Performance aiding of motorcycles using hybrid technology

IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308
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Volume: 03 Issue: 05 | May-2014, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 655
PERFORMANCE AIDING OF MOTORCYCLES USING HYBRID
TECHNOLOGY
John P Kurian1
, Jithin George2
, Jibin A V3
, Muhammad Majas K M4
1
UG Student, Dept of. Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Mar Athanasius College of Engineering, Kerala, India
2
3
4
Abstract
Rising fuel prices is a major issue faced by the vehicle owners today. Electric vehicles has been introduced in the market but they
have not been successful due to various problems like low power output, long charging time, unreliability etc. We hope to solve
these problems by the application of hybrid technology. We are designing a hybrid conversion kit which can be implemented on
factory made motorcycles for improving their efficiency and performance. Designing a hybrid motorcycle and bringing it into the
market can be difficult, but designing a conversion kit, which can be fitted on any motorcycle (old or new), has a higher
opportunity in the market.
In this kit, we are including a Brushless DC Motor which can be fitted inside the front tyre. We are also designing a user-friendly
interface which allows the user to select the modes of operation which are : Engine only, Motor only or both the motor and
engine(hybrid). The microcontroller in the kit senses the variables in the system and decides on the mode of running as per the
predefined criteria. This kit allows the user to obtain all the characteristics of both the electric motor and the internal-combustion
engine. The power output and the efficiency of the vehicle can be considerably increased using this technology.
Keywords: Hybrid Technology, Brushless DC hub motor
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1. INTRODUCTION
The problems faced by the vehicle owners today are rising
fuel prices and the resulting increased cost of living. The
crude oil price saw a rapid increase in the last decade due to
the change in foreign policies and varying economic
conditions in various countries. Shifting to sustainable
energy sources has become necessary. But as our lives are
thoroughly dependent upon the fossil fuels, a drastic change
from fossil fuels to sustainable resources(electricity from
sustainable resources), may present many difficulties. An
example of this is seen in the automobile industry, although
electric cars and scooters have been introduced into the
market, they have not yet attained their expected popularity
due to their various flaws like low power output, long
charging time, unreliability etc. These characteristics are
certainly attainable using the existing technology, but it is
not possible to provide them at a cost that is acceptable to
the masses.
With the ever increasing production and demand of fossil
fuel-based automobiles, their electric alternatives are not
able to compete with them in the market. Therefore hybrid
technology paves way for introducing electric drives into the
automobile sector and to help create a much more fuel
efficient and greener vehicle. In hybrid vehicles an electric
motor is used alongside an internal combustion engine for
powering the vehicle. Hybrid cars are already manufactured
by Porsche and Toyota, but they have not yet been
introduced in motorcycles because of their lack of
popularity in the western economy. However in the south-
Asian countries motorcycles play an integral role in the
transportation sector. In this project we are designing a
hybrid conversion kit which can be used to convert any
factory made motorcycle into a hybrid motorcycle. This kit
involves a brushless dc motor for powering the motorcycle
and a microcontroller for controlling the motor and the
engine and enabling them to run together without conflicts.
In order to come up with a system in which the user can
dictate the controller to run in whichever mode he desires, a
user interface is also designed. A product can only succeed
in the market if it is able to meet the meet the requirement of
the user and maximum effort has gone into designing this kit
so that is user acceptable.
2. BLOCK DIAGRAM

