A Smart Autonomous E-Bike Fail-Safe System

Electrical bicycles (E-bikes) have gained a lot of popularity because of their eco-friendliness and numerous other advantages. They are ahead of other EVs, according to Deloitte’s Sector Briefing study report on e-mobility in Germany. Different studies covered the effects of electric bikes compared to different modes of transport in terms of emission rates. Furthermore, E-bikes provide an excellent transportation option for individuals who may have limited physical fitness capabilities and cannot operate a normal bike for a long time. Previous works proposed rider assistance and full autonomous features for E-bikes. However, having an autonomous E-bike can raise safety concerns because of faults and failures. It becomes extremely important to have a fail-safe system that deals with said faults and failures in order to ensure the safety of the rider, the E-bike, and the surrounding vehicles and pedestrians. In this paper, failure risks and life situations are discussed, and a fail-safe system for smart autonomous E-bikes is proposed and implemented. The system is designed to handle the running tasks on a smart autonomous E-bike prototype developed in our institution and to take the appropriate action to put the bike in a safe state, depending on the type and severity of the detected failures.