Claims:1. A method of automatic and manual footrest and side stand retrieval system
working on sensor-controller-actuator-feedback mechanism for the bikes,
comprising the steps of;
(a) sensors detecting load on the side stand (whether the bike is in the parked
condition), pillion seat condition (whether the seat is occupied or not) and
giving this signal to controller;
(b) controller on receiving this signal will do the computation and will give
respective command to the respective actuator; and
(c) further the actuator will perform the operation.
2. The sole purpose of the sensors from claim 1 is to give continuous input to the
controller or rather to the system regarding the condition of the bike;
(a) whether the pillion seat is occupied or not;
(b) whether the bike is in parked condition or not;
both irrelevant of the type of sensor used.
3. The controller from the claim 1 receives multiple inputs from the sensors,
switches/buttons and adjust its output according to the preset conditions and
algorithm fed into it.
4. The sole purpose of the actuator from claim 1 is to execute/perform the
required operation upon receiving the signal from the controller; the operations
being
(a) Opening and closing of footrest and lady footrest
(b) Side stand retrieval;
Both irrelevant to the type of actuating mechanism used.
5. The feedback system from claim 1 checks whether the desired task/operation
has been performed or not and it makes the complete system accurate and
reliable.
6. The use of sensor makes the complete system automatic;
But for manually operating the system and bypassing the sensors in case of
some special conditions, the button/switch inputs are provided in the system.
7. The automatic operation of the footrest and lady footrest will be performed by
adjusting the two sensors position on to the seat such that;
(a) When both the sensors cross the threshold value, the regular footrest will
open and
(b) When the sensor on the side of the lady footrest crosses the threshold
value, the lady footrest will be opened.
8. Alternative method of operating the footrest and lady footrest with the help of
single sensor and button/switch inputs;
When sensor crosses the threshold value, controller will make anyone of the
actuator perform its task/operation and the rider will decide whether to operate
footrest or lady footrest with the help of a sliding switch or any other button
inputs.
9. Step-up transformer and capacitor (energy accumulator/storage) system
arrangement will be used in case of high-capacity components are used in the
low battery capacity bikes.
10. This application can also be achieved by directly linking these sensors with the
actuator and eliminating the use of controller from the mechanism from claim 1
by;
(a) Controlling the duration of supply for the period of time actuator needs to
perform the task like PWM or delay time in case of motors etc.; and
(b) Replacing the controller with microprocessor, driver modules, integrated
circuits (I.C.) etc. , Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to automatic footrest and side stand retrieval system for
automotive vehicles and, in particular, to all the bikes.
PRIOR ART SEARCH (BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION):
Until now there has been small research carried out regarding this application in Malika
Gawande et al. (Automatic side stand and footrest retrieval system) the footrest was
operated by a high-capacity servo motor with a weight sensor as an input. Also, in the
same research the automatic side stand retrieval application was combined, wherein
the side stand will be retrieved when the ignition was turned on. To do so, a
potentiometer was coupled to the ignition switch. As soon as the key was turned to the
ignition state the resistance of the potentiometer reduced and this drop in resistance
would in turn serve as a signal to the servo motor to retrieve the side stand.
But this system had some major problems:
1. If a dead weight was kept on the pillion seat or behind the rider the sensor
would still read it as an input and operate the footrest which in this case is
undesirable.
Similar will be the case when a person with short height (e.g., kid) whose feet
can’t reach the footrest sits on the pillion seat and then the footrest will be
operated which will be undesirable,
2. If a person (e.g., lady) was supposed to sit on the pillion seat sideways, instead
of the lady footrest the regular footrest will be operated again in this case it will
be undesirable.
3. Regarding side stand; in case of cold start (for warming up of engine) or in case
of maintenance and inspection if the ignition switch is turned on, the side stand
will retrieve automatically and the bike will fall causing damage to the bike. Also,
due to load of bike in the parked condition if the ignition switch is turned on, the
motor won’t operate the side stand instead the motor would stutter causing
damage to the gears of the motor which will be undesirable.
