A new automatic measurement system for a bicycle

Abstract

This study proposes a new automatic bicycle-borne measurement system to quantify the pressing force on the pedals, detect the pedal cranks' rotations, compute the rear wheel's traveling distance and speed, calculate the accumulated calories burned and the equivalent fat loss incurred within the rider through cycling and, in addition, render a travel clock. The proposed system, with a built-in microprocessor, processes the measured data and displays the computed output, including the time, the traveling distance and speed, the accumulated calories burned and the equivalent weight (fat) loss during the cycling, via an LCD panel. The computation methods are detailed. The proposed system would convert a regular bicycle into a unique double-purpose equipment for both traveling and fitness exercise, usable both indoors and outdoors on both sunny and rainy days. The test results of this study's prototype are also listed and compared with standard or reference data in this paper.