tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75794647998240527222024-03-13T04:33:38.031-06:00Thoughts of a curly Salvadorean sailor wearing CrocsA blog dedicated to follow Roberto's crazy thoughts and random projects.robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-14889940742958052512016-03-19T14:09:00.002-06:002016-03-20T02:06:56.160-06:00Cholo makes the trip out West!After a year in abandonment in Boston, I finally decided to get Cholo shipped to California so work could resume after a year hiatus.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m2GuCxquCGk/Vu2tTDnKr1I/AAAAAAAAIn4/4lAMLBxuKcE8ABzKgsPlvJkA-ouMdNHQA/s1600/20160317_133642_resized1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m2GuCxquCGk/Vu2tTDnKr1I/AAAAAAAAIn4/4lAMLBxuKcE8ABzKgsPlvJkA-ouMdNHQA/s400/20160317_133642_resized1.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UQ5-2o8Z0v8/Vu2tSmA4bII/AAAAAAAAIns/c4naHFV0m8UQ3ltJ8wyNUVeXu9CugSnKQ/s1600/20160317_1336041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UQ5-2o8Z0v8/Vu2tSmA4bII/AAAAAAAAIns/c4naHFV0m8UQ3ltJ8wyNUVeXu9CugSnKQ/s640/20160317_1336041.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">welcome to Cali Cholo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYtp3YoRWf4/Vu2tSphbG6I/AAAAAAAAIn0/l7GBwsD-MVsKMmH0yM8XdCD5YF2-g9LFA/s1600/20160317_1336101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYtp3YoRWf4/Vu2tSphbG6I/AAAAAAAAIn0/l7GBwsD-MVsKMmH0yM8XdCD5YF2-g9LFA/s320/20160317_1336101.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GukB9nSuj7g/Vu2tSgpkIQI/AAAAAAAAInw/ip6BkAv79YMbuUQwwt7IViubdr4qdtrxQ/s1600/20160317_1336261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GukB9nSuj7g/Vu2tSgpkIQI/AAAAAAAAInw/ip6BkAv79YMbuUQwwt7IViubdr4qdtrxQ/s320/20160317_1336261.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BEANTOWN BEANTOWN!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFFYj_jzV4M/Vu2tTLNyj8I/AAAAAAAAIn8/ZVP6APbmjaI30d60n05FDsWqb9QJeChMQ/s1600/20160317_1341411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFFYj_jzV4M/Vu2tTLNyj8I/AAAAAAAAIn8/ZVP6APbmjaI30d60n05FDsWqb9QJeChMQ/s320/20160317_1341411.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">in the shade for protection from Cali sun!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--OPkS9oGPSI/Vu2tTTOYBAI/AAAAAAAAIoA/dV0zWp_3XYMuXZYoH6-jVqH9zKFUNLKaw/s1600/20160318_195608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--OPkS9oGPSI/Vu2tTTOYBAI/AAAAAAAAIoA/dV0zWp_3XYMuXZYoH6-jVqH9zKFUNLKaw/s640/20160318_195608.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EVT vinyl sticker still there!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FhTpysy4pSA/Vu2tTlBwfMI/AAAAAAAAIoE/ZOIajjm66e4tmtbmRm-tiPBI5xmkY-9nw/s1600/20160319_114057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FhTpysy4pSA/Vu2tTlBwfMI/AAAAAAAAIoE/ZOIajjm66e4tmtbmRm-tiPBI5xmkY-9nw/s640/20160319_114057.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">getting my tools ready!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A bunch of friends from work have agreed to help me get Cholo on the road. I have also finally obtained some batteries for the Cholo. I got them from a salvaged i3 battery pack. The i3 pack is 8 modules with each being a 12s1p array of 60Ah cells. With 2 of these in series I'll have ~5.2kWh at 88V nominal. I'll be doing some discharge tests on these batteries soon. Ideally I'd like for them to pull 600A DC but it might prove difficult. The fuse in the i3 is 350A, and i know I can push that a little bit. Anyways it will just take some careful experimenting with a power supply and an IR camera and we'll see the results.<br />
<br />
