1 Design

1.1 Need and Concept

For 2017 HPVC an electronic gear shifter mechanism incorporated with an LED screen to
display the gear in which the bicycle is being ridden has been included. The purpose of
providing electronic shifting in Halcyon is due to the constraints in steering which
possibly rejects the use of normal wire shifting. In order to provide the advantage of using
multiple gear ratios, and also taking into account the rider comfort, we decided to use
electronically actuated gear shifting mechanism.

1.2 Description
The electronic gear shifting mechanism involves following components
Push buttons - to increase/decrease the gear ratios.
A micro controller or an Arduino.
A stepper or a servo motor with a pulley.
A normal derailleur whose wire is attached to the pulley of the motor.
A screen - to display the rider which gear he is in.
1.3 Working Mechanism
There are two push buttons involved in the shifting process - one push button is used to
increase the gear ratio, and the other is used to decrease the gear ratio. When one of the
buttons is actuated, an electric signal is received by the controller which senses that the
rider needs gear shifting and turns the servo which shifts the gear either to higher or lower
gear ratio depending upon the push button actuated. Then the controller gives the
corresponding pulse to the motor ,which precisely rotates to a predetermined value based
on practical testing and adjustments, the motor then adjusts the cable coming from the
derailleur thereby changing the chain from one sprocket to another. Simultaneously the
current gear is displayed on the screen for rider convenience.
1.4 Advantages
Motor used is precisely controlled servo, which can be controlled up to a precise angle
whose position can be known with a feedback, so shifting can be done precisely to the
required level with preliminary adjustments.
Shifting is basically instantaneous as controller responds within fraction of seconds, basic
advantage over manual wire shifting.
If manual shifting is provided ,we need to increase the length of the wire over the whole
length of the recumbent cycle providing lot many turns and joints which effects the gear
shifting.
Also the tension in the normal cable actuated shifter is so high that any joint in increasing
the length of the cable ,may lead to stress concentration over the joint and lead to cable
snap.
These turns may change the tension of the wire causing wire slag etc.
The system is economical compared to the market available shifters.
Normal derailleur mechanism can be converted into electronic actuated with this concept.

1.5 Technology and Concept Feasibility Study

The electronic gear shifter concept and technology is not chimerical and is completely
feasible. As explained earlier the mechanism requires basic coding and components
which are abundant in the market at an affordable price.
 A prototype was made using the software and basic coding and the reaction time was
found to be in nano seconds which is far better than the time of traditional mechanism.
Prototype included an Arduino, pushbutton and a stepper which rotated as the push
button was pressed.

Unanticipated benefits include the system user interaction which is provided by a screen
which was effective in improving rider comfort.

1.6 Innovation a new idea

The proposed innovation is a relatively new idea compared to the traditional cable shifter
Whereas the electronic shifters available in the market are different in the way the
derailleur actuates the gear shifter where the motor is embedded in the derailleur whereas the
model here involves normal derailleur where the cable is moved with servo motor.

1.7 Learnings and failures

Taking on the idea we came to know :
The various kind of motors available in the market and selecting the apt motor.
Adjusting the tension in the cable to the required limit and determining the pulley size,
etc.
Various problems faced during the design of the working model are, the coding part
which has to be continuously evaluated so that the model has to work efficiently. Secondly
choosing the motor which has the required holding torque and precise control. In this aspect
great difficulty was faced in selecting a stepper or a servo, initially stepper was selected
which could not support the system as it did not have enough torque to support tension in the
system.Finally apt servo was selected which could complete the required task.
.
Simulation was done using a virtual circuit in the website www.circuits.io to
test the feasibility of concept.