An improved accuracy six-load component pedal dynamometer for cycling

Design and Validation of a Device Attached to a Conventional Bicycle to Measure the Three-Dimensional Forces Applied to a Pedal

Knowledge of the forces applied to the pedals during cycling is of great importance both from the point of view of improving sporting performance and medical analysis of injuries. The most common equipment for measuring pedal forces is usually limited to the study of forces in the sagittal plane. Equipment that measures three-dimensional forces tends to be bulky and to be incorporated into bicycles that are modified to accommodate it, which can cause the measurements taken to differ from those obtained in real pedalling conditions. This work presents a device for measuring the 3D forces applied to the pedal, attachable to a conventional bicycle and pedals, which does not alter the natural pedalling of cyclists. The equipment consists of four gauges located on the pedal axis and two on the crank, controlled by a microcontroller. Pedal forces measurements were made for six cyclists, with results similar to those shown in the literature. The correct estimation of the lateral-medial direction force is of great interest when evaluating a possible overload at the joints; it will also allow a comparison of the effectiveness index during pedalling, showing the role of this component in this index from a mechanical standpoint.

A new crank arm-based load cell for the 3D analysis of the force applied by a cyclist

This report describes a new crank arm-based force platform designed to evaluate the three-dimensional force applied to the pedals by cyclists in real conditions. The force platform was designed to be fitted on a conventional competition bicycle crankset while data is transmitted wirelessly through a Bluetooth^TM module and also stored on a SD card. A 3D solid model is created in the SolidWorks (Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS Corp.) to analyze the static and dynamic characteristics of the crank arm by using the finite elements technique. Each crankset arm is used as a load cell based on strain gauges configured as three Wheatstone bridges. The signals are conditioned on a printed circuit board attached directly to the structure. The load cell showed a maximum nonlinearity error between 0.36% and 0.61% and a maximum uncertainty of 2.3% referred to the sensitivity of each channel. A roller trainer equipped with an optical encoder was also developed, allowing the measurement of the wheel's instantaneous velocity.

A split-crank bicycle ergometer uses servomotors to provide programmable pedal forces for studies in human biomechanics

This paper presents a novel computer-controlled bicycle ergometer, the TiltCycle, for use in human biomechanics studies of locomotion. The TiltCycle has a tilting (reclining) seat and backboard, a split pedal crankshaft to isolate the left and right loads to the feet of the pedaler, and two belt-driven, computer-controlled motors to provide assistance or resistance loads independently to each crank. Sensors measure the kinematics and force production of the legs to calculate work performed, and the system allows for goniometric and electromyography signals to be recorded. The technical description presented includes the mechanical design, low-level software and control algorithms, system identification and validation test results.

Development and calibration of a pedal with force and moment sensors

An instrumented bicycle pedal was built and calibrated. The pedal has good linearity and sensibility, comparable to other instruments in the literature. This study aimed to perform accurate calibration of a tri-axial pedal, including forces applied, deformations, nonlinearities, hysteresis and standard error for each axis. Calibration was based on Hull and Davis method, which is based on the application of known loads on the pedal in order to create a calibration matrix.

A cycle ergometer mounted on a standard force platform for three-dimensional pedal forces measurement during cycling

This report describes a new method allowing to measure the three-dimensional forces applied on right and left pedals during cycling. This method is based on a cycle ergometer mounted on a force platform. By recording the forces applied on the force platform and applying the fundamental mechanical equations, it was possible to calculate the instantaneous three-dimensional forces applied on pedals. It was validated by static and dynamic tests. The accuracy of the present system was -7.61 N, -3.37 N and -2.81 N, respectively, for the vertical, the horizontal and the lateral direction when applying a mono-directional force and -4.52 N when applying combined forces. In pedaling condition, the orientation and magnitude of the pedal forces were comparable to the literature. Moreover, this method did not modify the mechanical properties of the pedals and offered the possibility for pedal force measurement with materials often accessible in laboratories. Measurements obtained showed that this method has an interesting potential for biomechanical analyses in cycling.

A pedal dynamometer for off-road bicycling

This paper describes the design and accuracy evaluation of a dynamometric pedal, which measures the two pedal force components in the plane of the bicycle. To realize a design that could be used during actual off-road cycling, a popular clipless pedal available commercially was modified so that both the form and the function of the original design were maintained. To measure the load components of interest, the pedal spindle was replaced with a spindle fixed to the pedal body and instrumented with eight strain gages connected into two Wheatstone bridge circuits. The new spindle is supported by bearings in the crank arm. Static calibration and a subsequent accuracy check revealed root mean square errors of less than 1 percent full scale (FS) when only the force components of interest were applied. Application of unmeasured load components created an error less than 2 percent FS. The natural frequency with half the weight of a 75 kgf person standing on the pedal was greater than 135 Hz. These performance capabilities make the dynamometer suitable for measuring either pedaling loads due to the rider's muscular action or inertial loads due to surface-induced acceleration. To demonstrate this suitability, sample pedal load data are presented both for steady-state ergometer cycling and coasting over a rough surface while standing.