<br />Mechanically the i3 modules are ideal for an open frame motorcycle like Cholocycle, the dimensions are roughly 12 inches, by 15 inch by 5.75 inch. So they should be able to stack nicely in between the wraparound arms that held the engine in place. They also have an aluminum housing which makes it easy to weld brackets to.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xR1cUcQZ_KI/Vu2xdh4dMyI/AAAAAAAAIoY/PU0q5TcOZ7E9ePcbCkHVOjavl0IIf-QmA/s1600/20160319_125725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xR1cUcQZ_KI/Vu2xdh4dMyI/AAAAAAAAIoY/PU0q5TcOZ7E9ePcbCkHVOjavl0IIf-QmA/s400/20160319_125725.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-krTcZhRuvpI/Vu2xdf0mO4I/AAAAAAAAIoc/ujnmA_UA8Xkfs5vLOXEFm6uql6m6DWhlg/s1600/20160319_125732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-krTcZhRuvpI/Vu2xdf0mO4I/AAAAAAAAIoc/ujnmA_UA8Xkfs5vLOXEFm6uql6m6DWhlg/s320/20160319_125732.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pe2HOf6iJEU/Vu2xdchNXSI/AAAAAAAAIoU/hCgkyW8v_uYVQjd9WXic1Yv-U7EEIxJmg/s1600/20160319_125736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pe2HOf6iJEU/Vu2xdchNXSI/AAAAAAAAIoU/hCgkyW8v_uYVQjd9WXic1Yv-U7EEIxJmg/s320/20160319_125736.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8-V4ZHebrs/Vu2xeH_65vI/AAAAAAAAIog/eAqefgMh1fM5CT3eqgsvZGtpDiU-SD9YA/s1600/20160319_125744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8-V4ZHebrs/Vu2xeH_65vI/AAAAAAAAIog/eAqefgMh1fM5CT3eqgsvZGtpDiU-SD9YA/s320/20160319_125744.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
Additionally the battery pack comes in with direct cell connections and connections to thermistors on the cells. These wires are easily accessible via the module connector. This is great news because these can now feed directly into a BMS for balancing and temperature monitoring of the cells. Anyways I'm hoping to be working on this more and more and get it running by the summertime. The goal is to get it to be my daily commuter to work!robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-38880459488748707512014-10-08T09:39:00.000-06:002014-10-08T09:39:13.888-06:00Cholo @ MIT Maker Faire!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Some pics of the EV-Allstars at MIT! Taken by Josh Ramos during MIT's first Maker Faire!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AaBfsAPW2sk/VDVaXi1MfII/AAAAAAAAHDw/MFqF5B0t-uY/s1600/6H6A3657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AaBfsAPW2sk/VDVaXi1MfII/AAAAAAAAHDw/MFqF5B0t-uY/s1600/6H6A3657.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MfCWGeMKQbs/VDVaX1E1Q0I/AAAAAAAAHD0/5gsSzqH2sMU/s1600/6H6A3661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MfCWGeMKQbs/VDVaX1E1Q0I/AAAAAAAAHD0/5gsSzqH2sMU/s1600/6H6A3661.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vlIxVJay9_w/VDVaYT5M_UI/AAAAAAAAHD4/_Ob54RgU1MI/s1600/6H6A3665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vlIxVJay9_w/VDVaYT5M_UI/AAAAAAAAHD4/_Ob54RgU1MI/s1600/6H6A3665.jpg" height="185" width="320" /></a></div>
robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-30902256591358012792014-10-07T15:23:00.004-06:002014-10-08T08:47:07.153-06:00Cholocycle: upgrade components finally here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
After a long wait.... over the last couple of weeks I have received some awesome new presents:<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PZH9AIvbwoo/VDRQvtqzqkI/AAAAAAAAHBM/mYZNdTrF47w/s1600/2014-09-02%2B10.13.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PZH9AIvbwoo/VDRQvtqzqkI/AAAAAAAAHBM/mYZNdTrF47w/s1600/2014-09-02%2B10.13.50.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sevcon Size 6! WOOHOOO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqEfheEI0DQ/VDRQvjoWAaI/AAAAAAAAHBI/d2CxK61MPuk/s1600/2014-09-25%2B13.20.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqEfheEI0DQ/VDRQvjoWAaI/AAAAAAAAHBI/d2CxK61MPuk/s1600/2014-09-25%2B13.20.45.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OMG SO MANY A123s! (i'm using two 13s3p modules!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1mjNqSBXNI/VDVOMNyuXqI/AAAAAAAAHCM/jNA_dGKezrA/s1600/2014-10-08%2B10.45.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1mjNqSBXNI/VDVOMNyuXqI/AAAAAAAAHCM/jNA_dGKezrA/s1600/2014-10-08%2B10.45.04.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Delta-Q Quiq 1kW charger!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DG6WeLt10c4/VDRQvnHIsyI/AAAAAAAAHBQ/0Brkd_7zi84/s1600/2014-10-06%2B21.42.