FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC

QUADRICYCLE (UDEQ)

Group Members:
HAMZA SABIR (150627)
HAZIQUE MALIK (150633)
MUHAMMAD HAMZA (150636)

BE MECHATRONI2CS (SESSION 2015-2019)

Project Supervisor
Engr. Umer Farooq
Lecturer

DEPARTMENT OF MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
AIR UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD
FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC
QUADRICYCLE (UDEQ)

FINAL YEAR PROJECT REPORT

BE MECHATRONICS
(SESSION 2015-2019)

DEPARTMENT OF MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING

FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC
QUADRICYCLE (UDEQ)

Submitted By:
HAMZA SABIR (150627)
HAZIQUE MALIK (150633)
M. HAMZA ZAREEN (150636)

Project Supervisor

____________________________
Engr. Umer Farooq
Lecturer

Head of Department

____________________________
Dr. Zareena Kausar
 Acknowledgements

We thank Allah Almighty for making us capable. He has provided us guidance, support
and blessings in the form of teachers, friends and most importantly parents. Teachers
guide us, friends motivate us and parents are the utmost blessings for. Just as Allah
helps us directly as well as indirectly, our parents have helped us steer through this
research in every possible situation.

We thank the Mechatronics Department of Air University, for making us able to solve
the problems of everyday life and thus, become Engineers in true sense.

We also express our sincerest gratitude to our supervisor, Engr. Umer Farooq, for his
continuous support, enthusiasm and unwavering commitment.

We would also like to thank the committee members of our research who have indebted
us with their insightful comments. They have brought out the best in our work. We
would like to name the most senior member of our committee, Engr. Akhtar Khursheed,
who has helped us in the process of kinematic modelling and the design phase of the
research.

Last but not least, we would specially like to mention our friends, who have given us
the courage to complete this research and have accompanied us in all the design and the
machining processes. They provided us support in the true sense and we are truly
grateful to them.

i
 Abstract

The research paper reviews the fabrication of an urban design electronic quadricycle
that runs on electric power as well as with pedals. This product promotes clean and
healthy environment. Urban design electronic quadricycle is an all-weather, four wheel
e-bike that looks like a car. With this you can cycle anywhere, your way.

The main problem at hand in our growing and developing country is that there no eco-
friendly vehicles available in the market, that are both comfortable as well as
economical. With UDEQ we try to come up with a solution that is both non-harming to
the environment as well as under the fields of our study.

Additionally, the text explores the step by step fabrication of the desired vehicle which
includes the beforehand design and simulations of its various parts. The report includes
the basic descriptions of the product as well as the detailed results obtained through
mechanical and electronic simulations.

Overall, by the actions predicted by UDEQ we hope to shift urban delivery transport
from fossil fuel delivery vehicles toward E-bike vehicles, and in that way not only to
reduce noise and pollution in urban areas, but as well to reduce congestion, save energy
and to create new market opportunities for local economy.

ii
 Nomenclature

ω Omega

τ Tau

α Alpha

ρ Rho

G.R Gear Ratio

DC Direct Current

A/D Analog To Digital

EMF Electromotive Force

RPM Revolutions Per Minutes

TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Company

RF Radio Frequency

PID Proportional, Integral, Derivative

SD Secure Digital

ESC Electronic Speed Control

I/O Input / Output

SPST Single Pole Single Throw

VCC Voltage At The Common Collector

CAN Controller Area Network

MOSFET Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect

Transistor

PWM Pulse-Width Modulation

op-amp Operational Amplifier

IR International Rectifier

TTL Transistor-Transistor Logic

GPS Global Positioning System

iii
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1

1.1 Literature survey .................................................................................................. 2

1.1.1 Need of UDEQ .............................................................................................. 2

1.1.2 Technical Aspects ......................................................................................... 3

1.2 Problem Statement ............................................................................................... 4

1.3 Project Objectives ................................................................................................ 4

1.4 Timeline ............................................................................................................... 4

1.4.1 Phase 1 (March 2018 - May 2018) ............................................................... 4

1.4.2 Phase 2 (June 2018 – August 2018) .............................................................. 5

1.4.3 Phase 3 (September 2018) ............................................................................ 5

1.4.4 Phase 4 (October 2018 - November 2018) ................................................... 5

1.4.5 Phase 5 (December 2018) ............................................................................. 5

1.4.6 Phase 6 (January 2019 onwards)................................................................... 6

1.5 Applications ......................................................................................................... 6

1.5.1 Commercial applications: ............................................................................. 6

1.5.2 Industrial applications: .................................................................................. 6

1.5.3 Domestic application: ................................................................................... 6

1.6 Estimated Cost ..................................................................................................... 6

CHAPTER 2: DESCRIPTION ................................................................................ 8

2.1 Definition Phase ................................................................................................... 9

2.1.1 Primary Product Specifications................................................................... 10

2.1.2 Block Diagram ............................................................................................ 10

2.1.3 Component Selection .................................................................................. 11

2.1.4 Electronical components ............................................................................. 12

iv
 2.1.5 Hardware ..................................................................................................... 13

2.2 System Considerations for the Design ............................................................... 16

2.2.1 Design Requirements .................................................................................. 16

2.2.2 Drive Requirements .................................................................................... 21

2.2.3 Fabrication of mechanical structure ............................................................ 21

2.3 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER 3: MODELING AND SIMULATION ............................................... 24

3.1 Propulsion System ............................................................................................. 24

3.1.1 Wheel Selection .......................................................................................... 24

3.1.2 Gearing Mechanism .................................................................................... 24

3.2 Motor Sizing Calculations ................................................................................. 25

3.3 Vehicle Speed Measurement.............................................................................. 34

3.4 Battery Health Measurement ............................................................................. 35

3.5 Motor Current Measurement.............................................................................. 36

3.6 Hardware Design- Control Unit ......................................................................... 36

3.6.1 Power Input: ................................................................................................ 38

3.6.2 Global Positioning System (GPS) ............................................................... 39

3.6.3 Accelerator .................................................................................................. 40

3.6.4 Electric Speed Controller (ESC): ................................................................ 40

3.7 Software Design- Control Unit: ......................................................................... 40

3.7.1 Accelerator .................................................................................................. 40

3.7.2 Global Positioning System (GPS):.............................................................. 41

3.7.3 Speedometer:............................................................................................... 41

3.7.4 Voltage and Current Sensor: ....................................................................... 41

3.7.5 Gyroscope ................................................................................................... 42

3.7.6 Micro SD-Card: .......................................................................................... 42

v
Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 43

References ............................................................................................................... 44

vi
 List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Original Design ........................................................................................... 1

Figure 1.2: Comfortable Seating .................................................................................... 1

Figure 1.3: Recumbent Bicycle...................................................................................... 3

Figure 1.4: Example of Velomobile............................................................................... 3

Figure 1.5: Definition of Pedal Forces ........................................................................... 3

Figure 1.6: CAD model of Cargo-Bike.......................................................................... 3

Figure 1.7: PodRide ....................................................................................................... 3

Figure 1.8: Alpha ........................................................................................................... 3

Figure 2.1: Basic Block Diagram................................................................................. 11

Figure 2.2: Explained Regenerative Circuit................................................................. 11

Figure 2.3: NEO 6M [c] ................................................................................................ 13

Figure 2.4: JSN-SR04T[d]............................................................................................. 13

Figure 2.5: MAX471 .................................................................................................... 13

Figure 2.6: ESP32 ........................................................................................................ 13

Figure 2.7: Shock Absorber ........................................................................................ 14

