Study on virtual force sensing and force display device for the interactive bicycle simulator

In this paper, a set of novel force display devices for the interactive bicycle simulator is presented for indicating the human-bicycle contact forces at handlebars and foot pedals. The force display devices are attached, respectively, to the handlebars and pedals of the bicycle. The bicycle is placed on a Stewart platform to provided bicycle riding on different terrains and configurations. The electromagnetic torques used to simulate the forward and steering resistance forces are controlled by adjusting the armature current of the DC motor, according to the developed rider-bicycle dynamic (RBD) model. A virtual bicycle riding environment is successfully constructed by the developed devices together with the motion generating subsystem and the visual subsystem. Experimental results have shown that the developed RDB model and the constructed force display devices are effective in capturing and displaying the information on forces. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.