parameters, the wheel base ⇒
⎩ δ̇rw = lmt β̇ − r θ̇fw sin δfw
(4)
lw , the mechanical trail lmt and the steering tube angle α, which
greatly affect the self-stability of bicycle, are given in Fig. 4. lw

For small values, angle δfw , which is the angle from x to x ,

is related to steering angle β and steering tube angle α by

δfw = cos αβ (5)

2.2. System dynamic equations

Considering the whole rider–bicycle system, Newton’s equa-

tion gives


5 
5
mi a i = mi gzv + F x
 air


i=1 i=1

 air resistance
gravitational force

+(Nr z + Sr x + Fr y) + (Nf z + Sf x + Ff y ) (6)



Fig. 4. Geometrical parameters related to the self-stability of bicycle. ground reactions
68 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74

External forces on the right side of the above equation fall Projecting Eq. (6) along axes x, y and z, we can obtain
into three major parts. ⎧
⎪ Sr + Sf − δfw Ff = A1
⎪
⎪
⎨ A ϕ̈ + B δ̈ + C γ̈ + D β̈ + E δ̇

5 2 rw 2 rw 2 2 2 rw
(1) Gravitational force mi gzv (9)
⎪
⎪ −Fr − δfw Sf − Ff = 0
i=1 ⎪
⎩
Vector zv is a unit vector pointing vertically downward. Nr + Nf = A3
If the bicycle is moving on a slope of angle λ (negative
when riding upgrade, positive downgrade), this vector can where the coefficients A1 , A2 , B2 , C2 , D2 , E2 and A3 , are all
be expressed as constants or the functions of velocity and acceleration of the
rear wheel. This is also the case for the following Eqs. (13),
(15), (16) and (18).
zv = sin λx0 + cos λz The Euler’s equation for the rider–bicycle system with respect
to point O gives
Rewriting above equation in terms of x, y and z, we obtain
5 

d
zv = sin λx0 + cos λz (J i · ωi ) + mi (r i × ai )
dt
i=1
= sin λ(cos δrw x − sin δrw y) + cos λz
= Mrx x + Mry y + Mrz z + OO × (Nf z + Sf x + Ff y )
= sin λ cos δrw x − sin λ sin δrw y + cos λz (7)
 y  
5
+Mfx x +Mf y + Mfz z + (r i × mi g) + Lc × Fair x
Thus, gravitational forces contribute to the longitudinal i=1
and side forces when riding on a slope. (10)
(2) Air resistance Fair x y
At low speed, the air resistance is so small that it can be where Mrx , Mr and Mrz are components of torque vector exerted
 y
neglected. But at high speed, air resistance gains rapidly and by the ground on the rear wheel in the frame O-xyz, Mfx , Mf

becomes a major external force [7]. Therefore, air resistance and Mfz are components of torque vector exerted by the ground
must be included in the RBDM. on the front wheel in the frame O -x y z , Lc is the position vector
If skin-friction drag is not considered, the air resistance from point O to the acting point of force Fair .
is given by Because the front and rear wheels are assumed to be rigid and
longitudinal and side slips are neglected, the following results
1
Fair = CD Ar ρv2 (8) are found to be true [8].
2
 
where CD is the drag coefficient, Ar is the frontal area of Mrx = Mrz = Mfx = Mfz = 0 (11)
rider–bicycle system, ρ is the air density and v is the speed
y y
of air with respect to the bicycle. Also, the components Mr and Mf are given by
Here, the air resistance is only regarded as acting along
y y
axis x. Mf = CD Nr Mf = CD Nf (12)
(3) Ground reactions
As we know, the motion of bicycle depends on the where CD is related to road conditions and velocity.
ground reactions. However, the interactions between elas- Projecting Eq. (10) along axes x, y and z, and using Eqs. (11)
and (12), we can obtain
⎧
⎪ y
⎨ A4 ϕ̈rw + B4 δ̈rw + C4 β̈ + D4 γ̈ + E4 ϕ̇rw + F4 δ̇rw + G4 β̇ + H4 ϕrw + K4 γ + L4 β + Mf δfw = G4
⎪
y (13)
⎪ (A5 ϕ + B5 β)ϕ̈rw + (C5 ϕ + D5 γ + E2 β)δ̈rw + (F5 ϕ + G5 β)β̈ + H5 Nf − Mf = K5
⎪
⎩
A6 ϕ̈rw + B6 δ̈rw + C6 γ̈ + D6 β̈ + E6 ϕ̇rw + F6 δ̇rw + G6 β̇ + H6 ϕrw + K6 γ + L6 β − lw δfw Sf − lw Ff = 0

