Design and Implementation of Data Acquisition Device and Instrumentation Based on Microcontroller for Electric Motorcycle

Abstract

Along with intensive people activities in different places, the demand on transportation increases. For some dense road, motorcycle might be the better choice due to its ability to move flexibly. This may lead to massive use of motorcycle powered by fossil fuel engine. Beside causing severe air pollution, this also causes high fuel consumption. Electric motorcycle is expected to be the answer for both problems, since it does not cause air pollution and does not require fossil fuel to operate. However, this motorcycle solely depends on energy stored in battery that needs some time to recharge. This difficulty makes the good points of electric motorcycle unattractive. The development of battery with high capacity and requires shorter time to charge is still on process. Therefore, optimal battery energy use is another solution for this case. This may be assisted with instrumentation system that presents some useful information for the driver regarding real time system operating condition. This paper presents development of instrumentation system including data acquisition that employs a microcontroller of Arduino Mega. A number of sensors are employed in the system including magnet sensor, current and voltage sensors. The system is implemented in a motorcycle powered by 1000 W, 48/36 V DC motor energized by 17.5 Ah 48 V Lithium-Ion Battery. Some measured data are processed and presented in an LCD on the dashboard, including RPM, speed, torque, the distance travelled, the remaining battery capacity and the distance that may still be achieved. An automatic data logger of DS3231RTC is used for recording the data and it is saved in a SD Card Memory. For verification purpose, the displayed data are benchmarked with those measured with standard measurement devices. It was confirmed that the data presented by the instrumentation system is sufficiently accurate.