Autocycle: Design, Construction, and Validation 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 located close enough to a bicycle hub that traveling to and from it is time-effective. As for hubless bike-shares, bicycles require redistribution over time to remain conveniently available to many. We propose the creation of an electric bicycle that can either be used by a cyclist manually or operated autonomously using locomotion, sensing, balance, and control systems. We have concluded that such a concept is possible and achievable, as we are making significant progress toward developing working prototypes for the self-stability and autonomous navigation of the Autocycle. Once those milestones are completed, we will integrate the two systems together in the final prototype. Our Undergraduate Research Day presentation will showcase the research and data we have collected up until this point and outline our future goals for the project. With the completion of this prototype, we want to show that such a bicycle could be implemented into a larger bike-sharing system that autonomously manages distribution and allows users to summon a bicycle to their location, expanding the range of use and encouraging environmentally-friendly transportation solutions in an urban setting.