In addition to the system Eqs. (9) and (13), the dynamics

tic tires and ground are rather complex. Results based on
pure theoretical analysis are far from being realistic. The
models extensively used in practice are mainly empirical or
semiempirical [8,9,10]. Although these empirical models
can explain this kind of interactions more reasonably, they
are found to be troublesome in application. Thus, the tires
are simply assumed to be rigid and the friction forces are
considered to be large enough.
of the pedaling and steering torques should be considered to
establish more equations for parts of the rider–bicycle system.
2.3. Dynamics for pedals and handlebars
Having developed the system equations, we are now consid-
ering the dynamic model of the pedals and handlebars as shown
in Fig. 5.
 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74 69

Adding Eqs. (14) and (17), we obtain

J 4 · ω4 + ω4 × (J 4 · ω4 ) + J 5 · ω5 + ω5 × (J 5 · ω5 )
= C4 O3 × R34 + C4 O4 × R54 + Mh z3 + M 34
 y 
+M 54 + Mfb y4 + Mfx x + Mf y + Mfz z
+rz4 × (Nf z + Sf x + Ff y ) + M 45 (19)

Since the handlebar can rotate freely around axis z3 , we take

Fig. 5. Rider–bicycle system with its subsystems.
cross product on both sides of the above equation with z3 and
obtain

To obtain the pedaling torque, pedals and the rear wheel are A9 ϕ̈rw + B9 δ̈rw + C9 β̈ + D9 ϕ̇rw + E9 δ̇rw + F9 ϕrw + G9 β
considered and the Euler’s equation gives y
+(lmt sαβ + lmt ϕrw )Nf + lmt Ff + sin αδrw Mf − Mh = 0
J 1 · ω̇1 + ω1 × (J 1 · ω1 ) (20)
y
= (Mrb − T )y1 + Mfx x + Mf y + Mfz z + rz1
×(Nr z + Sr x + Fr y) + M 21 (14) Eqs. (9), (13), (15), (17) and (20) combine to make the com-
plete RBD model. Since Eqs. (15) and (20) are related to rider’s
where T corresponds to the pedaling torque, Mrb is the rear wheel pedaling and steering torques and the construction of the force
braking torque and M21 is the torque vector exerted by bicycle display devices is conducted on the basis of them, we will focus
frame on the rear wheel. Since the rear wheel can rotate freely on these two equations.
around axis y1 , we take cross product on both sides of Eq. (14)
with y1 and obtain 3. Pedal force display (PFD) device
−T + Mrb + rSr + Mry = A7 (15)
In real cycling, the rider pedals to drive the bicycle mov-
The Euler’s equation for the front wheel is first considered is ing forward against all kinds of resistance forces. However, the
given as bicycle simulator does not really move on the ground like a bicy-
cle, and hence conditions for generating all kinds of resistance
J 5 · ω̇5 + ω5 × (J 5 · ω5 ) forces do not exist any more. To enhance the rider’s realistic
 y  riding experience, PFD device is installed at the rear wheel to
= Mfb y4 + Mfx x + Mf y + Mfz z simulate the resistance forces including air resistance, ground
+rz4 × (Nf z + Sf x + Ff y ) + M 45 (16) friction, slope resistance and inertia forces.

where M45 is the torque vector exerted by handlebar assembly
on the front wheel. Since the front wheel can rotate freely around
axis y4 , we take cross product on both sides of Eq. (16) with y4
and obtain
y
Mfb + rSf + Mf = A8
In the above equation, the front wheel braking torque Mfb is
included.
Considering the handlebar assembly, the Euler’s equation
gives
J 4 · ω̇4 + ω4 × (J 4 · ω4 )
= C4 O3 × R34 + C4 O4 × R54 + Mh z3 + M 34 + M 54
where Mh is the scalar steering torque, M34 and M54 are torque
vectors exerted by the bicycle frame and the front wheel, respec-
tively, on the handlebar assembly, R34 and R54 are the force
vectors exerted by the bicycle frame and the front wheel, respec-
tively, on the handlebar assembly.
3.1. Model considered
The PFD device is constructed by keeping the pedal, chain
and chain pulleys of a real bicycle, replacing the rear wheel with
a flywheel and a small DC motor (see Fig. 6). Gear pairs are
(17) used to raise the output torque of the motor and a maximum
resistance torque of 65 Nm is available at the pedal, so it feeds
the need of not allowing the bicycle moving when an ordinary
rider exerting his/her weight on the pedal. In addition, to collect
the angular information of the flywheel for calculation of RBD
model, a rotary encoder is added into the PFD device.
In most industrial applications, motors send out force and
motion to drive load. However, this is not true with the PFD
device. Because the pedal and the rear wheel are connected by
(18) a ratchet wheel, the rider feels the sensation of force only if
he/she pedals to accelerate the bicycle. In view of this situa-
tion, the DC motor in the PFD device is made to work like an
electric generator rather than an electromotor as usual. In other
words, the rider pedals to drive the motor and generate inductive
EMF which produces armature current if the motor armature is a
closed loop. We expect to control this armature current to realize
70 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74

