Two people who want to share with everyone what they have done, in hopes that it will encourage you in your own conversion projects. The site has two main areas of focus; electric vehicles (including bikes), and electric motor controllers.
A wiki meant to facilitate the collaborative design of new versions of Trev that can be built by enthusiasts. The design stuff is on the website and appears to not be under any copyright license.
Use of a simple micro controller (uController) like a PicAxe 08m rather than the LM324 quad comparator as the core of a controller for permanent magnet brushed DC motors.
A forum to develop energy-efficient cars using an open source approach.
Our starting point is the design schematics licensed to us by Riversimple. They designed a hydrogen fuel cell car, which was unveiled to the public for the first time in London on 16th June 2009.
The chronology of Tim Kutscha's path towards creating an open-source electric vehicle (EV) conversion kit for a fifth generation ('92-'95) Honda Civic sedan/coupe. Current instructions and files can be found at the civic-ev-kit Google group listed in the Links section. Licensed under the TAPR Open Hardware License (www.tapr.org/OHL)
An open sourced recumbent trike design. Jetrike is a front wheel drive (FWD) tilting delta trike design that features self-centering tilt geometry. Its tilting mechanism works independently from the steering. The idea is to use the riders weight to remain centered as the trike becomes stationary.
Hopefully this will give you some idea of how Jetrike rides. In the video I am riding Jetrike around the research station, reaching speeds of 37kmh and cornering at 22kmh (in two places) on a 2km loose gravel circuit. The road is a single lane and all the corners are at right angles, so I really had to lean hard not to end up in the cane fields!
Jetrike is a front wheel drive tilting delta trike that features self-centering geometry. I use it to commute to work on a daily basis.
Here are some shots of the finished frame showing how the tilt mechanism works.
Jetrike is a front wheel drive tilting delta trike that features self-centering geometry. I use it to commute to work on a daily basis.
I finally managed to get my mate rusty to chase me around the car park with a camera.
Jetrike is a front wheel drive tilting delta trike that features self-centering geometry. I use it to commute to work on a daily basis.
This simulation provided by Frank Bokhorst shows the how the new Free-To-Caster (FTC) design handles a high speed 3" bump. The front suspension is obviously too stiff, but shows how the FTC automatically recovers. All the driver did was point and shoot.
This is my new Free-To-Caster trike design under simulation.
The EM Dash is a pseudo-open-source project to develop a "dashboard" for an electric motorcycle. The project seems to still be in very early stages in that the postings are still pondering different embedded CPU choices. The overall design idea block diagram looks sound. But if the designer is still unsure of the CPU choice then it's not very far along.
They've developed a range of plans for small electric vehicles which include solar panels. The plans are available for free.
It's not clear whether there is a license or copyright on the plans. The intent appears to be "Open Source" in that they urge people to take the plans and build vehicles with them. However that there's no explicit copyright or license granting rights is a potential issue.
