We finally wrapped up our group works. Yes, we dragged our feet like sloths on this one (school ended almost two months ago). Or rather, we definitely bit off more than our part-time researcher lives allow us to chew. Anyway, if you’d like to read the more or less full account of our work in… [Read more…]
January 23, 2009
After 1 year and 2 months, I have very little to show for results. There is this software framework that produces sketchy models of wheel-motors which have no guarantee of real-world performance. And a web site full of interesting bits of information, a few intelligent discussions, and a handful of very nice and techie web… [Read more…]
September 26, 2008
I’ve been just talking about regenerative braking for too long. It’s time to define the requirements. When trying to dimension ultracapacitors or batteries for regen braking, we have to take into account the energy and power of the braking in it’s worst case: from top speed down to zero, and in the shortest time possible.… [Read more…]
July 6, 2008
A fellow tinkerer has contacted me showing his own project of in-wheel motor. His design is of Axial Flux with double rotor, and he shows me a series of details and shares a few enhancements over my original axial flux single rotor design. I found this event quite gratifying; it’s the kind of confirmation I… [Read more…]
June 23, 2008
In the past, I tried to create as many different motor simulation models as I could, in order to explore and learn about the possibilities. Halbach arrays or not, ironless or ferrous cores, one or two magnetic rotors, radial flux or axial flux, etc. Lately I’ve been making practical decisions and tweaking my simulation scripts… [Read more…]
June 16, 2008
I’ve been quite distracted over the past 2 months, because after asking for an enthusiast’s help on building the motor, I was introduced to a couple of business men and the whole idea got blown out of proportion… I started thinking about a conversion business, or a conversion kit franchise, and a few other modes… [Read more…]
May 30, 2008
I’ve been worrying about patent infringement right from the beginning of this project. But now I can rest easy, because the two main distinctive traits of the project belong in the public domain and therefore cannot be used for legal prosecution: the Serial Hybrid Electric Vehicle and the Wheel Motor!! Back in 1900, while working… [Read more…]
May 29, 2008
I haven’t had the time or the patience to repeat the roll-down test again. However, I found an old picture file I took out of the Web a few years ago that has all the measures of my car, and, most importantly, it has a perfect frontal area projection! With a little help from “The… [Read more…]
April 24, 2008
“Portuguese drivers in the greater Lisbon area last monday were surprised by a strange scenario: a crazy dude with a camera and tripod in the backseat of the car, going back and forth on the same road, over and over again, accelerating to 80 kph and then letting the car stop by itself. He spent… [Read more…]
April 22, 2008
It’s been a long time since my last post, so some people are asking if I’m giving up or something… nope, nothing could be further from the truth. For practical reasons, I’m working on several fronts at the same time, and this has prevented me from producing any concrete results. Let’s see…
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