Fig. 7. Control flow of the motor in the PFD device.

Considering the bicycle in virtual environment, we are con-

cerned with Eq. (15) which gives a description of the pedaling
torque. In order to identify the physical object – the bicycle sim-
ulator, and the virtual object – the bicycle in virtual environment,
the PFD device is aimed at making the rider feel the real ped-
aling resistance, which means the pedaling torque in Eqs. (15)
and (21) must be equal.
T  = −T
where the minus sign means that the positive direction of pedal-
Fig. 6. Pedal force display (PFD) device. ing torque is opposite to that defined in the modeling of bicycle
dynamics.
indirect control of the corresponding electromagnetic torque to As for the DC motor, if its structure and excitation are con-
simulate the forward resistance forces. stant, the following equation holds.
To solve practical problems, an analysis is first conducted on
bicycle riding. During riding, three cases may show up: Mmotor = KT Ia (22)
where KT is a constant coefficient related with motor structure
CASE 1: The rider does not pedals. Although running bicycle
and excitation, Ia is the armature current. If the RBD model can
still undergoes resistance forces, the rider cannot feel
be calculated, electromagnetic torque Mmotor can be got from
them. In this case, the motor in PFD device does not
Eqs. (15) and (21), and Ia from Eq. (22).
rotate, and hence the armature current (and electro-
magnetic torque) would not occur.
3.3. Control of the PFD device
CASE 2: The rider pedals but his/her speed is lower than that
of the rear wheel in a real bicycle and he/she feels no
Eqs. (15), (20) and (22) give us a chance to simulate the rider’s
resistance forces. Different from CASE 1, inductive
pedaling torque by controlling the armature current. The control
EMF appears in this case and the DC motor should
flow is sketched in Fig. 7.
be controlled not to generate armature current (and
In Fig. 7, the rider drives the motor to generate armature cur-
electromagnetic torque) to accord with real condition.
rent which is detected by a current transducer. Then, the output
CASE 3: The rider pedals to accelerate the bicycle forward and
of the transducer is compared with the reference input and their
feels the forward resistance forces. In this case, the
difference is used to drive the controller to regulate the armature
armature current (and electromagnetic torque) should
current. Accordingly the electromagnetic torque corresponding
be controlled to follow the changing forward resis-
to the armature can be made to follow the desired value.
tance forces.
The controller in Fig. 7 is given in Fig. 8. The reference
input signal Vr is transformed from calculated electromagnetic
3.2. Dynamic equation
torque Mmotor and the feedback signal Vf is the output of current
The dynamic models of the PFD device and the rider–bicycle
system underlie the operation of the PFD device. Considering
the motion of the flywheel, Euler’s equation gives
T  − Mmotor

= Jp θ̈ + cp θ̇ (21)
where T is the torque owing to rider’s pedaling, Mmotor  the
counterpart of the electromagnetic torque on the flywheel, Jp
the equivalent moment of inertia of the PFD device around the
rotational axis of the flywheel, cp the viscous friction coefficient
and θ is the rotational angle of the flywheel and can be got
through the rotary encoder. Fig. 8. Current control circuit for the motor in the PFD device.
 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74 71

Fig. 9. Control block diagram of the PFD device.

transducer. The difference of these two signals is regulated by a

PI circuit to control motor’s armature current.
Supposing operational amplifier to be ideal, the output volt-
age of this PI circuit is obtained as

Rf 1
Vo = (Vr − Vf ) + (Vr − Vf )dt (23)
R1 + R 2 C(R1 + R2 )