4. Physical viability of the components used. The motor used in the system are of
high capacity. In case of I.C. engine driven bikes have low-capacity battery and
using a high-capacity motor might not work and would need a complex
arrangement. In case of electric bike this high-capacity motor will drain the
battery, little faster hence reducing the efficiency and range of the bike.
OBJECTIVE:
The disclosed mechanism can solve the above-mentioned problem i.e., override the
sensor input in case of dead weight on the pillion seat, distinguish between operation of
regular footrest and lady footrest, correct condition for side stand retrieval, and solution
for high-capacity components. This corrected system will be the perfectly feasible and
commercially viable solution to be used in bikes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The footrest of the bike will be operated by a sensor-controller-actuator-feedback
mechanism. For automatic opening and closing of the footrest a sensor will receive a
signal when the pillion sits on the seat. This signal from the sensor will be sent to the
controller in analog form. Upon receiving the signal from the sensor, the controller will
give an output signal to the actuator to operate the footrest. The footrest can be
opened and closed manually by a separate button input upon the will of the user (rider).
The automatic and manual operation of the actuator to open and close the footrest can
be overridden by a separate switch. Upon activating the switch, anyone of the operation
will work i.e., sensor input or button input. Similar mechanism will be used for
automatic side stand retrieval. The sensor will be placed such that the operation of lady
footrest and regular footrest. Similarly, it can override if the sensor input in case of dead
weight placed on the pillion seat. Correct condition for the side stand retrieval will also
be determined and the problem of physical viability of high-capacity components will be
solved. The function of the feedback system is to check whether the desired motion has
been achieved or not.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
FIG. 1 is the basic diagram if the mechanism on which our application/system will work.
In the mechanism it is clear how the sensor and button act as input and upon computing
the given conditions the controller will give the signal to the actuator to perform
respective operation. Feedback loop’s purpose is to check whether the desired
operation is achieved or not. FIG. 2 is the basic connection diagram between the sensor,
controller and actuators. In this it is clear that a sensor is connected to the controller. It
is connected to the analog input of the controller (pin A0). Similarly, two buttons are
connected to two digital pins of the controller (pin 4 and pin 7) of the controller. The
two actuators for footrests are connected to the PWM pins of the controller (pin 3 and
pin 5) and power supply to all these components will be supplied through breadboard.
FIG. 3 is the diagram of the physically made prototype to demonstrate and prove the
feasibility of this mechanism and application. It consists of tube frame made of steel
square tube, footrests, servo motor, breadboard, controller (Arduino UNO), flex sensor,
coupling between footrest and servo motor. FIG. 4 is the diagram showing sensor
arrangement to distinguish between the operation of the footrest and lady footrest. FIG.
5 shows the use of same mechanism to operate side-stand and lady footrest. FIG. 6
shows the basic algorithm fed to controller for automatic operation of side-stand
retrieval and footrest opening closing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
The general working mechanism on how the system/application work is shown in FIG. 1.
There is sensor and button input given to the controller. The controller will give output
to the actuator on computing the input data and already fed conditions and the
respective operation will be performed. It is clear from the FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 5, all the
three components (footrest, lady footrest and side stand) operation work on the same
mechanism hence by demonstrating and proving the mechanism for footrest can prove
the working of the mechanism for all the three components operation.
