Spoke sensor for bicycle

There are quite a few cargo bikes or if you already have a bike, trailers. A friend has a BOB Yak that worked out well. It's easy to disconnect if you don't need it and the single wheel means it tracks on the same path as the bike if you ride single track.

The low cost solution would be looking for one of those child trailers at a yard sale.

There are also bike panniers but you wind up repacking the groceries to get everything to fit. Two wheeled grocery shopping on either a bicycle or motorcycle tends to limit impulse purchases.

Optics get dirty and stop working. They also are impacted by precipitation. No one wants an intermittent speed-o-meter.

I think the clear winner in this contest is the playing car against the spokes.

Actually, I think people have trivialized away the variable reluctance sensor. While the spoke may not be magnetic, it's no trouble adding a small piece of metal to the spoke or spoke nipple or even the hub. I believe spokes on most bikes are arranged to cross and form an X. The crossing point may be a good place to put the metal badge.

Can any of the commercially available bicycle odometer/speedometers use the output from a hub dynamo for measuring distance/speed? The Shimano DH3N72 gives, I think, 14 cycles per turn. Using a diode to half-wave rectify it would make 7 pulses per turn.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska

Need to also block the view beyond those spokes, or nearby scenery can affect speed readings.

Joe Gwinn

Bikes won't work well as I'd want to be able to take the "shortcuts" over dirt/gravel/grass. Something more "ATV-ish" is called for. Hence the Segway option. (The Segway "egg" looks do-able)

[I can save half a mile on the trip to the library using "walkable" shortcuts]

I also have to be wary of the laws regarding where you can operate said "conveyance". E.g., I don't think bicycles are allowed on sidewalks. And, the rules for ebikes might be different.

OTOH, the wheelchair probably squeaks through the legalities in the most permissive ways. (and, I don't think there is anything that says the rider must NEED the wheelchair... just like the driver of a vehicle with disabled plates needn't be disabled!)

The gas-powered genset might run afoul of "something", though...

Years ago, I tried the bike approach. Driving on the roads is just too perilous. Having to cross 4 lanes of 45+MPH traffic several times on each "short trip" left my nerves jangled.

I had one of those generators as well. The drag from that generator was quite significant. And I could see better by ambient (street lamp) light. I went to using an ordinary flashlight to warn cars of my presence.

A blast from the past. I got very good at adjusting and repairing them.

It took me a year to figure out why, when pedaling strongly the foot crank would abruptly come loose, free-rotate a half-turn or so, and then reconnect, as if nothing had happened.

It turned out that the bronze C-ring that expanded against the inside of the hub to brake the wheel had become worn enough to allow the four drive pins to pull out of their sockets under heavy load, rotate sliding un till managing to drop back into the same sockets, clocked but undamaged. Replacing the C-ring solved the problem.

Sturmey-Archer still exists, and has all the old documentation online.

.

I recall similar things from the 1960s as well. Was never tempted. I bet they sounded like an infuriated bumblebee, only higher pitched. And LOUD.

Joe Gwinn

Second answer: Ignore spokes. Looking down at the street surface flying by? How does this work on featureless concrete or tarred blacktop? Or a painted surface?

Or if it's raining or snowing?

Joe Gwinn

My own mountain cycling takes place year around. Throughout the winter:

as well as the summer:

Here's a inverted perspective image of the outcrop show by the second picture. It's taken from the road's point-of-view. The outcrop is the smaller of the two shown. It appears to the left of the larger outcrop, on the left summit. The photo gives you an idea of the mountain trail's inaccessibility:

My MP3 mod makes spins so much more enjoyable these days:

Anyhow, long story short, a cadence sensor would theoretically work better than a speedometer, for me personally. And a GPS solution probably can't cadence count accurately.

As others already more-or-less mentioned, the industry tends to utilize spoke magnets:

The frames of some bicycles accommodate optional bolt-on sensors:

Danke,

My own mountain cycling takes place year around. Throughout the winter:

as well as the summer:

Here's a inverted perspective image of the outcrop show by the second picture. It's taken from the road's point-of-view. The outcrop is the smaller of the two shown. It appears to the left of the larger outcrop, on the left summit. The photo gives you an idea of the mountain trail's inaccessibility:

My MP3 mod makes spins so much more enjoyable these days:

Anyhow, long story short, here's 15 sensors:

The frames of some bicycles accommodate optional bolt-on sensors:

Danke,

I once had a mouse that would work on glass! Images have a lot more information than you might think. Nothing is completely uniform.

Addendum: My own links need to be read by me /before/ they're posted. It seems GPS sensors replaced magnets.

Addendum 2: It's unknown what role, if any, GPS plays with bicycle cadence/speedometer sensors. May your own > Dimiter_P>> I started cycling again (used to as a kid...) some 4 years ago.