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The BLDC motor and the microcontroller can be powered
by using 4 12V batteries capable of providing 7Ah.
The mode of operation of the system is determined by the
mode selection switches placed in the control panel. The
user can select one of the three modes of operation by using
two switches. The Rheostat throttle is used for controlling
the speed of the vehicle. Proximity sensor is used for
determining the speed of the vehicles for providing the
appropriate control signals. The throttle servo is used as an
actuator for controlling the air intake input and subsequently
controlling the internal combustion engine. The indicator
panel is a part of the user interface and it consists of LED’s
displaying the mode of operation of the vehicle
3. OPERATING MODES
There are different modes of operation of the vehicle. They
are:
1. Mode 1 : Operates on Internal Combustion engine
alone
2. Mode 2 : Operates on Electric motor alone
3. Mode 3 : Hybrid Mode : Operates on both the
Internal Combustion engine and the Electric motor
3.1 Mode 1
When the mode 1 operation is selected by the user, the
vehicle relies solely on the power developed by the Internal
combustion energy for its operation. The fuel efficiency is
lower in such a mode of operation. This mode is provided as
a contingency so that the user is not stranded by the side of
the road in case the battery aboard has drained out.
3.2 Mode 2
In mode 2 operation, the electric motor mounted on the
wheels provides the power. The Internal combustion engine
is not used in this mode and it can be decoupled from the
transmission by engaging the clutch or by shifting into the
neutral gear. This is a highly efficient mode of operation and
can be used in when the load on the vehicle is low or when
cruising at higher velocities.
3.3 Mode 3 (Hybrid Mode)
When the mode 3 is chosen by the user, the electric motor is
used alongside the internal combustion engine for providing
the power. When travelling at lower speeds the vehicle
relies on the I.C engine and once a predefined cruising speed
(30Kmph) is attained, the machine shifts into the electric
mode. If the speed falls below the cruising speed, the I.C
engine is again used. This mode makes use of the
advantages of both the power sources. The BLDC electric
motor has lower starting torque but can run efficiently at
higher speeds, on the other hand the I.C engine has higher
starting torque but poorer efficiency when compared to the
electric motor. Excessive battery power consumption during
the starting of the BLDC motor can be avoided by applying
this method. Higher fuel efficiency and excellent running
characteristics can be obtained by using this mode of
operation.
4. POWERING THE VEHICLE
The hybrid conversion kit is fitted along with the battery,
throttle controller, proximity sensor and BLDC hub motor.
They are installed on the motorcycle as shown in the
following diagram
The Hybrid Conversion kit can be mounted on top of the
fuel tank. In stock motorcycles, the engine is controlled by a
throttle cable attached to the hand twist throttle. But once
the vehicle is converted into a hybrid vehicle, we need to
control a BLDC hub motor along with the engine, therefore
we have to replace the twist throttle with a twist variable
resistance pot.
The conversion kit has an Atmega microcontroller for its
operation. The microcontroller receives inputs from the
throttle pot, the proximity sensor and the mode selection
switches. Depending upon the input from the mode selection
switches, the mode of operation is set. If it is operating in
Mode 1 (engine only), the input of the throttle sensor is used
to rotate the throttle servo in the corresponding angle. In
Mode 2, the throttle servo input is used to provide the output
to the BLDC hub motor. The speed of the motor can be
controlled by varying the voltage output to the motor. A
PWM pin is used to provide the variable output to the
motor.
In Mode 3 operation is selected, a proximity sensor is used
to sense the speed of the vehicle. The proximity sensor is
mounted on the body of the vehicle near the rear wheel. A
metal piece is fitted on the wheel for sensing. In the mode 3
program loop, a counter is added to determine the rpm of the
rear wheel. The counter maximum value for a cruising speed
of 30 Km/h is set as 2000. When the counter crosses the
value, the switching between the motor and the engine takes
place.

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5. CONCLUSIONS
The use of hybrid technology can increase the fuel
efficiency of the automobile and provide enhanced
performance characteristics. A hybrid conversion kit as
demonstrated by this project has a huge market potential
considering the rising fuel prices and depleting crude oil
reserves.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank the almighty for bestowing upon us all his
blessings for the compilation of this paper. We extend our
sincere thanks to Prof.Radhakrishnan K, Head of the
Department for providing us with the guidance and facilities
for the project and for publishing of this paper. We express
our sincere gratitude to Prof, Acy M Kottalil, staff in charge,
who coordinated the project, for his cooperation and
guidance for preparing and presenting this paper. We also
extend our sincere thanks to all other faculty members of
Electrical and Electronics Department and our friends for
their support and encouragement.
REFERENCES
[1]. R.P. Joshi,A.PDeshmukh,"Hybrid Electric Vehicles :
The Next Generation Automobile Revolution"Electric and
Hybrid Vehicles, IEEE Conference 18-20 Dec 2006.
[2]. Ian Vince McLoughlin, I. KomangNarendra, Leong
HaiKoh, QuangHuy Nguyen, BharathSeshadri, Wei
Zeng,and Chang Yao, “Campus Mobility for the Future: The
Electric Bicycle”, January 2012
[3]. A. Szumanowski, Warsaw Univ.,”Energy
distribution in plug-in hybrid vehicle power trains”,
International Conference onPower Engineering, Energy and
Electrical Drives (POWERENG), 2011 , May 2011
[4]. B.E Kepple,”The triple hybrid vehicle”,Universities
Power Engineering Conference (AUPEC), 2010 20th
Australasian, Dec 2011

Performance aiding of motorcycles using hybrid technology

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