How can a bicycle stand straight without falling?

Riding a bike is a simple task, but do you know, scientists still don't understand how bicycles can stand upright without falling? For 150 years, although many studies have been done, in the end, people have not really explained this mysterious mechanism.

Explain why bicycles can stand upright without falling

In 2011, an alliance of bicycle research scientists from many countries around the world announced that despite analyzing for the past 150 years, no one knew why bicycles were available. can stand upright. This statement faces skepticism from many people around the world. Sadly, it is true. Andy Ruina, an engineer at Cornell University in the United States, said: 'What we don't know is simple: what is a necessary and sufficient condition for a bicycle to stabilize itself?'

During the study, engineers repeated trial and error experiments to create a stable, balanced bike that was hard to fall when moving. Mathematically, engineers listed 25 variables to help a car stand upright, such as wheel size, weight distribution, angle created by front fork and road surface, .

Before 2011, researchers only focused on two factors that help bicycles stand up rather than 25 as above. The first is the 'trail' size , the distance between the front wheel and the road surface and the intersection of the front fork with the ground. The rest of the transfer force is restored on a wheel while spinning to keep it upright.

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Professor Ruina and his colleagues, mechanical engineer Arend Schwab at Delft Polytechnic University, Netherlands, Jim Papadopoulos from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA, jointly studied this issue. They decided not only to look at math theory but to use it to create a bicycle that could not run. Unexpectedly, it can still stand upright.

Bricyle's prototype was built by engineer Ruiba to study the physical mystery behind the upright bike, while also facilitating the development of new generation bicycles.

This result makes scientists stand still. Until last year, Professor Ruina introduced a study of him with the 'bricyle' vehicle - a hybrid of a normal bicycle and a tricycle, equipped with a spring wheel stabilizer, Allows the driver to adjust multiple levels corresponding to the road surface. By experimenting with this car, Ruina hopes to gain more knowledge, which helps create more manageable bicycles.

And finally, how a bicycle can stand upright is still a physical mystery without an answer. Researcher Papadopoulos said: 'I think that in order to get a real understanding of the bike, it is necessary to combine our previous studies, with the research of many other genius minds. People use a lot of complex and intuitive actions to cycle, keep it balanced. But at very slow speeds, the handlebars seem to be useless and the knee swing makes the car stand at will. "

Test cycling at very slow speeds: