[Jerome’s] been working on some improvements to an electric foot scooter he picked up from a friend. He ordered up a powerful brushless motor and some lithium batteries. His system uses a belt drive and at 33 volts it can reach 25 miles per hour.
He had some problems with too much torque when the motor was first started. This resulted in unintentional wheelies, which sounds really cool if you’re not the one trying to hang on to the scooter. [Jerome] is using an Arduino to control the system so he built in the ability to gradually ramp up the speed of the motor and also added the ability to control the speed via remote control. You should note in the video after the break that [Jerome] is test-piloting his build sans-helmet.
So, we spend a lifetime and countless sums of money filling our noggins with knowledge. This is a precarious investment since a rather small bump to the melon could corrupt all of that data and end the once spectacular cognitive power. If you’re smart enough to build a foot scooter that can go 25mph, be smart enough to wear a helmet when you ride on it!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYjtulQ3ocs]
>Not really, Instead of having it horizontal.
I still think that vibrations will splash that mercury all around (it is a liquid), but that’s a preconceived notion, I could be wrong – I’ve never tested it. I suspect that solid state Accelerometers and Gyros (with filtering) would work better.
Write back and let us know you find.
Safety Sam says…always wear a helmet, safety goggles and boots to a pillow fight. All geeks will look gay as hell! Natural selection works, you will look stupid for life and you will not reproduce. As fast as Olympians run..they should be forced to wear helmets and pads to “protect” them.
This isn’t a health care debate. It’s about a pretty cool hack on a POS scooter. They had fun. No harm no foul. Don’t be such pussies.
For the “wear a helmet” mob, go away and read up on risk compensation. Here’s a link to get you started – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation
“A sign of a poor argument is when the need is felt to exaggerate, ambiguate, belittle and mock;”
Wrong. There’s not even an argument here. There is no “anti-helmet crowd”, just like there is no “anti-seatbelt crowd”. There are people who want to manage their own safety and think that nanny staters and worriful willies should mind their own business. There are people who are sick of the first response to a cool hack or project being “is it safe? can you get hurt?” because it represents how docile we have become.
Especially when you are deeply involved in the construction and design (and subsequent testing) of a project, you understand the risks and possible failure modes MUCH better than your average Internet commenter.
“But…but…but the unexpected!” is a poor excuse to deter people from taking perceived risks that are clouded by your own prejudices and fears.
Also, to all the motorcycle riders telling stories of accidents and falls on their bikes:
This is a toy scooter. You are 2 inches off the ground.
Seriously, stop comparing this to operating a quarter ton machine at highway speeds next to two-to-three ton machines doing the same. They are absolutely not the same. You want to talk about “exaggerating”?
ST: Whats your point? If the dudes wearing a helmet, he might be going a little faster. But chances are he will still be safer.
Anyway:
“This pretty good new. I am also planning to have a fan attach to the motor to give better cooling. I am making some fan design to test it out.”
Good idea, I suspect that motor will not last long at 1400W without forced air cooling.
“Mr. Foo, the jump to the idiocy of, “won’t someone think of the children,” was cute but pointless, as that wasn’t stated anywhere.”
You know that “the children”, coupled with the attitudes of safety aficionados like you, are the reason why personal responsibility is so curtailed and safety regulations so draconic in Western society today.
@jproach >>I suspect that motor will not last long at 1400W without forced air cooling.
The motor is rated 1480W continuous. But, I still need to be very carefull with the heat.
Rc guys have big planes that consume 35A and more for 8 to 10 minutes run. The motor is at 90% of full throttle and the motor can take it. That is just a exemple and some guys have even more crazy setup.
I will never use that motor for long hours. I would not even ride that scooter more then 10 minutes long!
The other day, I tested to go to my bus stop. I when only 1km with a very good average speed of just over 20mph and that was counting a hill. My legs muscle where cramp up. I was not in a very good posture and my right leg had to work hard to stabilize my body in the scooter. There is alot of room for improvement.
This is a really fun projet!
@AlmostThere
Yes I totally agree that vibration will make the mercury ball move like crazy. There is alot of vibration in that thing. I had a problem when the battery started moving foward, then it started pulling on the motor controller and remove 1 wire out of 3 that goes directly to the motor. The motor stop working ( out of phase ) and the motor overheated like hell! It happen twice. I corrected the problem for the wires but was to late and the motor is dead. I ordered a other one.
I am planning to have a infrared sensor to read out temperature .5inch away.
@charles
It wasn’t a jump, it was a joke, made at a somewhat pointless and very amusing (to me, at least) backlash to someone taking account of their own risk.
Case in point. I race motorcycles on the track and I wear a helmet whilst doing it. I race snowboards, and I wear a helmet doing that, too, but when I’m simply freecarving I wear a hat. I play ice hockey, and wear a helmet, but when I’m just skating for fun and there’s not a puck and sticks flying about, no helmet. I ride a bicycle up and down the alps, and I don’t generally wear a helmet when I’m doing so. If I’m doing downhill mountain biking, though, I do.
