A few years ago while riding my bicycle, I pinched a nerve in my knee. Ever since then, I naturally favor one leg significantly while riding.
It's very inefficient, and I have one leg that is a bit stronger then the other leg now. I realized that I could monitor the equality in the
use of each leg if I had a way of knowing for sure how unequal my cadence actually is. For awhile, I have wanted to use pressure sensors in
my pedals and display the output on a small screen on my handle bars. Also, I do not have toe clips, which definitely improve efficiency.
So, my plan is to design some pedals and toe clips with pressure sensors so that I can monitor the pull and push of each leg in real time.
The Design
I plan 3D print the pedals themselves with a spce for the screw that attaches the pedal to the pedal arm. The toe clips may also be 3D printed
and will press-fit into the pedals. Below is a Rhino sketch of the pedal and toe clip. The shaded areas are the possible spaces for the
pressure sensor. I still need to figure out how to best design the toe clips so that they can be tight on your foot without locking it in.
This was my first time using Rhino, and I found it to be fairly intuitive. The sweep between two rails function and 3D rotation function were very useful.
The Screen
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I don't know very much about designing electronics, but I assume that the pressure sensor will return a voltage, and I will have to write
a program to convert that voltage into a force. Then, wireless communication will be required to display these forces on the screen.
I know I can use an Arduino to convert the voltage into a force, but I will likely learn about other, smaller ways to do this.