Week 12 - 5/17/18 - Blog 2

We realized that we need to have a bigger sprocket on the bike so that it is geared for torque rather than speed. We had geared for speed only and it spun really quickly off of the ground, but once we put someone on it, it couldn't handle it. We do not have sprockets that are big enough and not enough time to to buy a new one online, so we are turning bike 1 into bike 2 and using the big gear that is already on the bike. This will allow it to be geared for torque and hopefully a successful run.

Week 12 -  5/15/18 - Blog 2

Today, we added metal L-Brackets to the battery/motor box to make sure it is stable and won't fall apart. We also added another wooden piece underneath the box so the chain is really tight. We tested the bike and have run into a problem with the chain skipping at the beginning of the throttle-on. We think this is due to the chain not surrounding our motor sprocket enough. 

EDIT- We came back after class and added a new sprocket to the outside of the chain to push it in more, so that it's tighter around the motor sprocket. We tested it off of the ground, with no one on it, and it runs smoothly and very fast. Once we put someone on it, the motor cannot seem to push the weight and works if you do not give it much throttle but if you go full force, the chain pops off. 

Week 11 - 5/11/18 

Today, we changed the sprocket to the one we used in bike one because the sprocket that is on the bike does not properly fit the chain. We also have come to the realization that the reason the chain was popping off of our sprockets was because of the distance between the two sprockets and not which link we used. We are putting another piece of wood under the battery and motor box to raise the motor and sprocket up a tad to make the chain the perfect distance. We also moved the motor back a little to be lined up with the new sprocket we added.

Week 11 - 5/9/18

Today we drilled holes in the bike and cut out a bracket for the switch to be attached to. We also used hot glue to try to keep the switch in the hole we made. It is pretty secured now. We ran the wires through the bike today and everything is connected. We also did a test run and we ran into an issue regarding out sprocket not fitting our chain completely. We will address this problem next class.

Week 11 - 5/7/18

Today we cut out a side panel for the battery and motor box and drilled a hole for wires to run in and out to the switch that we will add soon and the throttle in the front of the bike. The side panels were attached using wood glue and zip ties. We will run the wires through the bike soon, zip tying it to the bars on the bike.

Week 11 - 5/3/18

Today we placed the batteries, motor controller, and motor together on the back of the bike and began wiring them together with the throttle. The next step is to acquire and add an ON/OFF switch for easy use. Next class we will also be adding the chain to the motor and working out any kinks in our design. After that, testing on the second bike can begin.