A Prototype of an Exercising Bicycle based on Electrorheological Fluids

A prototype of an exercising bicycle with a key part of concentric cylinders has been designed and characterized employing electrorheological (ER) fluids based on zeolite and silicone oil. The radius and width of the cylinders have been optimized so that there is minimum power consumption from the high voltage power source. The performance of the prototype has been experimentally determined. Experimental results show that the resistance increases significantly with the increase of applied electric field and the power consumption of the exercising bicycle is <0.5 W. The research shows the advantages of using ER fluids in this kind of an apparatus.