Autocycle: Design, Construction, and Validations of an Autonomous Bicycle

Abstract

Efficient urban transportation has time and time again proved to be a difficult problem to rectify. One modern solution is the bike-sharing system, where many bicycles are available either at hubs or spread across a city for short-term use. However, usage is limited to those who are located close enough to a bicycle hub that travelling to and from it is time-effective. As for hubless bike-sharing systems, bicycles require redistribution over time to remain conveniently available to many. In this thesis, we propose the concept of a dual-mode bicycle that may either be used by a cyclist manually or operated independently utilizing autonomous locomotion, sensing, and control. Such a bicycle could be implemented into a larger bike-sharing system that autonomously manages balanced redistribution and allows users to summon a bicycle to their location, expanding range of use and encouraging environmentally-friendly transportation solutions in an urban setting. We will explore existing literature that have informed later design choices and data collection methods and propose our own methodology for designing, creating, and testing an autonomous bicycle.