Figure 2.8: Gear Changers ........................................................................................... 14

Figure 2.9: Multi sprocket hub (bicycle) ..................................................................... 14

Figure 2.10: Brakes (bicycle) ....................................................................................... 14

Figure 2.11: Gear set (CD70)....................................................................................... 14

Figure 2.12: Crank-pedals (bicycle) ............................................................................ 14

Figure 2.13: Coupling for the rear wheel ..................................................................... 17

Figure 2.14: Rear wheel shaft ...................................................................................... 17

Figure 2.15: Frame and Bearing Blocks for the rear axle ............................................ 18

Figure 2.16: Rear wheels assembly ............................................................................. 18

Figure 2.17: Suspension wishbones of one side .......................................................... 19

vii
Figure 2.18: Front Wheel Assembly ............................................................................ 19

Figure 2.19: Front and Rear Wheel Assemblies .......................................................... 20

Figure 2.20: Pedal Crank Mechanism .......................................................................... 20

Figure 2.21: Seat (Suzuki Mehran) .............................................................................. 20

Figure 2.22: Machined Bearing Block ......................................................................... 22

Figure 2.23: Machined Shaft couple for wheels .......................................................... 22

Figure 2.24: Double Wishbone Suspension for front wheels ...................................... 23

Figure 3.1: Static Modelling Diagram ......................................................................... 27

Figure 3.2: Micro Sd-Card connection with the controller .......................................... 42

viii
 List of tables
Table 1.1: Cost Analysis ................................................................................................ 7

Table 2.1: Some important Systems of the Product ....................................................... 9

Table 2.2: Some Important Specifications ................................................................... 10

Table 2.3: Basic Properties of Some Materials ............................................................ 22

ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The future of eco-friendly urban vehicles, UDEQ is an inspired idea that solves the
uncomfortable bicycle rides into a healthy, car-like experience. This vehicle is an
electric powered car consisting of battery, motor and pedals to run it. The pedals can be
used to operate both, acceleration of the vehicle and to charge the battery. The UDEQ
will be an urban design vehicle, which means that it satisfies all the standards that are
required by a vehicle to maneuver in an urban area. It can be used for delivery of goods
and passenger transport among private and public bodies such as delivery companies,
public administration and citizens in urban areas, as an alternative to “conventional
fossil fueled” vehicles.
Electrically-assisted bikes, which require the user to pedal but have a motor that the
user can choose to use for reducing the effort, are becoming increasingly popular. There
are estimated to be over a million such bikes in use across Europe [1]. Various studies
suggest the effort required to use them constitutes ‘moderate’ physical activity, with
potential health benefits for those who increase their physical activity by using them.
This product was initially inspired by PodRide [2]. The aim is to re-engineer the ideas
and principles used in the original idea (see figure 1.1 and 1.2) and transform them into
a product that is both reliable and suitable for the needs of Pakistan. These include the
economic problems as well as the design problems. For economic problems we aim to
make this vehicle as cost effective as possible, so that the bike riding audience can be
targeted. For design problems we need to come up with such a plan to make this as
suitable for all-terrain usage as possible due to the terrain variations in Pakistan. The
second market we aim to target is the delivery transport. The main source for delivery
of small products, in Pakistan, is motor-bike. UDEQ can be a new source of delivery.

Figure 1.1: Original Design Figure 1.2: Comfortable Seating

 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Literature survey

In order to better understand our product we have studied various research papers that
highlight the problem we could be facing and help to develop a better understanding.
These research papers give detailed information about the parts of the product we are
fabricating. The following are a few of the research papers that proved to be quite
helpful in fabrication of our product.

1.1.1 Need of UDEQ

Transport sector is responsible for more than 30% of European final energy
consumption and carbon emissions[3]. Transportation sector has been looking for
different alternatives. Electric vehicles are a lot better than conventional pedal bikes
due to easy assistance over hilly terrains and also helpful if case of injury. A certain
research shows how the effects of usage of electric vehicles in near future would benefit
in many ways including reducing traffic congestion, decreasing public transportation,
increasing the use of independent mobility. Another, research covers practices, systems
and technologies of electrically-assisted cycling where pedal-power combines with the
vehicle’s battery/motor assistance to propel the rider. The same research, discusses the
battery life and range as another feature of electric cars [4].

UDEQ is a human powered vehicle (HPV) enclosed for aerodynamic advantage and
protection from weather and collisions. It is similar to recumbent bicycles (explained
in figure 1.3) but with an enclosed aerodynamic shell. Recumbent design is further
explained in design section of the report. Research shows us that if the authorities take
up the challenge to invest in healthy modes of transportation that can also be electrically
driven, such as bicycles, tricycles and quadricycles, it can be proved beneficial in
different facilities such as to improve maps in the said area. This can also be beneficial
in collecting climate changes in the different regions as well as to provide real time
temperature, humidity and traffic reports to the news channels. Based on results from
80 riders of a fleet of e-bikes, data shows that a major population is interested about the
privacy of their data and how they interact and share this data. The conclusion sketches
out future research of “smart e-vehicles” [5]. This idea was also presented by Chris
Kiefer and Frauke Behrendt in their research [6]. Velomobile (shown in figure 1.4)
explains the concept of our research[c].

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

Figure 1.3: Recumbent Bicycle Figure 1.4: Example of Velomobile

1.1.2 Technical Aspects

After careful need analysis we turn our concentration to the feasibility of the product.
In order to better understand the feasibility of UDEQ we must look into the constraints
of the design. Our first and foremost problem is to understand the dynamics of pedaling.
A very interesting report explains the cycling constraints as the geometric circular path
of the crank and pedals. By changing the geometry and kinematics of their lower limbs,
the cyclists can vary pedaling techniques. Cyclists can also improve power output if
they improve force effectiveness, i.e. focus on pushing down forces applied at the down
stroke motion of the crank. Pedal forces are often based on the measurement of normal,
anterior-posterior, effective and resultant force components [7].

This step requires us to see the works of people who have successfully designed similar
vehicles. A report suggests that if bicycles are to be made that can lift heavy loads such
as approx.500kg, then 51% of city transport could be replaced by cargo carrying bikes
[8]. Figures 1.6, 1.7 and 1.8 show us the example of similar designs.

Figure 1.5: Definition of Pedal Forces Figure 1.6: CAD model of Cargo-Bike

Figure 1.7: PodRide Figure 1.8: Alpha

3
 INTRODUCTION

In order to understand the designing process of the frame, a certain publication helped
us a lot. Electric Bicycle Frame Design and Subsystems Integration by T.Praks[9] .

1.2 Problem Statement

In our growing economy, Pakistan is becoming more and more developed.
Development comes with a cost; pollution. With construction of roads in the city there
should be an increase in healthy and eco-friendly modes of commuting. Electric
bicycles, bikes and also quadricycles are a new and improved mode of transport.

However, electric powered transport means that it requires charging and for it to be
used properly it should be in a constant state of charging. The electric vehicles in the
market provide a low range of distance covered per charge, thus making them
inefficient for the daily users.

Using an improved design, we hope to eliminate these problems by introducing the first
motorized pedal car in market. The regenerative energy from drive of the pedals also
charges the batteries of the vehicle, thus ensuring a longer battery time.

1.3 Project Objectives

 Design and fabrication of a Quadricycle.

 Integration of turning mechanism into the chassis.
 Regenerative power conversion through the pedals.
 Integration of different electrical systems with the Controller.

