We Finished the Bike!

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Written by Rahil

Last weekend, we completed our first project of the year: the electric bike. As first years, this was our first real experience working with high power electronics. Initially, we started with an electric bike that was disassembled and needed improvements. Thanks to a donation from Mezzazine and Micro, these improvements became possible, in the form of new battery cells and battery management systems (BMSs). As members of the powertrain sub-team, we spent a lot of time working to create two batteries with four cells each, and then to connect each battery to a BMS. We learned a lot about the parts we were working with in the process of assembling the bike. For example, we saw how helpful the BMS is in assessing the voltage levels of our batteries, so we could ensure that they were working safely and performing to the most efficient caliber.

In addition, we acquired many useful new skills, like soldering and crimping, which were really helpful in creating the electrical connecting mechanisms. We also learned the most efficient way to connect the batteries to eliminate as much risk as possible. In the end, after a final stretch of almost 11 hours of continuous dedicated work (contributing to some first years’ first college all-nighters!) we completed our bike in preparation for the Decade One celebration and proudly demonstrated it to parents, alumni, and community members.
 
The initial model for our bike is complete, but we are still continuing to make improvements on it. Specifically, we want to create a more secure caging mechanism to ensure that the batteries and rider are safe in the instance of a crash.

For our next project, we are looking to create an electrically powered go kart, which will eventually compete in the EV Grand Prix competition. The Powertrain sub-team has divided up into sub-sub-teams to work on tasks for this. One group is building a motor controller from scratch while another is designing a new battery box.

The energy level of all members has been increasing and everyone is very eager to start working on these new projects!