It’s all a question of taking responsibility for your actions. There is a depressing tendency to require any slight mishap to be the fault of someone else, for it all to end in court, and *that* is the cause of the safety paranoia, not the fact that I (or others) take personal risks. Safety paranoia happens because insurance companies won’t pay out if they can find a way to avoid doing so. Fell off your bike when you weren’t wearing a helmet? No insurance for you, bucko.
The insurance companies, and anyone else who tries to tell me what risk is acceptable for me personally, can, if you’ll pardon the language, get fucked. I’m an adult. I can make the decision for myself.
@JPRoach – Faster, though most likely not safer. Rather than just skim that single page I linked to, do a little background reading or read a little slower. A little physics background might also help, faster=greater impact=more kinetic energy=helmet may do sod all. Cycle helmet standards (manufacturers design to meet, not exceed the standards, other wise they’d be larger, less trendy looking and damned hot to wear) only require them to protect in impacts up to 12mph . You can reach that falling off your soap box you know?
Another link to help you along the way to enlightenment :) –
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/wiki/Cycle_helmets_overview
Meh, helmets aren’t gods gift to heads anyway. I fell 7 feet to concrete onto my chin and there isn’t much the helmet could do in that situation to dull the impact.
Or return vision to my left eye for the next 12 hours…….
There are no breaks. Oh well, they just slow you down anyway. Lol
I’m not sure if this has been noted yet but did anyone notice he was testing this thing without any form of protective headgear?
Yes, very nice of them to lend THEIR equipment.
what is with all the helmet preaching?
Thank you for the advice mother(s). Please get off your soapbox and let me and everybody else in the world decide if they are going to wear a brain bucket.
@matt
http://failblog.org/2009/10/19/shopping-cart-stunt-fail/
Would you do this without a helmet? Probably you are not here in this world anymore to reply.
Sounds like you hit your head pretty early on in life judging by your grammar.
There is a time and place for helmets, but that is my choice, not yours or anybody else. I wear the protective gear I feel most safe with almost daily ranging from knee-pads for skateboarding, to a variety of pads for paintball. I hardly think you or anybody here getting all preachy is going to change anybody’s mind on the matter.
I am now done with this conversation.
Damn, was just gonna see how u guys did the bat, then I noticed u borrowwed it-ahhh
@ cHaRlEs I don’t care in the least bit if buddy here wheres a helmet. Yes the scooter is 2 in off the ground, his head is ~6ft +2 inches off the ground. So if one did hit their head it would be quite a bit higher then 2 inches, unless the ground came to you…
1500W is 2HP, but you’re measuring different things. A 2HP engine puts out 2HP. a 1500W motor *takes* 1500W, and puts out some lesser amount of energy in the form of acceleration. That motor might only be 50% efficient under typical load, so it’s only putting out ~1HP.
Nice Hack!
I am curious about thermal issues. Duty cycle effect is often an underestimation multiplying damages.
With the rule of “down V= up A” as one further end-of-run parameter impacting thermal load. Brushless design sadly does not provide a nullification of electrical constants and curves
dood iv always wanted to do somthing like that to a set of roller blades lol would love to see the blue prints of it so i could try my own home brew version.
ps to all toughs that think that helmets are a must iv been a bike/motorbike rider my whole life falling a 25kph is no biggie. iv never landed on my head. hell if my face is aiming at the ground there called hands people it’s better to have a scar there rather than on the face. hell i know even motorbike helmets dont do much unless you scrape the ground and thats only grazes the think you need if your going to be anal where a neck brace like a gp bike rider when you fall your more likely to snap your neck on impact but other than that don’t worry so much about safty
ps if a car hits you or you get fliped at high speed you can kiss your ass good bye even if you are wearing ahelmet
I am working on something similar for a long board. hoping to top 40 mph. An yes I plan to wear a helmet though at that speed I dont see the point.
AWESOME! Great work on the scooter Mike and Co.
Drop in for a drag at Flinders Uni next time you’re down-under. We’ll have a 3kW version ready to race you soon!
*sigh* there != their != they’re, learn to use the right one, eh? Especially if you’re going to post a bloody video.
Hey, Great work, besides all the helmet talk i just wanna know… How to get my hands on a good frame, i saw earlier u mentioned a brushless outrunner quicker, but where else will i get the rest of the necesary stuff to make it, i was thinking of soldering two frames and having those bad boys on a plastic frame body go kart, something for my boy to enjoy… it seems a better idea than gas or electric just need a good cooling system maybe… any suggestions? Could i fit a bigger wheel than the small rubber ones? Large enuf to fit a good braking system.
Notable efforts, and rather comprehensive. Makes you seem honest, which is tricky to come by today.
Imagine explaining it to the doctor, “How did he fracture his skull?” “Oh, he was riding a homemade electric scooter.” “Right….”