1.4 Timeline

The timeline is divided into Six Major Phases:

1.4.1 Phase 1 (March 2018 - May 2018)

The following parts of the project are being defined in this phase:

 Problem statement
 Objectives
 Scope
 Applications

The feasibility of the project was also determined by reading research papers.

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
1.4.2 Phase 2 (June 2018 – August 2018)

Research about following mechanisms was done in this phase:

 Mechanism of the pedals
 Turning
 Front suspension
 Sprockets chain
 Selection of following parts:
 Tires
 Pedals
 Seat
 Shocks (front and back)

1.4.3 Phase 3 (September 2018)

Following parts were designed in this phase:

 Chassis
 Pedal Crank mechanism
 Axle-Gears mechanism
 Chain Drive

Testing of the designed parts one by one until all kinds of simulations, were completed,
through the following tools:

 Solid works
 Proteus etc.

1.4.4 Phase 4 (October 2018 - November 2018)

Fabrication of all the test defined parts. This includes the mechanical part of our
product.
Research about the electrical part of the product:
 Regenerative battery charging
 Motor controller
 Micro controller etc.

1.4.5 Phase 5 (December 2018)

In this phase, integration of all the parts into one combined system is to be completed.

5
 INTRODUCTION

At the end of this phase we will be able to drive our car manually.

1.4.6 Phase 6 (January 2019 onwards)

In this final phase, test run on the integrated system are done. The system is tested in
accordance with the final test specifications developed earlier. This will also include
the demonstration of the product to the supervisor.

1.5 Applications

1.5.1 Commercial applications:

 Land boat can be used for tourism purposes as tourists can be provided with these
they can easily go through the city or historical places depending on their section of
interests.
 It can be used for advertisement purposes as people must prefer low cost for
advertisements.
 Can be used in theme parks as racing cars for teenagers.
 They can be used as cheap rent a car for a singular entity.

1.5.2 Industrial applications:

 Land boat can be used for traveling in large factories for short distances.
 Many industries need a non-emissive transport system that can be used within the
premises.
 Delivery companies also need a transport system that is power efficient,
comfortable and at most a cheap solution.

1.5.3 Domestic application:

 Can be used for home use purposes for example getting the groceries from the
department store.
 For traveling to nearby cities cheaply.

1.6 Estimated Cost

The approximated costs are recorded after local market surveillance. Basic material for
the chassis can be bought locally. Similarly bicycle related material such as handle,
brakes, gear changer, pedal-crank and the pedal center, are easily available in

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
Rawalpindi. Some hardware is not available in Pakistan hence we have ordered it at the
online market majorly from china through AliExpress.

Table 1.1: Cost Analysis

Products Cost (PKR)

Chassis (material & machining) 15,000
Motor 15,000
Body and off the shelf materials 35,000
Battery Pack 10,000
Microcontroller and ECU 7,000
Electric Speed Controller 7,000
Sensors 5000
Travel allowances 5000
Approximated Cost 99,000/-

7
CHAPTER 2: DESCRIPTION
In order to understand this product we break it into smaller subsystems working
simultaneously. We first visualize the concept in a generalized view. We basically want
to introduce a new mode of travel for the domestic as well as commercial usage that is
easy to maneuver in the hustle of a city. Other requirements for such a vehicle are that
it should be compact & energy efficient such that to reduce the cost of travelling. Motor
Bikes are the present mode of travel in Pakistan that is most commonly used in a city.
We are hence trying to compete with it. We increase the comfort factor by introducing
the four wheeled structure. The next task is to increase the energy efficiency, hence we
remove the engine and make our vehicle into a motor controlled solution which not
only increases energy efficiency but also gives us more control over the system and we
can even make it an automated vehicle in the future. The next problem is that a motor
needs a battery to run and its consumption is such that the range of the vehicle is too
less and there are no public charging ports in Pakistan. Hence we integrate pedal-crank
system of a bicycle for backup mode of traction as well as an assist property for
reducing the power consumption of a motor. Last but not least we additionally plan to
charge the battery through the pedal-crank mechanism. This process will further be
described in this chapter.

Linearly solving all these problems, we have come up with the concept of a vehicle that
has a pedal-crank (such as in a bicycle) mechanism as well as a battery powered motor.
The user is able to drive this vehicle in two modes, such as:

 Pedaling: While in this mode, the user is pedaling for the traction of the vehicle. In
this mode the vehicle is being driven on the forces applied on the pedals. This force
travels through the chain and sprockets till a sprocket attached at the rear axle of the
motor. Additionally, the battery is being charged by the rotation energy in the
sprockets, which is converted through a rectification circuit.
 Motor: In this mode, the motor is responsible for the traction of the vehicle.
Rotational energy of the motor is transferred to the rear axle through chain and
sprockets.

This product has not yet entered the local market of Pakistan. This is further described
in the following topics. We now explain this product in terms of phases that define our
progress and methodology.
 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

2.1 Definition Phase

We can now visualize a clear view of the product, i.e. it is a Quadricycle (four wheeled
cycle) which mainly runs on motor but there is also pedal-crank mechanism that assists
the motor to reduce its load and also recharges the batteries simultaneously. We hence
call it “Urban Design Electric Quadricycle” or simply UDEQ. We now start to define
the product in length.

It is a mechatronics product in the true sense due to the versatility of systems used in it.
The major fields used in this product are Mechanical and Electrical. Several
mechanisms are integrated to perform simultaneously. Some of the systems are written
in tabular form below to understand the concept of the product.

Table 2.1: Some important Systems of the Product

System Name System type Description

Battery Recharging Mechatronic It is the system through which we tend to
charge the battery of the vehicle through
the rotational energy of the pedals. This is
basically a motor used as a generator
converting mechanical energy into
electrical energy.
Turning Mechanism Mechanical This is the system used for turning of the
vehicle.
Traction Mechanical Other than the motor, this system is purely
mechanical. It transforms the low torque of
the motor to drive the vehicle through
chain and sprocket.
Pedal-crank Mechanical This is the system through which the user
assists the motor as well as drives the
vehicle through pedaling. This is the
combination of different sized sprockets
placed in series, starting from pedal-crank,
working through the recharging motor,
driving motor and ending on the axle.
Electric Control Unit Electrical This is the main generic board which
incorporates a controller, I/O ports for
sensors and all the inputs and outputs
shown in the block diagram.
The design is impressed by the PodRide Electric car, shown in the introduction,
believed to be in market in late 2018 (America and Europe).

9
 DESCRIPTION

In order to complete the definition phase we cover the product specification, basic block
diagram and component selection.

2.1.1 Primary Product Specifications

We claim the product to be for urban usage hence we specify some parameters that are
feasible for the domestic or commercial usage in a city. The acceleration of a motorized
vehicle in a city is allowed to be 1.5 𝑚/𝑠 2 as described in a paper on electric vehicle
acceleration in US [10].

Table 2.2: Some Important Specifications

Physical Properties Values
Height 144cm
Length 196cm
Width 75cm
Mass 230kg
Diameter of Wheel 50.8cm
Average speed 25km/h (6.94m/s)
Peak speed 35km/h (9.72m/s)
Battery drive range 5km
Hybrid drive range 8km
Acceleration 1.5 m/s2

2.1.2 Block Diagram

The following block diagram shows the principal connections of sensors and the
outputs with the controller. This will be the basic outlook of the ECU and the sensors
and actuators will be connected as external units. We plan to make this generalize board
as a product that can be fitted any electrical vehicle and all the other units are working
independently. Here you can see that the major inputs are sonar sensor, accelerator,
power sensors, GPS. The outputs are display, indication lights, one input into the
regenerative circuit and electrical speed controller. We will log some data in the SD-
card and the controller will communicate through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi with the user.

