Overview

Welcome! Beneath this text on the main page are my most recent posts. Class projects are listed in the left column, while more personal projects are in the right column

Friday, September 28, 2012

Enter iTrike

After having Eli-Kart for a while, I began to think about new ideas for electric vehicles. The things I really liked about Eli-Kart were the large platform, good ground clearance, sensored control, and high top speed. But there were also some things I knew I could improve on. For one, Eli-Kart is very short, making it a little scary to drive next to cars. Secondly, it was unbalanced, and the turning radius was relatively large, making tight turns impossible. Also, the battery life was a little limited and the acceleration was a little slower than I'd like (both not helped by the fact that I'm 6'6"). Finally, it didn't have many standard features luxuries such as a seat and brakes (although I did add headlights).

I took all of these into consideration when designing what I'm calling "iTrike". Perhaps paralleling my recent move from Cambridge to Boston, iTrike is a much more legitimate form of transport. I flipped the three wheel configuration so that is has two wheels in the back and one in the front. The back wheels are driven by high torque brushless motors, which I plan to run sensorless to save a lot of headaches. It has big 12.5" wheels with brakes build into each of the back wheels. It even has a comfy seat and footrests for maximum leisure. Here's the rendering:

I haven't started making it yet, so I'm still trying to think about some cosmetic changes before waterjetting anything. I've been busy with my new job but I thought I would update here so it doesn't look like I've been up to nothing!