Major
Mathematics
Advisor
Andrew Borme
Advisor Department
Industrial and System Engineering
Date
5-2025
Keywords
Electric Bike; Sustainable Design; Mechanical Engineering; CAD; Mechanical Systems
Abstract
The United States is far from being “walkable” in most suburban areas. Though public transportation has grown in its infrastructure in some large cities, it is far from sufficient. As a result of this, millions of people drive their cars every single day -- a practice that is unsustainable and becoming an increasingly evident issue. One possible solution that has become popular is the use of electric bicycles, since they are less physically taxing than a normal bike and allow for quicker transport. Though electric bicycles have been on the rise, they are still well outside of many people’s budget, with commuter-based models falling in the thousands of dollars range.
With this issue at hand, this project aims to explore the possibility of constructing an electric bicycle (e-bike) using recycled components that can be acquired cheaply. This requires an in-depth study of each component of an e-bike along with an understanding of modeling and design. It was important to find a motor that would be strong enough to propel a human on the bicycle while still being small enough to be housed within a bike frame. This is a huge hurdle in the process of building an e-bike, especially since it must also be powered by a DC battery and allow for free-movement of the pedals.
This project highlights important steps in the process of designing an e-bike, including a CAD model, budgeting, and the recognition of certain laws that must be observed within the design. In addition to problems with the motor options, it was unrealistic to even consider constructing a model prior to finding viable battery and controller options. While finding components is extremely difficult to do second-hand, being able to program a digital control board to run those components is also a challenge explored in this project.