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

Figure 2.1: Basic Block Diagram

The regenerative circuit transforms the rotational energy of the pedal crank mechanism
into electrical energy through a rectification circuit, in order to charge the battery. It
also has an enable pin to toggle the battery charging while the motor is running on
battery. It is further expanded in the following diagram:

Figure 2.2: Explained Regenerative Circuit

2.1.3 Component Selection

Since the product is a mechatronics system, hence we have to select the mechanical
components as well as electrical components first. The electrical components are the
basis of any practically implemented product.

11
 DESCRIPTION

2.1.4 Electronical components

These components have been selected on basis of requirements. We have chosen the
sensors that have to be used by collecting data and analyzing the datasheets of the said
modules. Each module that has been selected is perfect for the rough environment of
the urban city. The components are also selected on the basis of compatibility with the
controller. Each module is to be connected with the ESP32 generic board and all the
data is to be stored in the SD-card. Following are the selected components:

 NEO 6M

For GPS coordination we have selected the NEO-6M module which is known for its
accuracy. This module comes with an external antenna. These receivers combine a high
level of integration capability with flexible connectivity options in a small package [c].
it is shown in the figure below.

 JSN-SR04T

We have chosen JSN-SR04T for the obstacle detection in UDEQ. It is non-sensitive

module which is best for our product.

This is a Water Proof Ultrasonic Ranger, it has the same usage of HC-SR04, this is a
non-contact distance measurement module, and it provides high accuracy and high
resolution ultrasonic proximity detection and ranging in air. This ultrasonic sensor
detects objects from 20cm to 600cm[d].

 MAX471

This is a voltage and current sensor. It is going to be able to monitor the voltage supply.
It will then be able to take those measurements and turn them into a signal that goes
into our controller for further decisive process. We will display the charging,
discharging battery status on the display. The amount of current consumed by the
vehicle and the present status of battery charge will be collected by help of this sensor.

 Controller

ESP32 is chosen due to its easy to connect features. It has built-in Wi-Fi as well as
Bluetooth connection modes. It also has an 18 channel 12-bit SAR ADC and 2 × 8-bit
DACs. This controller is the best solution for an electric vehicle because it is

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
connectable through mobile phone. The user can change his/her preferences easily
through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi protocol.

Following are the images of these modules taken from google images.

2.1.5 Hardware

First step of the design process is to figure out which, off the shelf, parts were

Figure 2.3: NEO 6M [c] Figure 2.4: JSN-SR04T[d]

Figure 2.5: MAX471 Figure 2.6: ESP32

abundantly available in the market, which we could easily use in the product. Following
are some of those parts:

 Shock Absorber

We used two different types of shock absorbers. For the front suspension we used the
shocks of an old model of Vespa and for the rear suspension, we bought the shocks of
CD70 motorcycle which is a very common item.

 Accessories of a bicycle

For the bicycle related parts, we bought them from Rawalpindi. These include Different
sizes of sprocket sets, crank-pedal set, handle grips, gear changers, brake levers, chain
etc.

13
 DESCRIPTION

Figure 2.7: Shock Absorber

Figure 2.8: Gear Changers

Figure 2.9: Multi sprocket hub (bicycle) Figure 2.10: Brakes (bicycle)

Figure 2.11: Gear set (CD70) Figure 2.12: Crank-pedals (bicycle)

 Motor Selection

We all know that electric vehicles are the furture of the automobile industry due to their
eco-friendly nature and cost effective fuel consumption. Their milleage is greater than
other fuel running cars. It can be safely said that such electric cars will soon be seen
patrolling on roads in future used for domestic or industrial purposes. We are using
BLDC motors to drive the vehicle. These motors are a type of synchronus motor, this
means the magnetic field generated by the stator and the magnetic fields generated by
the rotor rotate at the same frequency. The general principle of a motor is to convert the
elecrical energy into mechanical energy. The energy conversion mechanism in all the
motors is approximatley the same. This is usually done by the help of magnets and

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
coils, when the voltage is applied on the coil the current passes through them and a
magnetic field is generated around the coil. If a permenant magnet is placed in the
vicinity of this magnetic field, this magnetic field reacts with the magnetic field of the
permenant magnets and creates a mechanical force which is used for the desired
purpose. The use of these motors will result in less fuel comsumption and higher power
to volume ratio. The reducing prices of the permemnant magnet material and the trend
of increasing efficiency in the permenant magnet and brushless DC motors make them
more attractive for the Electric Vehicle applications. BLDC motors have many
advantages over simple brushed DC motors and induction motors. A few of them are:

o Better speed versus torque characteristics

o High dynamic response

o High efficiency

o Long operating life

o Noiseless operation

o High speed ranges

A BLDC has 3 major parts that are

o The rotor

o The stator

o The controller

We have selected a 600W geared BLDC motor which has an angular speed of 1700
rpm and 48V, 15A electrical rating. The mid drive motor is efficient. It provides power
on the chain and sprocket mechanism and rotates the rear axle. The torque rating is
found by kinematic modelling of the vehicle done in the following chapter.

 Gear System

Gearing is used at two particular positions in UDEQ. Variable gearing is designed with
the pedal crank mechanism such that least force is required to move the vehicle with
human interference. Simple gear mechanism is used at rear of the vehicle, where the

15
 DESCRIPTION

motor rotates the axle with increased torque due to different sized gears. Gear Ratio is
calculated in the “Design and Modelling” chapter.

 Brake System

The braking system that is used in UDEQ is disk brake which is in the front wheels.
This configuration (i.e. braking in front wheels and traction in the rear wheels) provides
us with smooth maneuverability. This is the most important part of the product because
the safety of the user is a must in these type of products. We have used a standard
braking system of a bicycle that is purely mechanical. It works on the principle of
tension in an unstretchable string. We press the lever and it results in tension at the
braking end and the disc brake is pressed between two bushes and hence the brake is
applied.

 Battery

Battery capacities depend on the weight and availability of battery in the market. We
have chosen the battery cell solution. It is efficient in a sense that we have a very
compact storage space in the vehicle and these cells can be packed in any possible
shape. We need to make a battery pack that provides 48 volts of potential difference
and a current rating of about 60 ampere hours. Which means that the system will run
on 20Amps consumption for three hours.

 Development of Main Circuit Board

In order to develop a main circuit board for the vehicle, an Electric Control Unit
(ECU) is to be developed which incorporates all the I/O ports required for our system
to work. This is better explained from the block diagram in figure 2.1.

Second step requires us to make all these parts in SolidWorks so that we can design the
part which we have to machine ourselves, which takes us to the next step which is the
design phase.

2.2 System Considerations for the Design

2.2.1 Design Requirements

The final step in the definition phase is a feasibility study of the system. Now that we
have specified what we want the system to do, we can meet those expectations by

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
careful analysis of the electrical and mechanical limitations. This phase describes the
steps taken to ensure that our product is feasible before we move to the design phase.

It is difficult to separate this step with the design phase because there are many system
specifications that depend on some other design parameters. The key is to find the most
suitable path, where you design one specific part first, calculate the limitations and then
move to the other part. This is the most trying phase of the product.

For our case, the most important part of the decision process is to make the design of
the parts that are available in the market and place them in an assembly such that the
general sketch meets the sizing parameters of the chassis. We have done this part very
efficiently and placed the tires design into the chassis and then found out the remaining
limitations to further design the coupling of the rear wheels as well as the shafts.

