Instrumentation of a bicycle without driver for experimental testing of automatic control

In this paper, the instrumentation of a riderless bicycle prototype for control purposes is addressed. The proposed instrumentation is based on the mathematical model of a bicycle, in which the dynamical variables correspond to the translational velocity, the angular position of the handlebar and the velocity of the roll angle of its general framework. Throughout the paper, a convenient and simple way to measure these variables is detailed explained, in order to provide an instrumented prototype ready to be used for testing automatic control laws. This corresponds to the main contribution of the present paper. The dynamical model from which the proposed instrumentation has been designed, corresponds to a Linear Parameter Varying system, considering the translational velocity as time-varying parameter. The results of the instrumentation and its effectiveness are shown from experimental tests.