Prototyping
Bicycle handles
In the final design, the bicycle handles vibrate as a result of the smart camera picking up an obstacle or if the user cycles to much to or away from the sidewalk. This is not possible to replicate in our prototype, since the camera is expensive, and requires a very smart AI. However, the bicycle handles can still be made.
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Instead of using a camera, a potentiometer measures whether the steering wheel turns to much to the left or right. The right handle will vibrate if the wheel turn to much to the right, and the left handle if the wheel turns to much to the left.
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The handles are made of PVC, with clay around it to shape the handles ergonomically. The end of the handles are made of hard foam. The plan was to put the vibration motors inside the pvc and shape a clay or foam coat around it, however, the vibration motors with wiring were to big to fit insight the PVC tube.
Electronics
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Arduino Nano:
The Arduino is here again applied as the brains of the circuit, however here it has to do significantly more calculations than before, as will be discussed below.
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10kΩ Potentiometer:
As the input for this part of the prototype, a potentiometer is used to get a value of how much the bike handle is rotated. This potentiometer is connected to the bike handle using spur gears. While this is not something that would actually be used in the final product, it gives a nice representation of the concept when showing the prototype.
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6 vibration motors:
As the output, six vibration motors are applied that can vibrate in different ways.
Three motors are applied per side, allowing relatively informational patterns. Two patterns that are already applied in the current prototype are pulsing, to suggest an approaching danger and a pattern that is like a running light, to guide the user in a direction.
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Additional power supply:
When turning on all motors at the same time, the vibrations become very weak. To overcome this, an additional 5V power supply was added, ensuring that the motors get enough power.
Evaluation