DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A SELF-BALANCING TWO-WHEEL VEHICLE ATTACHMENT USING MECHANICAL GYROSCOPES

Abstract

A self-balancing mechanism is designed for enhancing locally produced motorcycles’ handling by using a mechanical gyroscope. Gyroscope is a spinning wheel which has a considerable mass, having high angular velocity, which when tilted, generates a force perpendicular to the actual motion of the body and its direction is determined by the direction in which the mass rotates and tilts, simultaneously. This produced force will be utilized to balance the body roll of the motorbike, hence keeping it stable. Rotation of vertical pair of gyroscopes is achieved using a hub motor which will draw its power supply from a separately attached 48V Li-ion battery. To ensure the accurate response of gyroscope, according to tilt of bike, closed loop stability is achieved by designing a control system. To accurately design the control system, dynamic model of the bike-gyroscope system needs to be derived. Equations of motion for the system have been derived using the Euler-Langrage method, and later, numerical techniques such as Runge-Kutta 4 method were adopted to solve the system. In terms of structural modelling, a 3D model containing a pair of gyroscopes has been designed along with the two hub motors in a bench. To ensure that the model does not fail mechanically during its working; stress, acceleration and vibrational analysis have been performed, respectively. Ultimately, the design fulfills the purpose of rider safety, by always maintaining the balance of the motorcycle.