Investigation of an electric assisted bicycle and determination of performance characteristics

Abstract

Electric assisted bicycles are commercially available. However they are generally expensive or involve an inefficient drive mechanism. This paper examines and realizes an alternative design for a front wheel hub direct drive, which utilizes a three-phase brushless PM motor. This study aims to provide reference information for minimal modification to convert a conventional bicycle and for the sizing of the power source and the motor drive. In the paper, the details of the dynamometer test setup is given. In addition, test results (riding cycles) are provided using a mobile data acquisition system that can be used to optimize the sizing the battery and the motor as well as providing valuable information about the power management and programmed drive patterns for the motor controller.