From home village to polytechnic campus on e-bicycle

Since the past five months, S. Deva Joseph, a third-year student of Diploma of Mechanical Engineering at Rane Polytechnic Technical Campus (RPTC) in Sethurapatti, has found a faster way to attend classes from his home in Inam Mathur village, six km away.

Since the past five months, S. Deva Joseph, a third-year student of Diploma of Mechanical Engineering at Rane Polytechnic Technical Campus (RPTC) in Sethurapatti, has found a faster way to attend classes from his home in Inam Mathur village, six km away.

The 19-year-old hops on to his battery-powered ‘electric bicycle’ that helps him make the daily commute without breaking into a sweat.

“I was inspired by a module called mini-project in the second year, when I used discarded materials to create a box and fitted an electric motor in it. My teachers encouraged me to keep working on the idea for more practical applications, and this is how I decided to innovate on my own bicycle,” Mr. Joseph told The Hindu.

Using online video tutorials, the student zeroed in on an electric motor and a 24-volt battery from a Coimbatore-based parts manufacturer to power the cycle chain drive, and finalised the design in three days.

“My main expense was on a PMDC [permanent magnet direct current] motor, with 250 watts and 3,650 rpm. When I tried to fit the cycle chain to it, it got damaged, so I cut it to fit the exact space available,” said Mr. Joseph. He added a throttle engine, and covered the extra fittings to make them weatherproof.

“I had to spend time on getting the welding done to the right measurement. Today, my bike feels like a mini motorcycle, and has helped me to get to campus on time with much lesser physical effort. While manual pedalling rotates the wheel once, having it motorised makes it spin twice. So it helps to speed up the vehicle, and cuts down on travel time,” Mr. Joseph said, as demonstrated his ride around the campus.

Mr. Joseph credited his teachers and father, J. Savariar, a daily wage earner, for his invention. “But I have to reduce the price of retrofitting [₹10,000] in order to make it affordable. I am also studying alternative ways such as solar power to recharge the battery,” he said.