Figure 2.13: Coupling for the rear wheel Figure 2.14: Rear wheel shaft

We now attach these parts with the rear wheels and then design the bearing blocks and
the frame that attaches the rear axle with the chassis. We have the following design of
the rear wheel, the shock absorbers of CD70 motorbike were also designed and placed
on the bearing blocks. The bearings are chosen to be of model 6004, which has 12mm
bore, 42mm outer diameter and thickness of 12mm.

17
 DESCRIPTION

Figure 2.15: Frame and Bearing Blocks for the rear axle

Figure 2.16: Rear wheels assembly

Next we design the suspension mechanism of the front tires, which also incorporate the
turning of the wheels. This is done by placing the design of the wheels at a distance of
vehicle width specified in Table 2.2. Next we measure the distance of inner faces of the
tires and hence specify the limitation of the mechanism. Hence we have following
figure:

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

Figure 2.17: Suspension wishbones of one side

Now we mate these parts and design the metallic pipes that hold these wishbones into
place such that these or opposite to each other and parallel to the chassis. We then attach
these parts together to get the front assembly.

Figure 2.18: Front Wheel Assembly

We now mate these assemblies together into an imaginary reference plane to get the
limitations for the chassis. These assemblies are mated at a distance equal to the length
of the vehicle that is again taken from Table 2.2. The design is shown below:

19
 DESCRIPTION

Figure 2.19: Front and Rear Wheel Assemblies

In order to design the chassis we now complete the other parts which are required for
determining the limitations of the vehicle. These parts include, pedal mechanism and
the seat. This step is very important because these will be our reference dimensions
which we cannot change. Following are the designed parts:

Figure 2.20: Pedal Crank Mechanism Figure 2.21: Seat (Suzuki Mehran)
We now construct the chassis of the vehicle, which incorporates all the design
specifications into considerations and is able to integrate the subsystems such as turning
mechanism, chain and sprockets train from the pedals to the rear axle with joints at two
locations. Forces are being transferred at these joints, between differently sized
sprockets for maximum power consumption. The chain and sprockets are further
designed in the coming chapters. The final design of the chassis is as follows:

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

This design does not incorporate the subassemblies such as turning mechanism and the
propulsion mechanism, we now turn to the calculations required for these subsystems.

The strength analysis of the chassis and other components are done on the SolidWorks
Simulation add-in. the results are attached in Appendix A.

2.2.2 Drive Requirements

Torque and angular velocity of the motor are to be calculated for determining the design
specifications of the chassis, because the motor comes in different sizes. The motor size
is required for sizing of the frame in Figure 2.15. We assume the maximum inclination
that the vehicle will have to suffer to be 20degrees which is sufficient for the urban
roads.

The formulas used for these calculations are Newtonian. We find the weight on the
front and rear axles by applying first and second conditions of equilibrium and this
analysis is known as static analysis. This is done in chapter 3.

2.2.3 Fabrication of mechanical structure

The parts that we have designed for the chassis are fully defined hence we start the
fabrication process to efficiently manage our time.

21
 DESCRIPTION

The first step of Fabrication of Structure is Material selection, the available materials
in the market are, Aluminum, Steel, Iron etc. Table 2.3 shows us the basic properties of
these materials.

Table 2.3: Basic Properties of Some Materials

Weight to
Properties Strength
/Materials Machining Ratio Bending Cost
Steel HARD HIGH VERY HARD EXPENSIVE
Aluminum EASY HIGH MODERATE MODERATE
Iron MODERATE HIGH HARD CHEAP
Acrylic EASY LOW EASY EXPENSIVE

After detailed analysis of material properties, suitable material for Chassis design is
Iron, as it is easily available and its machining is pliant.

We fabricated the parts by buying material from the City Saddar Road, Rawalpindi, and
then machined the parts using lathe machine.

Figure 2.22: Machined Bearing Block Figure 2.23: Machined Shaft couple for
wheels

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

Figure 2.24: Double Wishbone Suspension for front wheels

2.3 Conclusion

The initial design of UDEQ chassis is under progress. Completion of Chassis depends
upon final objectives and research for the most suitable and appropriate design. Design
selection depends upon the targeted efficiency, which is expected from the vehicle.

The CAD design of the chassis of the vehicle has to be tested for stress vulnerability
and the seamlessness of different mechanisms. This is to be done in the following
chapter.

23
CHAPTER 3: MODELING AND SIMULATION
Modelling is the basis for a successful prototype, to avoid making different incorrect
versions of an object in the real world, we can model it beforehand so that all the issues
can be resolved before actually making the object. Computer aided modelling is very
helpful in this regard, it can be used to make a complete model and some advanced
software also allow us to simulate real time conditions to test the object.

3.1 Propulsion System

The propulsion system consists of mainly the combination of different mechanical and
electrical parts. For battery driven electric vehicle the propulsion system should consist
of following essential parts

 Wheel and Axle

 Gearing Mechanism
 Electric Motor

3.1.1 Wheel Selection

A wheel of diameter 20 inches (50cm) is used. It is from an Old model of Kawasaki,

but many types of wheels of the same size are easily available.

3.1.2 Gearing Mechanism

For the gearing mechanism we decided to choose the simple multi sprocket system of
a bicycle at the pedal crank and a double sprocket system from motor to the axle. The
chain that we used in pedal crank system is number 40. So the sprockets size is also 40.
In double sprocket system, the chain size is 420. We have used two modes of traction
for the rear axle. Below is the further explanation of these two systems:

Through Pedal Crank: The part where user or driver will apply force is called the
pedal crank. There are three sprockets that are attached to the pedal crank. The number
of teeth of a sprockets are 48, 38 and 28 respectively. The chain from these sprockets
rotate the rear hub which has 28, 24, 21, 18, 16 and 14 teethed sprockets.

Through motor: A sprocket that is attached with the motor has 14 teeth and the other
sprocket that is attached with an axle has 41 teeth. Both motor and axle are connected
with a chain.

The calculations for the motor selection are as follows:

 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

3.2 Motor Sizing Calculations

For the transition of power from motor to an axle a sprocket with 14 teeth is chosen to
be attached with the motor in such a manner that the motor drives this 14 teeth sprocket
and through this sprocket the power could be transmitted to an another sprocket which
is attached with an axle. Now for the selection of the motor following calculations were
done.

Mass of car = 130kg

Mass of driver = 100 kg

Total Mass = M = 100+130 = 230 kg

Tire diameter = 20 inch = 50 cm

Tire radius = 10 inch = 25 cm

Now as we are claiming our vehicle to be urban designed, hence according to American
standards the vehicle should travel from stationary to 9m/s speed in 6 seconds, so we
will consider these values.

To calculate the acceleration we can use the equation of motion

𝑉𝑓 = 𝑉𝑖 + 𝑎𝑡 (1.)

Or
𝑣𝑓 −𝑣𝑖
𝑎= 𝑡
(2.)

Where,

𝑉𝐹 = 9 𝑚/𝑠

And,

𝑉𝑖 = 0

Putting values we have:

9
𝑎= = 1.5 𝑚/𝑠 2
6

We get acceleration equal to 1.5 m/s2, which we will consider in the following
calculations.

Maximum Acceleration = a = 1.5 m/s2

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 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

Maximum Velocity = v = 35 km/h or 9.72 m/s

These are the linear characteristics of the vehicle but for the calculations of the motor
we need the rotational characteristics of the tire, the maximum angular velocity of the
tire and the torque on the tire.

