BANGALORE: At a time when fuel prices are soaring and people are increasingly feeling the pinch of shelling out money to keep their motorbikes running, a team of students, Gowtham, Sujith and Anand have come out with an ingenious idea. Currently employed in Bharat Electronics and doing their BE in mechanical engineering in the evening college at UVCE, they have come up with an auto/semi-auto gear shifting kit for motorbikes. They claim that if the kit is implemented for 0ne lakh bikes, according to their calculations, it can save fuel cost of Rs 8 lakh per annum. “We have implemented various electronic and mechanical components like sensors, micro controller, chain and sprocket, levers and so on for automation. The actuation of the gear and clutch is sequentially controlled by a microcontroller based on inputs from sensors and push buttons,” they explain. Different riders have different riding conditions which changes the fuel that is burnt. “The gear has to be shifted at a particular torque of the engine in order to get optimum mileage. But because of many factors people may not be able to do that. This results in a drop in mileage,” they say. Automation, according to them, ensures shifting of gear at required torque and speed (optimum speed) every time accurately and maintains a constant gear shifting timing immaterial of rider mood, experience or skill. The students claim that they can achieve four to six per cent excess mileage with their kit, and considering an average of around 6,000 kms travelled by the bike annually, they can achieve an excess of 250 to 360kms which approximately saves around 8 litres of fuel. This kit can be implemented in any of the existing regular motorbikes with slight modification in the mounting arrangement. The kit that adorns the side of the motorbike might look bulky, but they are hopeful that they can improvise in the future, if funds flow in properly. “We are planning to get it patented too,” they say. “It is just a prototype now. We are in the process of improvising,” they point out. They also believe that since they have implemented push buttons for gear change, even people with physical disabilities can ride the bike. The project was envisaged by the students under the guidance of Prof Dr S Ranganath, Chairman Dr K V Sharma and co-ordinator Dr H N Vidyasagar from their college. The electronics support was provided by Venugopal P who is working in BEL.
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