IIIT-H develops unique charger for e-bikes

Hyderabad: RESEARCHERS at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) have designed a unique charging solution for e-scooters.

Dr Aftab Hussain, who heads the Processes, Architecture and Technologies Research in IoT (PATRIoT) division at IIIT-H and his team has designed a complete end-to-end charging solution from the electronic hardware components that are sturdy and safe enough for outdoor deployments to the software that contains an appropriate processor to control all input and output devices of the system.

In a paper titled, "Compact Electric Vehicle Charging Station Using Open Charge Point Protocol for E-Scooters" that has been presented at the 2021 International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Future Electric Transportation, Dr Hussain and his team of researchers proposed a unique design and fabrication of charging equipment specifically for e-scooters.

Leveraging on the core strength of the lab which lies in flexible electronics, the researchers have used a flexible, inexpensive membrane for the keypad with a longer lifespan than a mechanical keypad. Much like the interface at an ATM, the user has to swipe an RFID card that authenticates him/her before he/she enters the amount for which charging has to be done. Safety features such as emergency disconnection of AC power supply in case it goes beyond a minimum threshold, or in case of hardware faults have also been incorporated.