Now, angular velocity is change of angle per unit time and its unit in SI is radians per
second. It is denoted by the symbol omega. We name angular velocity of the rear axle
as a, and it is calculated as:
𝑣
𝑎 = 𝑟 (3.)

9.72
𝑎 =
0.25

𝑎 = 38.88 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠

For calculating the maximum torque of the axle we have

𝑎 = 𝑟𝐹 (4.)

In order to calculate the force (F) we first have to find the weight that is acting on a
front and rear axles.

We assumed that

Weight acting on the front axle = Wf

Weight acting on the rear axle = Wf
To find the weight acting on the front and rears axles, following are the formulas that
are derived from static modelling:
Now we use the conditions of the equilibrium to find the two forces. We actually find
two equations by equating the sum of all forces in x and y direction to be zero.
We also equate sum of all moments to be zero from these three equations we derive the
following two equations:

𝑏 ℎ𝐶𝐺
Weight acting on the front axle = Wf =[ Wcosα] – [ Wsinα]
𝑙 𝑙
𝑎 ℎ𝐶𝐺
Weight acting on the rear axle = Wr =[ Wcosα] + [ Wsinα]
𝑙 𝑙

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

Figure 3.1: Static Modelling Diagram

Considering the above image we have:

a = Distance from front axle to the center of gravity
b = Distance from rear axle to the center of gravity
hCG = Height of center of gravity

We could not calculate the exact position of center of gravity before the fabrication of
chassis hence we assume the position to be at some percentage of the length of the
vehicle from the center of the rear axle. We will then observe the change in result due
to this assumption, Hence:
In our case, the maximum load is in the rear axle hence we assume that the center of
gravity is closer to the rear, hence assuming this factor to be x, then:
𝑎 = (1 − 𝑥) ∗ 𝑙
𝑏 =𝑥∗𝑙
where x is some percentage of the length of the vehicle.

ℎ𝐶𝐺
𝑊𝑓 = 𝑊[𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼] − [ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼] (5.)
𝑙

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 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

ℎ𝐶𝐺
𝑊𝑟 = 𝑊[(1 − 𝑥)𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 (6.)
𝑙

Assuming the value of x to be 0.4 which means that the centre of gravity is at 40% of
the length from the rear axle. We also assumed that the height of the centre of gravity
from the ground is at half of the vehicle height from table 2.2. Hence, x = 0.4 & hCG=h/2

Now putting values for Wf ,

𝑊𝑓 = 230[0.4𝑐𝑜𝑠20 – (1.44/2 𝑥 1.76)𝑠𝑖𝑛20]

𝑊𝑓 = 564.075 𝑁
Similarly for Wr,
𝑊𝑟 = 230[0.6𝑐𝑜𝑠20 + (1.44/2 𝑥 1.76)𝑠𝑖𝑛20]
𝑊𝑟 = 1556.85 𝑁

After this, we calculate the forces acting on the vehicle. These forces are wind
resistance, rolling friction of tyres, inertial force and grade resistance. Hence the total
force is given by:

𝐹 = 𝐹𝑤 + 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙 + 𝐹𝑖𝑛 + 𝐹𝛼 (7.)

Here,

Fα = Grade resistance

Fw = Wind resistance

Frol = Rolling friction

Fin = inertial force

F = force required to translate the vehicle

Now, the wind resistance is the product of surface area of the front of the vehicle,
density of air, half of square of velocity and the coefficient of wind resistance. We find
this value as follows:

𝑣2
𝐹𝑤 = 𝐶𝑤. 𝐴. 𝜌. (8.)
2

Cw = Coefficient of wind resistance

A =surface area of front

ρ = Density of air

v = Maximum velocity

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
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Here, the surface area is calculated by multiplying width and height of the vehicle taken
from the table 2.2., i.e.

𝐴 = 𝑊∗𝐻
𝐴 = 0.75𝑥1.44
𝐴 = 1.08 𝑚2

Also,

ρ = 1.225 kg/m3

v = 35 km/h = 9.72 m/s

Putting the above calculated values into the equation of wind resistance we get:

9.722
𝐹𝑤 = 𝐶𝑤(1.08)(1.225) ( )
2

𝐹𝑤 = 𝐶𝑤(62.24)

The rolling friction of tyres is basically the resistance of the tyres at the point of contact
with the ground. This is the product of coefficient of rolling friction with the weight
acting on both axles. It is calculated as follows:
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙 = 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙,𝑓 + 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙,𝑟 (9.)
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙,𝑓 = 𝑓𝑟 𝑊𝑓
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙,𝑟 = 𝑓𝑟 𝑊𝑟
Hence,
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙 = 𝑓𝑟 (𝑊𝑓 + 𝑊𝑟 )
In our case,
𝑊𝑓 + 𝑊𝑟 = 2120.9 𝑁
Hence,
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑙 = 𝑓𝑟 (2120.9)
The inertial force is simply the resistance due to the mass of the vehicle. It is the product
of mass and acceleration according to second law of Newton We calculated the inertial
force as follows:
𝐹𝑖𝑛 = 𝑚𝑎 (10.)
𝐹𝑖𝑛 = 230 ∗ 1.5
𝐹𝑖𝑛 = 345 𝑁

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 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

Grade Resistance is the resistive force due to the inclination. It is the horizontal
component of the weight. The maximum inclination parameter is pre-decided to be 20
degrees.
𝐹𝛼 = 𝑊𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 (11.)
Putting values in the above equation:
𝐹𝛼 = 2256 ∗ 𝑠𝑖𝑛20
𝐹𝛼 = 771.7 𝑁
Now we determine the coefficients of wind resistance and the rolling friction. Since our
product is much similar to the golf cart so the value of coefficient of wind resistance
should be equal to that of golf carts which is 0.5 hence:
𝐶𝑤 = 0.5
The coefficient of rolling friction for 50cm tyre is given as 0.004 through online
calculators hence:
𝑓𝑟 = 0.004
Now we put the values of all forces that we have calculated into the main equation to
find the total traction force required to translate the vehicle.
𝐹 = Fw + Frol + Fin + Fα
𝐹 = (0.5x62.24) + (0.004x2120.9) + (345) + (771.7)
𝐹 = 31.12 + 8.48 + 345 + 771.7
𝐹 = 1156.3 N
Now for torque measurement,
𝜏 = 𝑟𝐹
𝜏 = 0.25 ∗ 1156.3
𝜏 = 289.075 𝑁𝑚
The above value is the torque required from the axle to the point of contact of tire with
the ground, I order to move the vehicle forward. This a very large vale and we use the
gearing to reduce the load on the motor. The gearing type as discussed before is the
different sized sprockets driven by chain. We are using chain no.420 at the rear end and
sprocket sizes are given below:
Number of teeth on motor sprocket = Tm = 14
Number of teeth on axle sprocket = Ta = 41
We find the gear ratio from the help of these values, but first determine the relations of
gear ratio with various parameters of motor sizing. Gear Ratio is represented by G.R

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
and it is related to Teeth of gears, angular velocities and torques of input and output
transmissions as follows:
𝑇 𝜏 𝜔𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐺. 𝑅 = 𝑇 𝑖𝑛 = 𝜏 𝑖𝑛 = (12.)
𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝜔𝑖𝑛

In our situation, the input transmission is the motor (subscript ‘m’) and the output
transmission is at axle (subscript ‘a’)
𝑇𝑚 𝜏𝑚 𝜔
𝐺. 𝑅 = = = 𝜔𝑎 (13.)
𝑇𝑎 𝜏𝑎 𝑚

𝑇𝑚 14
𝐺. 𝑅 = = = 0.34
𝑇𝑎 41
We have calculated the angular velocity at the axle to be equal to be
𝜔𝑎 = 38.88 𝑟𝑎𝑑⁄𝑠 = 371.3 𝑟𝑝𝑚
𝜔𝑎
𝜔𝑚 = = 114.35 𝑟𝑎𝑑⁄𝑠 = 1092 𝑟𝑝𝑚
𝐺. 𝑅
We have calculated the torque at rear axle and now need to find the torque at the spindle
of the motor:
𝜏𝑚 = 𝜏𝑎 ∗ 𝐺. 𝑅 (14.)
𝜏𝑚 = 0.34 ∗ 289.075 = 98.26 Nm
Hence the motor required for the propulsion of the rear axle of the vehicle must have a
torque of about 100Nm torque and about 1000rpm. We then select an appropriate motor
on these specifications.
Following are some motors that are selected on the basis of these calculations. We
further select one motor on comparison.

