A full hybrid electric bike: how to increase human efficiency

Energy and environmental considerations, new paradigms for urban mobility and transportation increased in the past few years the interest on Light Electric Vehicle (LEV). In that context, Electrically Power Assisted Cycles (EPACs) received a great attention: several efforts have been made in order to improve their performance in terms of autonomy, weight, esthetic and feeling with the driver. In this work, project and realization of a full hybrid electric bike (HEB) are presented. The main idea, borrowed from the more explored 4-wheel world, is to use the possible energy fluxes between cyclist and motor in order to improve the efficiency of the primary engine (the human body) being completely self-sustaining and grid-independent (differently to all the other EPACs). Collected biometric data that lead to the algorithm design are presented in detail focusing particularly on human metabolic efficiency measurement. Finally, an experiment performed in cycling track compares the mechanical and metabolic results between traditional and hybrid electric bike.