Introduction
The side stand of motorcycle must be kept in proper position while
driving. The side stand is kept in a vertical position during driving
and is kept in a horizontal position during stand still condition. If
the stand is kept in the horizontal position, it can touch the ground
while turning the motorcycle in the left. This can lead to serious
accident. It is common among the bikers that they often forget to
position the stand in the horizontal position.
In our work we have worked on this issue and have designed a protective
device using Arduino, Reed sensor and Relay module. The device allows
the biker to start the motorcycle only if the motorcycle side stand is
in the correct position. Researchers around the world have worked for
safety of motorcycles. In [1] , a
smart motorcycle safety system is designed which has a GPS integrated
with it. So, besides motorcycle safety issues, the location of the
motorcycle can be tracked.
Using helmet while driving can reduce the effect of an accident
[2] and can save lives. That’s why
researchers have focused on the design of smart and efficient helmets
[3-5]. These helmets have many safety
features that make motorcycle riding more safe.
In [6], using Bluetooth and smart
phones, a vehicle to driver and vehicle to environment communication
system is developed to avoid accidents. The vehicles will be able to
communicate among themselves while they are in closer distance using
Bluetooth. Often it is tough to determine the distance and size of the
vehicle behind a rider. In [7], image
processing is used for the detection of rear vehicles and to avoid
collision.
Motorcycle accidents are caused by many reasons. One of them might cause
by wrong positioning of the side stand of the motorcycle. The side stand
in a motorbike is used to stand the bike while it is not in motion. The
side stand is in a vertical position at that time. It needs to be
retracted in the horizontal position while in motion to avoid collision
with the ground while turning. Sometimes a biker may forget to retract
the stand to horizonal position while riding and that cause accident. To
protect this various ways have been implemented. In
[8], a design for the side stand is
proposed which automatically retracts the side stand of the motorcycle
while it is in motion. In [9], an
electromechanical device is designed that warns the driver if the side
stand is not in correct position. In
[10] a safety switch is designed that
will not allow the biker to start the motorcycle unless the side stand
is retracted to its safe position. In
[11], a device has been designed that
ensures that the motorbike does not start if the stand is in the wrong
position. The device also warns the rider by turning on a lamp that the
stand is in a wrong position. Matteo Corno and Sergio Savaresi
implemented a kick detection algorithm and closed-loop control technique
for a pirate motorised cycle to make sure the safety of the motorbike
due to the unaware right-side working stand in
[12].
All of the mentioned ways of protection schemes have their own
advantages and disadvantages. In this paper a digital and simplified
solution has been presented to protect a motorcycle from an accident
caused by the improper positioning of the side stand. It does not allow
the bike to start motorcycle if the side stand is in the wrong position.
It senses the position of side stand by using a reed sensor- magnet
combination and controls the ignition circuit by a relay. The whole
process is operated by the Arduino as embedded controller. This system
also warns the biker by an alarm sound if the stand is not in the
correct position.
The contributions of the paper are as follows:
- Developed and applied a digital system of automatic side stand
retractor which reduces the possibility of accidents caused by wrong
position of side stand of motorcycle.
- The proposed system does not allow the starting of the motorcycle in
case of the wrong position of side stand ensuring more safety of the
motorcycle rider.
- The proposed system is a power efficient.
The residue of the paper contains the system architecture of the
proposed system in section II. The experimental setup is discussed at
section III. Section IV discusses the result of the system.