Experimental Setup
The device is constructed using the components mentioned above. A
simplified block diagram of the device is presented in Fig.1. A NIB
permanent magnet is attached to the upper bottom part of the side stand.
A reed switch sensor can sense the magnetic field and is placed in a
convenient position on the body of the motorcycle. When the stand is in
vertical position, the reed switch is out of the region of the magnet
and it senses nothing. Whenever the stand is retracted to its horizontal
position, the sensor falls inside the field of the NIB magnet. Hence it
can sense the magnet.
The reed switch relates to the embedded controller for detection of the
side stand position. The logic inside the controller is set in such a
way that if the reed sensor senses a field then the stand is in
horizontal position. If it doesn’t sense magnetic field of NIB magnet
then the stand is in the vertical position.
The embedded controller operates a circuit breaker relay and a buzzer
after sensing the position of side stand. The circuit breaker is
connected in series with the ignition circuit of the motorcycle. When
the controller senses that the side stand is in vertical position and
the motorbike is powered on, then the controller operates the circuit
breaker and opens the ignition circuit. In this condition the bike
cannot be started as the ignition coil does not ignite the engine. In
addition to opening the ignition circuit, Arduino also operates the
buzzer to continuously alert the driver that the stand is not in the
correct position.
On the other hand, if the reed switch sensor senses the magnetic field
then embedded controller considers that the stand is in horizontal
position. In this case the relay does not operate. This means the
ignition circuit is closed and the motorcycle can be started. No buzzer
is operated in this condition.
This whole protective device is powered from the internal battery power
of the motorcycle which is of 12 V DC . This is the recommended power
input to an Arduino UNO or embedded controller which can be operated
with 5-12 V DC. The whole system only turns on when the bike power
supply is turned on using a key. No extra power is lost during the
standing condition of the bike when the bike is not turned on with a
key.