Addis Ababa Science and Technology

University

Addressed
To The Office of
Technology Transfer Directorate
AASTU
 Request budget for the
Proposal
“Fabrication of Smart E-Cycle
For AASTU”
Submitted by
Third Year Mechanical
Engineering Students

Group members ID
1. REDAGN SIMANESEW ETS0999/10
 2. MUKHTAR MOHAMMEDZEIN ETS0881/10

3. YISAKOR GAREDEW ETS1265/10

4. YONATAN ASSEFA ETS1300/10

5. YONATHAN DEJENU ETS1304/10

Project Title:
 “Fabrication of Smart E-Cycle for AASTU Campus”

Project Theme
Using clean energy and preventing pollution for the community service.

Project duration
This project is intended to start on Dec 2019 and will finish the fabrication on May 2020.

Project executive summary

Our project is concerned in the design and making of an electric bicycle prototype. This
prototype is intended to increase the awareness of the AASTU community on the need for
green technology and why electric bicycles are already the next big thing.
Our ultimate goal is to make electric bicycles as a preferred mode of transportation in and off
campus. This technology, we feel, will be a great boon to increase bicycle attractiveness,
accessibility, and convenience for contemporary business people, students, and other
commuters.

Summary of applicants

This project is a synthesis of 5 Numbers of 3rd year mechanical Engineering students (List
Attached) at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University. The entire group will take
part in the design and development stages, and in prototype construction. Decisions will be
made in groups, with opportunities for each group member to contribute their knowledge and
opinions. This method of design will require intensive cooperation and frequent group
discussions, but will ensure that each member has a firm understanding of the entire project
scope and interrelations. Particular design tasks will be assigned based on member workload,
interest, and talent; for example, Mr. Mukhtar, is especially interested and talented in the area
of Electrical setups, and Mr. Redagn, in hardware design. Roles outside of design, like
handling external public relations, and handling group coordination will be assigned to
specific members.

Principal Investigator
During this project we will be over watched by Dr. Manikumar Rajendran, Associate
Professor/Mechanical Engineering, College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering,
AASTU.
Introduction
With the frequent and rapid population growth and the need to improve quality of life
there has been a desperate increase for technology. One of these technologies with high
demand is the transportation technology. But with such population growth and demand for
transportation the outdated air pollutant fuel based transportation is no longer a long lasting
solution. Electric powered vehicles are the future with the advantage of not depending on
finite resources i.e. fuels and decreasing emission of pollutants to air thus resulting in a green
environment.
The need for faster, easier, more efficient transportation has increased tremendously.
As deduced from above, electrically powered automobiles are highly preferred and
recommended. With constant increase of population Electric automobiles might not always
be the solution, especially in big cities having large population and traffics.
In response to greater congestion, longer and more intense 'smog' seasons, and lack of
parking spaces, cities are looking to encourage their citizens to use alternate forms of
transportation such as bus, rail, or bicycle. Of these, the bicycle is the cheapest form for the
commuter as well as the most health benefits for the commuter. Conventional bicycles rely
solely on manpower propulsion. Unfortunately this deters many individuals from using their
bicycles as a means of transportation. The efficient way to reach your destination have
become through Electric bicycles. Hence, we propose the research and development of this
Electric bicycle, which we strongly believe will prove to be a viable and attractive alternative
means of transportation for people (in and outside AASTU).
We strongly believe that we as humans are all responsible for taking care of the world
we live in. We also believe that "healthy people are happy people". Therefore, with the
development of the E-bicycle, we believe that we can create an alternative mode of
transportation that will contribute to the health of the world.

Research Problem

This project is intended to solve transportation problems, which we are facing today in Addis
Ababa and also Ethiopia. The transportation modems we use today are environment pollutant
and also very costly. The E-Bike is designed to be a solution for the above problems.
General Objective

We aim in creating an advanced and clean environment.

Significance of the Project:

1) In human transportation, as a personalized vehicle.

2) For in-campus transportations like in huge campuses like AASTU and huge factories.
3) In hospitals, Airports, Shopping malls, IT campuses, Hotels &resorts, Power stations,
manufacturing units, etc...

4) Light weight & easy to control, makes convenient for use by anyone.
5) Controlled speed ensures rider’s safety.
6) Can be used by old aged demography.
7) On site charging facility. No need to visit fuel station

WHY build an E-Bike

The most important question to ask before starting any project is why it is needed to be done.
We as a group asked ourselves why we needed to build an E-Bike rather than any other
project. The big answer was WHY NOT.

