Youth turns bicycle into battery-run bike
Chanchalguda: Inspired by the battery-operated moped of his grandfather, an Intermediate student transformed his own bicycle into a moped bike powered by rechargeable battery. Now, he goes to college every day on his new-found moped at a speed of 25 to 27 kmph.
The 15-year-old, Abdul Qader Omer, tried his hand on the battery-operated bike after keenly reading the mechanism of his maternal grandfather’s battery-operated moped for some time. He recalls how he was penalized by the traffic police for driving a motor bike of his cousin, when he was under 18 years old. On that day, he decided that he would make himself a battery-operated bicycle for his commute to college. At first, he conducted reverse engineering towards knowing the driving mechanism of the moped. Having researched on how a motor works powered by battery on Internet for many days, he bought a battery and a small motor online, and within 20 days, he gifted himself a battery-operated moped.
“I was penalised for riding two-wheelers on my way to college and in the meantime started learning mechanism of battery operated moped. From that day, I decided to modify my bicycle into a moped and next 20 days, I worked on it with the help of Internet. Now, I have my own battery-operated vehicle which takes me to college and brings me back home,” said Omer. Omer did his schooling in Sharjah, UAE (United Arab Emirates), and upon completing his schooling, his father got him admitted into an institution to learn Commerce, but due to his interest in engineering, he discontinued it and went back to India for further studies. Living under the guardianship of paternal grandparents, he took admission in MPC at a private college in Santosh Nagar.
The bicycle works with the help of two rechargeable batteries of 12 volts each and is connected to a motor and to the back wheel through at chain bracket. This moped starts with an electric switch. Only one brake is connected to it, and instead of bicycle paddle a rod is attached for resting legs. It requires 2 to 3 hours of electric charging for it to run about 25 to 30 km with a speed of 25 to 27 kmph. Going forward, he wants to replace it with a more durable battery, which gets recharged just like dynamo of a bicycle. He is confident of coming up with similar bicycles at a cost of Rs 15,000 within 5 to 6 days. “I am doing research on usage of this kind of mechanism in the coming days to use the batter for optimum levels,” he added.
The aspiring engineer has plans to visit foreign countries like USA and China for higher studies, as part of his research work on batteries. “I am trying to fine tune the mechanism to suit Indian roads and traffic conditions. I have plans to study abroad on mechanics,” he added.