Model Number IBL-100SW

Torque 3.5 Nm

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 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

Speed 100-10000 RPM

Voltage 12-48V

Continuous Current 5A

Output Power 500-1200 Watt

Model Number BM1418ZXF-02

Torque N/A

Speed 450 RPM

Voltage 48 V

Continuous Current 13.4 A

Output Power 750 Watt

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

Model Number QS205

Torque 100 Nm

Speed 650 RPM

Voltage 48 V

Continuous Current 23 A

Output Power 1000 Watt

Model Number MX650

Torque 3.8-6.5 Nm

Speed 3900-4600 RPM

Voltage 48-60 V

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 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

Continuous Current 35 A

Output Power 1600-2000 Watt

Model Number 152ZW02

Torque 3.5 Nm

Speed 2800 RPM

Voltage 36 V

Continuous Current 32 A

Output Power 1000 Watt

3.3 Vehicle Speed Measurement

The speed of the car is directly proportional to the speed of the motor turning the drive
wheel, so by measuring the motor rotational speed we can derive the vehicle’s linear
speed. A device that measures the rate at which something is turning is called a
tachometer. Several possible tachometer types are used for rotational speed
measurement.
One often used form of a tachometer is that of a small electric motor or generator. As
it turns, it generates a DC voltage that is related to the rate at which it is spinning. In

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
this case, the resulting DC voltage could be measured using a microcontroller’s A/D
converter and the rotational speed interpreted from the DC voltage. Some motor speed
controls utilize the back EMF of a motor, but this voltage is usually tricky to separate
from drive voltage and is usually only an approximation of the motor’s speed at best.
Another version of tachometer is the digital tachometer. A digital tachometer typically
generates a pulse train, associated with the rate of spin, which can be measured as a
frequency and converted to revolutions per minute (rpm). A digital tachometer is, in
most cases, a less expensive alternative to an analog tachometer. It can be easily
constructed from a slotted disk and a photo interrupter or optocoupler. It can also be an
off-the-shelf solution in the form of an optical encoder. Because there are no magnets
and much less inertia due to the weight of the armature, the digital tachometer offers an
additional advantage over the analog tachometer in that it usually imposes less drag on
the system.
Timerl is a 16-bit counter and can hold a value 256 times larger. This means that we
can effectively sample at one-fiftieth the rate, or once every 10 seconds! If the sampling
rate is even once per second, the collected number in Timerl would effectively be five
times larger than what could be measured within the 8-bit counter.

3.4 Battery Health Measurement

Battery health can be as exotic as one chooses it to be. It can be as simple as measuring
the voltage, or as complicated as monitoring the charging currents and determining the
battery's internal impedance changes. In most cases, an embedded system is concerned
with the simple requirement of "is there enough voltage to operate correctly?" This can
be accomplished in most cases with a resistive divider, to scale the voltage being
measured, and an A/D converter.
In the case of the car, we will want to use the A/D and maintain a reasonable resolution
because this input will be used to issue warnings to the operator, make predictions about
Remaining operating time, and eventually shut down the drive when the battery voltage
is too low to safely operate the motor driver.

35
 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

3.5 Motor Current Measurement

Monitoring of motor current during the operation of the car provides for the intelligent
protection of the drive system. The current can indicate to the drive control when an
overcurrent situation is occurring and allow the software to decide whether or not that
the system should be shut down. The measured current, when combined with the battery
voltage, additionally allows for the prediction of battery usage and remaining range of
the car or battery. Measuring current in a DC drive like this one is typically done with
some type of sense resistance in series with the motor. Once the large current is
converted to small voltage, some amplification and filtering will need to be done and
the result sent to the A/D converter.

3.6 Hardware Design- Control Unit

Now that we have proven to ourselves that the project ready is possible, we can start
designing the final hardware. By using the block diagrams, specifications, and
feasibility research from the definition phase, we can quickly put together the whole
circuit of a control unit.
In our car, we used an ESP32 control unit because it is the most efficient control unit
and is meeting our desired requirements. ESP32 is a single 2.4 GHz WI-Fi-and-
Bluetooth combo chip designed with the TSMC ultra-low-power 40 nm technology. It
is designed to achieve the best power and RF performance, showing robustness,
versatility and reliability in a wide variety of applications and power scenarios.
Following are the pin descriptions of ESP32:

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

In the control unit, we have multiple inputs and outputs as shown in the block diagram
which is given below:

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 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

The controller operates the motor, indicators and the display unit on the basis of
decision which it formulates by the inputs of all the sensors. Other than these, the
control unit also communicates with the user through wifi or Bluetooth for updating the
data and burning the code implemented in the controller. There is no PID or any other
reinforcement method which is why we have given a user interface on the display unit
for changing different thresholds of the sensor readings. The controller also has a SD-
card module for data logging.
The drive unit is battery powered. The battery is capable of delivering huge amounts of
current, and the motor is capable of using it, fusing the unit is not operationally very
practical. To improve the safe operation of the device, a relay is designed into the
system to disconnect the battery from the drive circuits. A relay with high current
contacts is placed in the final drive output.
The use of I/O in the controller which we have used are further explained below:

3.6.1 Power Input:

There is no module for exact power measurement used in the control unit. We have
rather used the voltage and current sensors with different electric components, such as:

Regenerative Circuit: We used the voltage and current sensor inside the regenerative
circuit to monitor whether the battery is charging or not. It is also used to calculate the
amount of charge it is storing at an instance. The charging process will be fluctuating
due to the different configuration of the gears as described in the regeneration section.
Below is our regenerative circuit’s block diagram:

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 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)

Power Supply: It is used in the power supply unit for measuring the current used by
all the electrical components. The power supply for the entire system is, of course, the
battery. In actuality, not much of the system can operate at battery voltage, so a
regulator is used on the drive unit to down convert the battery to 5 V DC (VCC). The
power supply, as wed as the battery switching, is diode isolated to help prevent damage
from an accidentally reversed battery connection. Because the display unit requires very
little power and is fairly close to the drive unit (within a few feet by wire), the VCC is
provided to the display unit through the CAN communication cable. The battery voltage
is also monitored by the microprocessor’s A/D such that the “health” of the power
system can be reported to the display unit.
Motor Current Monitoring: To monitor the large motor currents in this drive system,
a small voltage is measured across a sense resistance. The sense resistance is 0.01 ohm.
This will produce a 1-volt drop at 100 amperes. The drop in voltage in a sensing circuit
like this one must remain low. If too much voltage drop is allowed, then several
undesirable outcomes could result. First, the sense resistor itself could heat up to the
point of burning. Second, the increased drop could decrease the ability of the system to
adequately switch on the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
(MOSFET) switching transistors, used to power the motor, causing the MOSFET to
heat and eventually fail.
In addition to the A/D reading of the current, a second op-amp is used as a comparator.
When the current reaches a motor stall level, in this case greater than 80 amperes, the
comparator output goes to logic high and issues a digital signal to the microcontroller.
This signal can be used as a polled digital input or it can generate an interrupt. Stall
level currents are okay for short durations, but too much time in stall can damage the
motor, the drive output, and, potentially even the battery and wiring. It is for this reason
that redundancy in measuring methods is in order.