There is a gap in the field of E-bike here in Ethiopia. There is a lack of knowledge in the need
for green environment and that biking can also be a considered as a mode of transportation
rather than being looked as a tiring exercise.
 Materials, system components and Methodology
The main components are:
1) Drive System,
2) Control System,
3) Battery and Charger
4) Bicycle
Materials and System Components
1) Drive System (Motor)
The E-bicycle will utilize an electrically powered hub motor to deliver power to the rear
wheel. This motor will enable riders to travel greater distances in a shorter time period and
allow the riders to easily ascend any inclines they may face on their journeys. Batteries that
have a long life and that can easily be recharged will provide the electricity to the drive
system.
In our project, we plan to use hub motor fixed in the rear wheel. Hub motors are typically
brushless motors (sometimes called brushless direct current motors or BLDCs), which
replace the commutator and brushes with half-a-dozen or more separate coils and an
electronic circuit. The circuit switches the power on and off in the coils in turn creating forces
in each one that make the motor spin. Since the brushes press against the axle of a normal
motor, they introduce friction, slow it down, make a certain amount of noise, and waste
energy. That's why brushless motors are often more efficient, especially at low speeds.
2) Control System
A speed controller or motor controller is essential in applying the voltage and power that
is delivered to the motor from the batteries. All decent electric vehicles need a motor
controller of some kind. On E-Cycle with a very small motor it might be possible to just have
an on-off arrangement, but we feel that a decent controller is absolutely necessary with a
powerful motor like this. The controller is a rather expensive electronic black box
with no moving parts. A modern PWM or 'pulse width modulation'' controller is very reliable
as long as it's current limit is not exceeded. Unfortunately a high ampere capable
controller is not cheap and may cost about as much as the motor. So, we plan to use a circuit
of our own using some basic electrical components like transistors and resistors available in
the Ethiopian Market.

This circuit needs an Arduino to give the needed PWM signal then that signal will pass
through our control circuit, since the PWM signal from the Arduino has a low current and
can’t drive the electronic motor the control circuit will be connected to a greater power
source (12V battery). This battery can not increase or decrease the speed of the motor alone
so that’s why we need the control circuit.

The circuit control works by amplifying the PWM signal from the Arduino using the 12V
battery and creating a PWM signal but with a much greater current than the Arduino. This
circuit can be done with a very cheap components (mosphets and some resistors) these
components are available in Ethiopian market.

The figure below shows the basics of the control circuit when in reality it is a little bit
more complicated.

In the more complicated version of this circuit, it consists of multiple of mosphets in parallel and
resistors as well as in series with transistors.
 3) Battery and Charger Circuit by Solar energy:

Figure 1: Solar Panel with Charging Circuit

A battery is rated in voltage and amp-hours. Voltage-times amp hour equals watt-hours and this is the total energy available from the battery. So

our battery pack will be having 2 x 12V x 4.5Ah = 108 watt hours. S olar charger circuit will be used (Fig.1) to charge
Lead Acid or Ni-Cd batteries using the solar energy power. The circuit harvests solar energy
to charge a 6 volt 4.5 Ah rechargeable battery for the present application. The charger has
voltage and current regulation and over voltage cut-off facilities. The circuit will use two
12 volt solar panels and a variable voltage regulator. The solar panel consists of solar cells
each rated at 1.2 volts. 12 volt DC (2 Nos.) will be available from the panel to charge the
battery. The charging current passes through Diode D1 to the voltage regulator IC LM 317.
By adjusting its Adjust pin, output voltage and current can be regulated. VR will be placed
between the adjust pin and ground to provide an output voltage of 9 volts to the battery.
Resistor R3 restricts the charging current and diode D2 prevents discharge of current from the
battery. Transistor T1 and Zener diode ZD act as a cut-off switch when the battery is fully
charged. Normally when T1 is off and battery gets charging current. When the terminal
voltage of the battery rises above 6.8 volts, Zener diode conducts and provides base current to
T1. It then turns on grounding the output of LM317 to stop charging.

Methodology:
 1) The fabrication will be carried out keeping in mind the maximum load the motor will
be able to withstand.
2) Various fabrication processes will be carried out to make the individual parts.
3) Tube cutting for the construction of chassis.
4) Edge grinding to provide smoother surface finishing.
5) Welding to join the tubes to form a stable chassis.
6) All the fabricated parts will be assembled.
7) we weld the motor and dix it firm on to the frame of the bike.
8) We then weld a sprocket to the motor shaft and it will be used to transfer power to the
rear wheel sprocket.
9) The controller will be powered by batteries which will be placed in the control box.
10) Controller connects the main electrical components: the throttle and electric brake
assembly and also the motor. The throttle will send signal to the controller (Arduino)
and based on these signals the controller will send output to the motor.

Requested Budget

Components Specifications Cost in ETB

Motor 24V and 7 Amps 2500 (App.)
Charge Controller Self-made 2000 (App.)
Solar Panel (2Nos) 12v 1500 (App.)
Battery (2 Nos.) 12v and 10Ah 2500 (App.)
Total (App.)

Conclusion:
Smart E-bikes are zero-emissions transportation mechanisms, as they emit no
combustion by-products. However, the environmental effects of electricity generation and
power distribution and of manufacturing and disposing of (limited life) high storage density
batteries must be taken into account. Even with these issues considered, e-bikes will have
significantly lower environmental impact than conventional automobiles, and are generally
seen as environmentally desirable in an urban environment. The environmental effects
involved in recharging the batteries can of course be minimised. The small size of the battery
pack on an E-bikes, relative to the larger pack used in an electric car, makes them very good
candidates for charging via solar power or other renewable energy resources. In AASTU
campus, it can be capitalized on this benefit when it set up "solar parking lots," in
which E-bike riders can charge their vehicles while parked under photovoltaic panels.