Working of Footrest for demonstration purpose:
COMPONENTS USED FOR DEMONSTRATION:
1. Servo motor (8 kg-cm at 4.4 V, 11 kg-cm at 6V) as an actuator
2. Arduino UNO R3 as a Controller
3. Flex Sensor as an input
4. Sliding switch as button inputs
5. 5V, 2A supply
FIG. 3 shows the footrest assembly arrangement made for demonstration purpose. A
Flex sensor is placed on the seat. Flex sensor works on the principle of change in
resistance. For recognizing the change in the resistance of the flex sensor a reference
resistance (10 kohm in this case) should be connected with the flex sensor. The flex
sensor is connected at the analog pin (A0) of the Arduino (controller). Servo motor
(actuator) are coupled to the footrest and are connected to the Arduino at the PWM
(Pulse Width Modulation) pin (3, 5). These servo motors come with their own inbuilt
feedback system. There are two sliding switches (button 1, button 2) connected at the
digital input pins of Arduino (4, 7). A threshold value in relation with the flex sensor is
fed to the controller. When a person sits on the pillion seat, the sensor value will cross
this threshold value, the controller will send servo motor a signal for opening the
footrests and keep the footrests opened until the controller keeps receiving the sensor
value above the threshold value i.e., until the pillion seat is occupied. As soon as pillion
leaves the seat, the controller will send signal to the servo motor to close the footrest. In
this way the footrest will work automatically. For manual operation of the footrest at
the will of the rider, sliding switches will be used. By sliding switch 1 (pin 4) rider can
operate the footrest but to do so the sensor input must be bypassed/ overridden and it
will be done by sliding switch 2 (pin 7). With the help of the sliding switch 2 (pin 7) rider
can switch between sensor and button input.
The motion of the actuator will be constrained in such a way that it will not rotate above
and below the given limits. The supply to the motor will stop when the motor reaches
any of those set limits hence preventing the motor stuttering and gear damage. This will
be achieved with the help of feedback system. Servo motors are motors which consists
inbuilt feedback system.
On successful working of this demonstrated prototype it can be concluded that the
mechanism from FIG. 1 will also successfully work for complete system i.e., footrest,
lady footrest, side stand retrieval system.
COMPLETE SYSTEM ARRANGEMENT:
All the sensors, switches and actuators will be connected to the same controller. Each
part i.e., footrest, lady footrest and side stand will have their respective actuators.
For the simplicity of understanding, the system is divided in two parts:
Part 1: Footrest and Lady footrest working and
Part 2: Side stand retrieval.
The combination of these two will form the complete system.
EXPLANATION:
PART 1: Footrest and Lady Footrest working:
The sensors are placed on the region of the seat where the laps of the pillion come in
contact of the seat on both sides of the seat. This is done to distinguish between the
required operation i.e., footrest and lady footrest.
Condition for working:
A threshold value from the sensor input will be set into the controller.
Condition 1: If both the sensor input crosses this preset threshold values, the regular
footrest will be opened and when the sensor input values are below these threshold
values the footrest will remain closed.
Condition 2: If only one sensor (sensor on the side of lady footrest) input crosses the
threshold value, the actuator will open the lady footrest.
This way controller itself will perform either of the tasks according to the requirement.
In case of some special cases such as senser failure, dead weight on back seat or pillion,
short pillion whose feet can’t reach the footrest etc., either the footrests won’t work like
in case of senser failure or the system will work undesirably like in case of dead weight
kept on pillion seat. To overcome such scenarios, switch/button input should be used to
override/bypass the sensor input and operate the footrests manually with another
switch/button input.
The operation of the footrest and lady footrest can also be distinguished manually by
using a switch. This will require only one sensor at the center of the pillion seat. As soon
as the sensor reads value greater than the preset threshold value the controller will give
output to perform either of the operation i.e., footrest or lady footrest initially. The rider
will then switch 1 (say) between the two operations by using a switch. Similar to the
earlier method in case of some special condition, rider can use another switch 2 (say) to
bypass the sensor input.
This way with the use of same sensors (one or two) both the footrest will be operated.
PART 2: Side Stand Retrieval Working:
It will work on the same mechanism as shown in FIG. 1.
For automatic working, a sensor input will give the input to the controller and according
to the working condition controller will give the signal to the actuator to retrieve the
side stand or not. The sensor should be placed such that it will determine if there is load
on the side stand (load due to bike weight).
Condition for working:
Threshold value in relation with the load will be set in the controller. When the sensor
value falls below this threshold value i.e., when the vehicle is in the driving position and
side stand is resting in air in open position, the controller will send signal to the actuator
to close the side stand. One condition to be followed while applying the side stand for
parking the bike is that before opening the side stand the ignition should be completely
turned off. If the ignition is not turned off the controller will keep on sending the
actuator the signal to keep the stand closed since there will be no load on the stand as it
is not parked.