My own mountain cycling takes place year around. Throughout the winter:

as well as the summer:

Here's a inverted perspective image of the outcrop show by the second picture. It's taken from the road's point-of-view. The outcrop is the smaller of the two shown. It appears to the left of the larger outcrop, on the left summit. The photo gives you an idea of the mountain trail's inaccessibility:

My MP3 mod makes spins so much more enjoyable these days:

Anyhow, long story short, FWIW, here's a 15 sensors link returned on the first page of an Inet search:

The frames of some bicycles accommodate optional bolt-on sensors:

Danke,

GPS-based "distance traveled" figures tend to overestimate the actual distance traveled. Even a beginner is taught to always reference measurements from a common point (instead of stacking measurement errors).

On a sunny day (Wed, 15 Jun 2022 11:45:56 -0400) it happened Joe Gwinn snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote in snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Concrete is not that 'featureless' at all. As to the software, if you look up any open source mpegX encoding (X for 1, 2, whatever have you these days) you will see it, among other things, calculates a motion vector, remember using that long long time ago... Given fixed frames per second (30 or 25 depending on where you are), lens angle and hight, calibration would only take a short time. I use my puter mice on a white table and it never had a problem. Maybe shine a light or laser down to the ground. Its just a possible solution, not saying its better than other ones, but fun for experimenting.

I do not go biking in weather like that, I look at the rain-rader here first for what's coming.

The method is neat indeed. I think I could make that work, I'd say a 3mm maximum distance from the spokes is achievable mechanically. Hmm. Might not give up the idea yet after all. Especially after trying out so far

3 apps for the phone, each useless for one reason or another.

I manage to carry a 5-6 kg backpack biking from the nearby (4-5 km) shops. And the way back is uphill (not dramatic though). If it is reasonably flat in your area you will just need a backpack similar to mine - Lucy gave it to me when I got the bike, she had used it years ago when she was walking up the mountains. Very light but strong enough.

I have seen "normal" bicycles with a battery and some electric motor... I was told the motor just helps you, they are made not to move on their own, you have to pedal but you get assistance (making life easier uphill I suppose). Some nonsense that, why would I bike if I didn't want the exercise.

So, I can move 8 inches to the left of where I am and your app will tell me that I've (1) moved, (2) which direction I've moved, (3) that it was 8 inches?

Wow, so you can RELY on having a good constellation available to you, at all times, in all places? What world do YOU live in?

And, of course, your statement applies to ALL smartphones, right?

Trying to keep any optical surface clean enough is a challenge. A theremin would be a fun way to do it, if not necessarily the most practical.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Yeah, that would work. Often, I'm not carrying anything more than something that needs to be mailed (at the post office) or returned (to the library). So, getting my body mass from here to there is the bigger issue.

[I'm not afraid of the exercise but the time required can be annoying. E.g., at 4MPH, it takes me a little over an hour to do the 4.5mi round trip to the library (using shortcuts accessible to a pedestrian). OTOH, driving that same distance takes almost half an hour as the route is slightly longer, there are traffic signals to contend with, the car has to be parked and locked up, etc. So, I "discount" the time spent walking by the time it would take by car and figure I got an extra half hour of exercise "for free" -- in terms of time expended]

The trip to the library is a long SLOW climb. My pace *going* is a fair bit slower than returning (despite the fact that I'm more tired on the return trip).

I've also noticed this within the neighborhood; traveling in one direction requires more exertion than the other. The differences in elevation aren't big but they take a toll on progress.

My purchases are usually tied to a trip that had some other goal. E.g., stopping in at the grocery store adjacent to the post office for a few small items. Or, the hardware store on the way BACK from the post office. Ditto at the library. I'd not be inclined to buy anything heavy or bulky -- or *frozen* (as it would *thaw* on the trip).

On a bicycle, I've carried the (one) bag in my hand while also piloting the bike. It's not that difficult. But, avoiding traffic is a challenge (pedestrian and cyclist "accidents" are fairly common, here. Often fatal -- though rarely for the driver of the CAR! :-/ )

I think the motor will propel you but doesn't have enough torque to get you moving from a dead stop (?). We also have a lot of gas-powered bicycle assist units in use, here as a cheap form of transportation for folks who don't want the cost/inconvenience of a car (e.g., students). There is no licensing requirement nor requirement for insurance as there is with a car.

But, they need to be driven on roadways. So, the marginally safer use of sidewalks is out of the question. And, in many places, there are no sidewalks so you're riding in the ~3 ft shoulder of the roadway. (having cars pass within feet of you at 50 MPH is a disconcerting feeling! "I wonder if the next guy has his eyes on the road -- or on his phone???")

[Folks who ride recumbant bikes often have a tall "flag" attached tot he bike frame to increase visibility. I'm not sure I'd rely on that as a protective measure! :< ]

A digital theremin!

Cheers

Phil Hobbs