arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Acoustic End-of-Line Test Systems See All DAQ and instruments See All Electroacoustics See All Software See All Transducers See All Vibration Testing Equipment See All Academy See All Resource Center See All Applications See All Industries See All Insights See All Services See All Support See All Our Business See All Our History See All Our Sustainability Commitment See All Global Presence
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Actuators See All Combustion Engines See All Durability See All eDrive See All Production Testing Sensors See All Transmission & Gearboxes See All Turbo Charger See All DAQ Systems See All High Precision and Calibration Systems See All Industrial electronics See All Power Analyser See All S&V Hand-held devices See All S&V Signal conditioner See All Test Solutions See All DAQ Software See All Drivers & API See All nCode - Durability and Fatigue Analysis See All ReliaSoft - Reliability Analysis and Management See All Test Data Management See All Utility See All Vibration Control See All Acoustic See All Current / voltage See All Displacement See All Load Cells See All Pressure See All Strain Gauges See All Torque See All Vibration See All LDS Shaker Systems See All Power Amplifiers See All Vibration Controllers See All Accessories for Vibration Testing Equipment See All Training Courses See All Articles See All Acoustics See All Asset & Process Monitoring See All Custom Sensors See All Data Acquisition & Analysis See All Durability & Fatigue See All Electric Power Testing See All NVH See All Reliability See All Smart Sensors See All Vibration See All Weighing See All Automotive & Ground Transportation See All Calibration See All Installation, Maintenance & Repair See All Support Brüel & Kjær See All Release Notes See All Compliance See All Our People
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All CANHEAD See All GenHS See All LAN-XI See All MGCplus See All Optical Interrogators See All QuantumX See All SomatXR See All Accessories See All Accessories See All BK Connect / Pulse See All API See All Microphone Sets See All Microphone Cartridges See All Acoustic Calibrators See All Special Microphones See All Microphone Pre-amplifiers See All Sound Sources See All Accessories for acoustic transducers See All Experimental testing See All Transducer Manufacturing (OEM) See All Accessories See All Non-rotating (calibration) See All Rotating See All CCLD (IEPE) accelerometers See All Charge Accelerometers See All Impulse hammers / impedance heads See All Cables See All Accessories See All Electroacoustics See All Noise Source Identification See All Environmental Noise See All Sound Power and Sound Pressure See All Noise Certification See All Industrial Process Control See All Structural Health Monitoring See All Electrical Devices Testing See All Electrical Systems Testing See All Grid Testing See All High-Voltage Testing See All Vibration Testing with Electrodynamic Shakers See All Structural Dynamics See All Machine Analysis and Diagnostics See All Calibration Services for Transducers See All Calibration Services for Handheld Instruments See All Calibration Services for Instruments & DAQ See All On-Site Calibration See All Resources See All Software License Management

The signals of an electric eel: piezoelectric power generation on a high-tech bicycle

University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany

Introduction

In the Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, students are working on an innovative vision of a bicycle. In the
”Electric Eel“ project, the lightweight material carbon is combined with piezoelectronic ceramics from the field of intelligent materials. Vibrations in the frame of the bicycle produce electrical charge transfers as a result of mechanical deformation (the piezoelectric effect). The electrical energy generated in this way can be used for various applications, without additional power sources. The principle is similar to that of an electric eel, that emits current impulses through electric organs.

chevron_left
chevron_right

Two topics of investigation

  1. Using a CRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastics) rear swinging fork with piezoelectric ceramics, the electrical signals generated by the uneven ground should control the dampers in the chassis frame of full suspensions.
  2. In the stem, a system for monitoring the loads on the forks and the handlebars was examined. The signals of the piezoelectric modules are used to register overloads. Warning lights on the handlebars indicate, for example, when the bicycle has to be inspected.

"Against a background of safety and warranty aspects, the importance of load monitoring systems will increase drastically in many areas of machine and vehicle construction, as will optimization of maintenance cycles.

Various sensors are suitable, depending on the application. Whereas currently, investigations are carried out for mechanical engineering applications with strain gages, the benefit of the piezoelectric effect for a bicycle is primarily to avoid heavy batteries" Prof. Dr. Alexander Horoschenkoff, Project Leader at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich

Deformation determines placement

Before attaching the piezoelectric modules, we measure the deformation of the components under different loads (hopping, out-ofsaddle riding, braking) with linear strain gages and strain gage rosettes. The carbon components are carefully polished with 220-grit sandpaper until the first carbon fibers come to the surface and the strain gages can then be installed with the cold-hardening adhesive, Z70. Two Spider8 amplifiers with catman® software are used to record the deformation on the forks and handlebars.

Test bench

To develop the chassis, the students planned a roller type test bench to allow them to investigate the control of the damping valve. The deformation of the CRP rear swinging fork, the displacement during deflection and the piezoelectric signal are all measured.

HBK strain gages, displacement transducers, force transducers and measuring amplifiers as well as software are used here.

The chassis of the "electric eel"…

…is a complex, mechatronic system that should not require any outside power sources. The erection of the roller-type test bench is a prerequisite for informed investigation of the interaction between the deflection, the valve switching and the damping effect.

The chassis of the "electric eel"…

…is a complex, mechatronic system that should not require any outside power sources. The erection of the roller-type test bench is a prerequisite for informed investigation of the interaction between the deflection, the valve switching and the damping effect.

Each year, more than 2,500 international students and researchers join our academic community in one of Germany’s most beautiful, historic, and high-tech cities. We offer the best possible support to help you feel at home in Germany, in Munich, and at our university. Discover practice-based programmes for global careers at HM!

Technology Used

Related Case Studies