The other alternative to turning the bike off for applying side stand to park the bike is to
bypass/override the sensor input by a switch while parking the bike.
Similar to the case with the footrest operation, on failure of sensor the system might,
fail so a separate switch will be used to operate the actuator and in turn operate the
side stand at the will of the operator.
On combining these two parts, the whole automatic footrest (normal and lady footrest)
and side stand retrieval system/application will work with the one general sensorcontroller-actuator-feedback mechanism.
The components used for demonstration purpose works under the capacity of the bike’s
battery. But if high-capacity components are to be used it might not work since most of
the domestic bikes comes with low-capacity battery. The solution to this is using a
transformer (step-up) and energy storage/accumulator (capacitor) arrangement. The
transformer will receive low voltage supply from the battery and increase it to the
usable voltage. This increased voltage will be stored in capacitor and used to power
these high-capacity components when needed.
ADVANTAGES:
1. There will be no need for pillion to open the footrest.
2. It will eliminate a chance of hazard in case of side stand and footrest not
removed.
3. It solves the major problems i.e., itself distinguishes between the footrest and
lady footrest operation, deadweight problem, it gives correct working condition
for side stand retrieval and it makes high-capacity components compatible with
all the bikes.
4. This system is compatible with every bike since there is no need for complex
changes in the bike and is compact.
5. All the three operations need one single controller.
6. All the bikes nowadays come’s equipped with a controller and all these
controllers mostly work on the same programming language or at least same
algorithm. Hence there is no hassle in connecting all these sensor and actuator
together with these controllers.
What it claims is:
1. A method of automatic and manual footrest and side stand retrieval system
working on sensor-controller-actuator-feedback mechanism for the bikes,
comprising the steps of;
(a) sensors detecting load on the side stand (whether the bike is in the parked
condition), pillion seat condition (whether the seat is occupied or not) and
giving this signal to controller;
(b) controller on receiving this signal will do the computation and will give
respective command to the respective actuator; and
(c) further the actuator will perform the operation.
2. The sole purpose of the sensors from claim 1 is to give continuous input to the
controller or rather to the system regarding the condition of the bike;
(a) whether the pillion seat is occupied or not;
(b) whether the bike is in parked condition or not;
both irrelevant of the type of sensor used.
3. The controller from the claim 1 receives multiple inputs from the sensors,
switches/buttons and adjust its output according to the preset conditions and
algorithm fed into it.
4. The sole purpose of the actuator from claim 1 is to execute/perform the
required operation upon receiving the signal from the controller; the operations
being
(a) Opening and closing of footrest and lady footrest
(b) Side stand retrieval;
Both irrelevant to the type of actuating mechanism used.
5. The feedback system from claim 1 checks whether the desired task/operation
has been performed or not and it makes the complete system accurate and
reliable.
6. The use of sensor makes the complete system automatic;
But for manually operating the system and bypassing the sensors in case of
some special conditions, the button/switch inputs are provided in the system.
7. The automatic operation of the footrest and lady footrest will be performed by
adjusting the two sensors position on to the seat such that;
(a) When both the sensors cross the threshold value, the regular footrest will
open and
(b) When the sensor on the side of the lady footrest crosses the threshold
value, the lady footrest will be opened.
8. Alternative method of operating the footrest and lady footrest with the help of
single sensor and button/switch inputs;
When sensor crosses the threshold value, controller will make anyone of the
actuator perform its task/operation and the rider will decide whether to operate
footrest or lady footrest with the help of a sliding switch or any other button
inputs.
9. Step-up transformer and capacitor (energy accumulator/storage) system
arrangement will be used in case of high-capacity components are used in the
low battery capacity bikes.
10. This application can also be achieved by directly linking these sensors with the
actuator and eliminating the use of controller from the mechanism from claim 1
by;
(a) Controlling the duration of supply for the period of time actuator needs to
perform the task like PWM or delay time in case of motors etc.; and
(b) Replacing the controller with microprocessor, driver modules, integrated
circuits (I.C.) etc.