Power-assist control of a human–electric hybrid bicycle with energy regeneration and cruise control

Abstract

In this article, we propose three different controllers for the human–electric hybrid bicycle. The main objective of the controller is to ensure power-assist, cruise control and regenerative braking whenever possible. Power-assist controller is designed without torque sensor, cruise controller is designed to keep constant speed and the regenerative braking controller is designed to save the energy while braking. Proportion-assisted power method is implemented using the pedaling torque estimated by disturbance observer. Cruise control is achieved using the estimated speed from the hall sensor rather than using actual speed sensor. Single switch regenerative braking method is applied to yield maximum energy recovery during braking. It is noted that the performance similar to torque sensor–based proportion-assisted power is achieved using torque sensorless approach. All of the proposed controllers are implemented experimentally in the experimental setup, and their results are presented.