3.6.2 Global Positioning System (GPS)

It is a global navigation satellite system that provides geolocation and time information
to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of
sight to four or more GPS satellites.
The GPS coordinate input is required for the optional navigation for the user. It
communicated with the controller through UART (Rx and Tx) protocol.

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 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

3.6.3 Accelerator

The accelerator is a variable switch that gives an analog reading to the controller which
then decides the acceleration of the motor, i.e. amount of voltage supplied to it.

3.6.4 Electric Speed Controller (ESC):

It is the most important output of the ESC. The electric speed controller is used to drive
Brushless DC motor. It takes the input in form of analogue values provided by the pulse
width modulation of the PWM ports of the controller.

3.7 Software Design- Control Unit:

Designing the software is really just planning out how the software will function. When
the design of the software is complete, we have a list of tasks and their priorities and a
set of flowcharts describing how the tasks are tied together. The second phase of the
definition phase is the implementation of the code into the designed controller. The
ESP32 module can easily be programmed using Arduino IDE library for the ESP chips.
Programming specifications for one vehicle are very generic. Major input is the
accelerator and all the other inputs are mainly for monitoring and logging purposes.
The accelerator on the other hand is the most important input as it is used for driving
the vehicle. The main programming flow diagram is to be designed yet but it is very
simple. The real time input of accelerator is used to drive the motor with exactly the
same percentage of analogue as measured by the ADC of the controller from the
accelerator input.
The other inputs are GPS, speedometer, voltage sensor, current sensor and GYRO.
The purpose and the usage of these inputs are described below:

3.7.1 Accelerator

The input of the accelerator is an analogue value. The ADC of the controller converts
this into the 8-bit value on which we decide the PWM value of the electric speed
controller (ESC). The formula by which it converts the input is given as:

𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟

∗ 256 = 8-bit value from ADC
𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟
8−𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐴𝐷𝐶
∗ 𝑚𝑎𝑥. 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 = the voltage supplied to the motor
256

40
 FABRICATION OF AN URBAN DESIGN ELECTRIC QUADRICYCLE
(LANDBOAT)
3.7.2 Global Positioning System (GPS):

The GPS module communicates with the controller through the UART protocol. The
purpose of the GPS is to provide the user with an optional navigation feature which is
not the present scope of the product but the generic board of UDEQ should be able to
incorporate these changes afterwards.
The Rx, Tx pins of the module are connected with the controllers. Rx and Tx pins which
are basically the receiving and transmitting pins. The data we are planning to take from
the GPS are the coordinates of the vehicle, which is to be saved into the SD-card after
every fixed interval of time. This time is to be decided on the basis of performance of
the vehicle. The controller will also receive these values and decides the distance
travelled by the vehicle so as to display this data to the user.

3.7.3 Speedometer:

The speedometer is used in ESC of UDEQ. Its main purpose is to measure the speed of
the vehicle and display it on the screen.
The controller has to decide whether the vehicle should run manually or by motor and
display this decision on the screen as to guide the user for best performance and
utilization of energy. Higher speed ratings suggest that the user should pedal as to
conserve the battery and because there would be a minimum load for the user as well.
The slower speed thresholds suggest that the user should us the motor as to assist
him/her while driving.

3.7.4 Voltage and Current Sensor:

The values of voltage and current at various location of the vehicle are to be measured
as to guide the user, through the screen display as to how he/she should use the
resources to his/her best utilization, because our first and foremost goal is to finalize
the vehicle that facilitates the user to its maximum capacity. Secondly our goal is to
introduce an energy efficient mode of transport and for doing this we have to collect
data at various conditions of the vehicle, while it is been driven, and to come up with
efficient solutions to the problems faced in the field of efficient energy utilizations.
The values given by the voltage and current sensors are analogy values which are in
turn read by the controller through its built in ADCs. The controller then translates these
values into 8-bit binary representation and displays this data on the TFT screen in a user

41
 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

friendly display. This data is compiled in the controller and sent to the SD card module
for further storage.

3.7.5 Gyroscope

The GYRO is used for measuring the vibrations in the vehicle as well as the inclination
of the vehicle. The vibration readings are used only for data logging purposes as to
improve the suspension of the vehicle. On the other hand, the inclination of the vehicle
is a very important input as to decide whether the vehicle is able to drive uphill by use
of motor or the user should pedal as well for best consumption of the battery. The
readings are shown on the display screen in a very user friendly interface. The GYRO
is connected with the SCA and SDL pins of the controller and hence communicate with
the controller through I2C protocol.

3.7.6 Micro SD-Card:

The micro- SD Card Module is a simple solution for transferring data to and from a
standard SD card. It allows you to add mass storage and data logging to your project.
This module has SPI interface which is compatible with any sd card and it use 5V or
3.3V power supply. SD-card module has two pins MISO (master in slave out) and
MOSI (master out slave in). These two pins are to be connected with ESP32. MISO pin
is connected with GPIO19 pin of ESP32 and MOSI pin is connected with GPIO23 pin
of ESP32. The power supply of 5V and 3.3V are also given from ESP32. Below is the
complete connection of SD card with ESP32.

Figure 3.2: Micro Sd-Card connection with the controller

42
Bibliography

[1] P. Rycerski, S. Koutra, K. N. Genikomsakis, and C. S. Ioakimidis, “A University

survey with a Comparative study of an E- Bikes Sharing System,” pp. 1–11,
2016.

[2] M. Johnson and G. Rose, “Electric bikes – cycling in the New World City : an
investigation of Australian electric bicycle owners and the decision making
process for purchase,” Australas. Transp. Res. Forum 2013 Proc., no. October,
pp. 1–10, 2013.

[3] F. Behrendt, “Why cycling matters for Smart Cities. Internet of Bicycles for
Intelligent Transport,” J. Transp. Geogr., vol. 56, pp. 157–164, 2016.

[4] F. Behrendt and C. Kiefer, “Smart e-bike monitoring system: real-time open
source and open hardware GPS assistance and sensor data for electrically-
assisted bicycles,” IET Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 79–88, 2016.

[5] R. Bini, P. Hume, J. Croft, and A. Kilding, “Pedal force effectiveness in Cycling:
a review of constraints and training effects,” J. Sci. Cycl., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 11–
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[6] A. F. Stydy, “FUEL CELL POWERED CARGO BICYCLES - A

FEASIBILITY STYDY,” pp. 1–16, 2016.

[7] “Chair of Mechanosystem Components ELECTRIC BICYCLE FRAME

DESIGN AND,” 2015.
 MODELLING AND SIMULATION

References1

[a] https://www.smart-ebikes.com/outputs/
[b] http://mypodride.com
[c] https://www.u-blox.com/sites/default/files/products/documents/NEO-
6_DataSheet_(GPS.G6-HW-09005).pdf
[d] https://www.makerfabs.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=40
8
[e] https://alexnld.com/product/max471-voltage-current-sensor-votage-sensor-
current-sensor-module-for-arduino/

1
These are the references to the images and data collected from internet and non-published papers.

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