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System for assisting in driving a bicycle by sending a haptic feedback to a cyclist

  • US 10,392,070 B2
  • Filed: 12/12/2016
  • Issued: 08/27/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2016
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. System for assisting in driving a bicycle by sending a haptic feedback to a cyclist, comprising:

  • means for detecting the current value of a target quantity (q;

    v);

    a memory module wherein an optimal profile of said target quantity is stored or storable, as a function of a spatial position (x) of the bicycle along a predetermined path, or as a function of time (t), configured for supplying an optimal value of the target quantity (qmax;

    vmax) corresponding to the current spatial position (x) of the bicycle along the predetermined path or corresponding to the current instant (t);

    a comparator module configured for determining a quantity representative of the error (eq;

    ev) between said current value of the target quantity (q;

    v) and said optimal value of the target quantity (qmax;

    vmax) supplied by the memory module;

    an actuator applicable to a portion of the bicycle, suitable for generating vibrations;

    a control module configured for determining a vibration frequency (f) of the actuator, based on said error (eq;

    ev) between the current (q;

    v) and the optimal values (qmax;

    vmax) of the target quantity and for generating a command signal of the actuator so that the actuator vibrates at said vibration frequency (f), wherein said vibration implements the haptic feedback to the cyclist,wherein said quantity representative of the error between the current value of the target quantity (q;

    v) and the optimal value of the target quantity (qmax;

    vmax) is calculated by the comparator module, based on the following relation;


    eq=(qmax

    q
    )/qmax wherein;

    q is the current value of the target quantity;

    qmax is the optimal value of the target quantity, andwherein said vibration frequency (f) is settable by the control module between a maximum value (fmax) and a value equal to 0, so that;

    the vibration frequency (f) is equal to the maximum frequency (fmax) if the current value of the target quantity (q, v) is greater than the optimal value of the target quantity (qmax;

    vmax);

    the vibration frequency (f) gradually or instantaneously decreases as the current value of the target quantity (q, v) decreases in comparison with the optimal value of the target quantity (qmax;

    vmax), until it becomes zero when the target quantity error (eq) reaches a threshold value eq* in the range 0-1.

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