Interesting RC motor recumbent project

[andyh2]

Apologies ifthis has already been picked up but if not i thought folk might be interested.

Matt Shumaker electric recumbent bicycle

and the related discussion at

Endless-sphere.com • View topic - The E-cumbent - A project by Matt Shumaker.

At 4kw not quite legal But a really interesting project all the same.

 

[flecc]

It is Andy, and some very nice engineering work on display there.
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[andyh2]

It is great to see what people can do with enthusiasm,imagination and skill.

I guess it's a sign of the times that there seemsto have been more global R&D on radio control models than low power sustainable transport solutions

Makes mewonder what a mainstream car manufacturer could come up with if they put their talents and resources to work on it.........Maybe one day not too soon.

 

[flecc]

Makes me wonder what a mainstream car manufacturer could come up with if they put their talents and resources to work on it.........Maybe one day not too soon.

I think that might not be too far away now, the sooner the better. They've probably got some advanced work on this hidden away in preparation.
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[Jeremy]

Matt's work is indeed superb.

One thing that the internet has given us is a means to exchange ideas quickly. The net result is that a group of interested individuals can quickly bounce around some theories and work cooperatively to develop something at a far lower cost than the R&D division of a company (or a government, come to that).

All it takes is one or two individuals to suggest a different application for an available item and you can be sure that the range of skills and knowledge available on an internet forum will pretty soon work together to refine the idea and help make it workable.

The ES forum is a great place for this, as there is a fairly high proportion of talented technical folk there. It's certainly helped me, both with my electric motorcycle project and with the capacitor discharge cell tab resistance welder that I've needed to make to be able to build the odd-shaped pack I need. Below is a picture of the first part of the CD welder, the big capacitor bank and thyristor.

Most of the ideas for this came from things people on the ES have experimented with, we each build on the work of others.

As an aside, when I've finished the welder and built my battery pack it will be lying idle. Assuming that is works OK, then I'd consider lending it out to anyone who wanted to build a welded pack.

Jeremy