If the difference signal is denoted as ev , the above equation

is rewritten as

Rf 1 Fig. 10. Handlebar force display (HFD) device.
Vo = ev + ev dt (24)
R1 + R 2 C(R1 + R2 )
4.1. Dynamics equation
Therefore, this circuit implements PI regulation for the output
voltage Vo . The proportional and integral coefficients are given Just like the PFD device, the dynamics of HFD device can be
by written as

Rf 1 Mh − Mh,motor
Kp = ; Ki =
R1 + R 2 C(R1 + R2 )
Resistances R1 , R2 and Rf can be changed to adjust these
coefficients to obtain better control quality.
Additionally, if all the triodes in Fig. 8 work in amplifier
region, armature current Ia can be considered to be proportional
to the output voltage Vo , namely they satisfy
Ia = Ke Vo
The whole control block diagram is shown in Fig. 9.
It can be concluded from the above analysis that the elec-
tromagnetic torque can be controlled indirectly by controlling
the armature current and therefore three bicycle riding cases
presented in Section 3.1 can be realized by this PFD device.
4. Handlebar force display (HFD) device
Rider interacts with the HFD device through the handlebar
to change the motion of the front wheel as if he/she is steering
a real bicycle. The HFD device is constructed by keeping the
handlebar and fork and replacing the front wheel with a geared
DC motor (see Fig. 10). It can offer a maximum resistance torque
of 9 Nm at the handlebar and satisfies the need of normal riding.
Also, a rotary encoder is set to measure the angular information
β of the handlebar for calculation of dynamic model.

= Jh β̈ + ch β̇ (26)
where Mh is the torque owing to rider’s steering, Mh,

motor is the
counterpart of the DC motor’s electromagnetic torque around
the steering axis, Jh is the equivalent moment of inertia of this
subsystem around the steering axis, and ch is the viscous friction
coefficient.
Considering the running bicycle in virtual environment, we
are concerned with Eq. (20) which gives a description of the
(25) steering torque. To identify the physical object and the virtual
object, the HFD device is aimed at making the rider feel the real
steering resistance, which means the steering torque in Eqs. (20)
and (26) must be equal.
Mh = Mh
The same as the PFD device, the HFD device realizes indi-
rect control of electromagnetic torque by controlling armature
current.
4.2. Control of the HFD device
Since various external torques together determine the
dynamic steering motion of the bicycle and the bicycle simulator
must display this kind of motion in real time, the HFD device is
quite different from the PFD device. First, bidirectional reaction
forces must be generated by the HFD device, but this is not the
case for the PFD device. Second, just as explained in Section
3, the PFD device might stop work if the rider does not pedal
72 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74
Fig. 11. Control flow of the motor in the HFD device.
(armature current does not occur), while the HFD device must
work all the time to truly reflect the current steering direction.
In view of these differences, the DC motor in the HFD device is
made to work as an electromotor and its control flow is sketched
in Fig. 11.
Difference between the reference input Vr (corresponding to
the calculated electromagnetic torque) and the feedback signal
Vf of the current transducer is regulated by the PID controller to
drive the DC motor. The driver circuit in Fig. 11 is an H-bridge
circuit which is shown in Fig. 12. In the driver circuit, IGBTs
V1 and V4 are turned on simultaneously and the same with V2
and V3 . When V1 and V4 are turned on, V2 and V3 are turned
off and vice versa. Accordingly, positive or negative voltage can
be exerted on the armature of the motor. To prevent all IGBTs
from turning on synchronously, IC IR2110 is adopted to drive
this H-bridge circuit.
Fig. 12. H-bridge motor control circuit.
Fig. 13. Function block of P80C552.
Fig. 14. Overall control circuit for the force display devices.
5. Control architecture
For control purpose, the control system for the force display
devices implements the following functions.
• Data handling (PID algorithm).
• Sending out control signal for current control of motor.
• Sampling digital signal (encoder’s counting value).
• Sampling analogous signal (brakes’ signal).
• Communicating with up-level computers (sending current
status and receiving control signal).
To perform the above functions, a single-chip microcomputer
P80C552 [11] is selected as the core of this control system.
The main functions of P80C552 in this application are put into
Fig. 13. Because of different counting frequencies for rear wheel
and handlebar, QA741808R and QA744808R with maximum
counting frequencies of 8 and 40 kHz are chosen as the counters
for handlebar and rear wheel, respectively. The overall control
circuit is shown in Fig. 14.
6. Initial experiments
To test the validity of the PFD device, road gradient and bicy-
cle speed in virtual environment are recorded and sketched in
solid line and dotted line, respectively, in Fig. 15 after a test.
Armature current of the PFD device calculated from Eqs. (15)
and (21) is also drawn in dashed line in Fig. 15. In this test, the
bicycle runs uphill and downhill and changes speed frequently.
 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74 73

Fig. 15. Recorded data of the PFD device after a test.

