Author Archive
Breaking and Fixing the Mars BLDC Brushless Motor
Here’s the short version: Because we are cheap, my friend picked up a Mars “Brushless Etek” BLDC motor from Ebay user “megadan” who has been selling these motors for about half price, with the catch that they are shipped with an odd and difficult to deal with shaft adapter (I’m starting to get used to […]
In: Electric Alt-Kart, Little Fixes
The Most Advanced Scotch Tape Dispenser. In The World.
It’s absolute overkill. Over a pound of 6061 aluminum, every part CNC machined and yes, it’s just a scotch tape dispenser. This is the creation of the Advanced CNC class at Laney College as taught by Bob Rice. I programmed and machined all the parts from drawings using MasterCAM, a Chevalier toolroom mill and a […]
Full Speed Ahead
I’m really looking forward to driving this one. Of course it will be electric. Yes, a steering wheel is on the shopping list.
One Step Closer: New DC/DC
In the seemingly never-ending parade of not-quite dialed in and failed components preventing the EV Miata from being able to be a car instead of a project the latest issue arose with the DC/DC converter. After spending a couple days working on the stupid battery balancing system, thinking it had a better chance of being […]
More Faux-Regen: Because I Just Had To Push It
Last time I faux-regen’d on the bike I hit -4.9A, or about 120w. Today, with a bigger hill… That’s fifteen amps back into the battery. At least 350w. But how? Yeah, 35mph is how. I could feel a slight drag on the bike when I opened the throttle, less drag with it closed. As I […]
TTXGP in the USA: Round 1 Infineon Raceway May 16, 2010
I had the privilege of attending the first ever US TTXGP All-electric motorcycle road race on Sunday May 16th at Infineon Raceway. I arrived with uncertain expectations about the nature of the race- I was impressed by the innovation and variation in the bikes and the determination of the teams. Here are the results in […]
How It Came To Be- The Big-Ass Billet Pulley
Once I decided to run a single stage poly-v belt reduction on the e-bike instead of a two-stage timing belt/chain reduction on the advice of Bob Schneeveis I set about figuring out how I was going to come by a foot diameter rear pulley for the bike, preferably a really sweet one, in line with […]
In: Electric Poly-V Bike, Machining, Photo Journo
Finding the E-Bike’s limits
A common question asked in these parts when I am describing the power and speed capabilities of the electric bike is “Well, can it scale Marin?”. Marin is an extremely steep street, notoriously and constantly steep- it goes from bottom to the top of the same hill I climbed last time, just in less than […]
An Electric Bike Future? Count Me In
Cars are great, cars are fun- but if you’re looking for ultimate efficiency it’s hard to beat a bicycle. Pedaled or powered a bike will get your butt across town using a tiny fraction of the energy practically any other conveyance would. Meet my latest project: I’ve been working on the parts for this bike […]
In: Electric Poly-V Bike, Life and Times
A One Wheeler- the Uni-Pogo
Since this project was developed, built, tested and moved on-from all before I wrote anything about it I’ll tell its story: I’ve been interested in the idea of super-compact, minimal urban transportation occasionally over the last few months. The idea of a mass transit “connector”, that’ll get you from your house to the train, then […]