Fig. 16. Recorded steering angle and calculated titling angle.

The armature current increases when accelerating and going

uphill. It decreases when decelerating (not because of braking)
and going downhill, because inertial force falls and gravitational
force drag the bicycle forward. After the 20th sampling point,
the bicycle in virtual environment goes downhill, its speed still
increases because of the component of the gravity even though
the armature maintains zero and the motor does not send out
electromagnetic torque in this situation.
According to Eqs. (4) and (5), if the rider gives no control,
the first equation in Eq. (13) can be rearranged as

Aϕ̈rw + Bβ̈ + Cϕ̇rw + Dβ̇ + Eϕrw + Fβ = G (27)

where the coefficients A, B, C, D, E, F and G are all constants

or functions of velocity and acceleration of the bicycle.
In Fig. 16, handlebar steering angle β is recorded and Fig. 17. Calculated external torque and recorded armature current of the HFD
sketched in solid line and corresponding tilting angle ϕ calcu- device.
lated from Eq. (27) is in dotted line. It can be seen that ϕ is nearly
two times of β. This result is identical with that of literature [12]. 7. Concluding remarks
Rearranging Eq. (20) and obtaining
A complete rider–bicycle dynamic model has been derived
Ap β̈ = Ttotal = Mh + [−(lmt ϕrw + lmt sαβ)Nf − lmt Ff ] and developed in the present paper. A set of force display

 

steering torque road reaction torque devices has also been constructed and incorporated the devel-
oped dynamic model to form an interactive bicycle simulator.
+(−Jc5
11
cαθ̇rw ϕ̇rw ) + (sαβ + ϕrw )(lo m4 g + lo m5 g) As the interfaces between human and virtual environment, the

 

gyroscopical torque gravitational torque force display devices receive rider’s control and feed back reac-
tion forces. Experiments and practical application have shown
+ R

 (28)
that the constructed force display devices are effective and could
additional motional torque be used in the bicycle simulator to work with vision and motion
generating subsystems to establish a realistic riding environment
where Ap is related only to the structure parameters of the bicy- for bicycle riders. In our future work, a more comprehensive
cle. On the right side of Eq. (28), external torques exerted on formulation and solution schemes [13–16] will be conducted
the handlebars are classified into five. Taking the same data in for a better control model of the presented rider–bicycle
Fig. 16, the total external torque calculated from Eq. (28) is system.
sketched in solid line and the recorded armature current of the
HFD device is in dotted line in Fig. 17. It can be found that
the armature current can well follow the external torques, so Acknowledgements
this HFD device is valid for the bicycle simulator. Also, it can
be seen that the HFD device can provide bidirectional reaction The work is jointly supported by the projects of the National
forces and the armature current varies with external torques and Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 60643002, 60205006,
does not remain zeroes in normal situation. 50390064) and 863 Project (Grant No. 2006AA04Z240).
74 S. Yin, Y. Yin / Sensors and Actuators A 140 (2007) 65–74
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Biographies
Song Yin received the BE degree in mechanical engineering from Tongji Univer-
sity, Shanghai, China, in 2001 and the MS degrees in mechanical engineering
from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 2003. Now he is a
PhD student in mechanical engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His
research interests include robotics and parallel mechanism theory.
Yuehong Yin received the BE degree in Mechanical Engineering from Nan-
jing Institute of Aeronautics, Nanjing, China, in 1990 and the MS and PhD
degrees in mechanical engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Nanjing, China, in 1995 and 1997, respectively. From December
1997 to December 1999, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Zhejiang University,
Hangzhou, China. He was appointed associate professor at the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, in July 1999.
He joined Research Institute of Robotics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shang-
hai, China, in December 1999. He was appointed professor at Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, Shanghai1, China, in December 2005. His research interests
include robotics, force control, electronics manufacturing, robotic assembly,
reconfigurable assembly system and augmented reality.