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DG6WeLt10c4/VDRQvnHIsyI/AAAAAAAAHBQ/0Brkd_7zi84/s1600/2014-10-06%2B21.42.56.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let the preparations commence!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I will be using 13s3p modules now (as opposed to 13s2p), this gives me 50% more energy and range than before! Here is an updated plot of my range estimates!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TajosH0OZV4/VDRXxHkzbxI/AAAAAAAAHBw/vVyWIDWhEyg/s1600/upgraded_range.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TajosH0OZV4/VDRXxHkzbxI/AAAAAAAAHBw/vVyWIDWhEyg/s1600/upgraded_range.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70 mile city and 50 highway! not too shabby!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Me and a group of awesome helpers have started planning the system upgrades. We have dismantled the old system (held together by wood and zipties) and we are sizing the components and mounting strategy.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DRwp_I6UFSk/VDRYToIvOlI/AAAAAAAAHB4/sHEqdUQmkbw/s1600/2014-10-06%2B21.41.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DRwp_I6UFSk/VDRYToIvOlI/AAAAAAAAHB4/sHEqdUQmkbw/s1600/2014-10-06%2B21.41.15.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">not the final configuration!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I also have bought a new sound system for the bike (Thanks BOSE!)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OpL7QxvC8iM/VDRXq9UO3fI/AAAAAAAAHBo/1_It8_sYDNg/s1600/2014-10-07%2B17.11.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OpL7QxvC8iM/VDRXq9UO3fI/AAAAAAAAHBo/1_It8_sYDNg/s1600/2014-10-07%2B17.11.45.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
With these new components and my awesome new crew of volunteers I am hoping to be working on this project more and be done (street legal) by the end of January!robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-81290982686177008382014-07-30T14:00:00.001-06:002014-07-30T15:47:08.439-06:00Cholocycle Perfomance EstimatesHey!<br />
<br />
Batteries are still not here, so I have been doing some math instead.<br />
<br />
I set-up some matlab code to give me performance specs of the bike. I started off with the torque curves from hpevs.com.<br />
<br />
I am using 85V 650A so I selected the 72V 650A curve as the closest available. This is the peak curve which is useful to estimate the peak performance of the bike (not to be confused with the continuous curve).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5pywPh5_6fY/U9k-XE6xrBI/AAAAAAAAGlE/qCqKfhV61yM/s1600/AC20Peak72V650A.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5pywPh5_6fY/U9k-XE6xrBI/AAAAAAAAGlE/qCqKfhV61yM/s1600/AC20Peak72V650A.PNG" height="285" width="400" /></a></div>
From this torque curve (in orange) i made my own "simplified" torque speed curve.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6M22iCPuTJA/U9lBaBKV8oI/AAAAAAAAGlQ/Pk6szYSpqY4/s1600/TorqRPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6M22iCPuTJA/U9lBaBKV8oI/AAAAAAAAGlQ/Pk6szYSpqY4/s1600/TorqRPM.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
Having the torque characteristics of the motor now I input my specs for the bike (gear ratio, wheel diameter) and I scaled the Torq-RPM graph to a force-mph graph. I also assumed some drag coefficents and some rolling cofficents and plotted a Resistance-mph graph. I then compared them as below.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UBsk_sR63ic/U9lJbNIfICI/AAAAAAAAGlg/AwCHT7aV6NE/s1600/forcespeed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UBsk_sR63ic/U9lJbNIfICI/AAAAAAAAGlg/AwCHT7aV6NE/s1600/forcespeed.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
With this graph I can estimate the steady-state speed of the bike, this is when both curves intersect. This shows about 96 mph top speed! Not bad!<br />
<br />
I can also compare the power curves:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-joh9n2ZabVs/U9lJ0lKzUUI/AAAAAAAAGlo/u3weZTOKfwg/s1600/powergraphs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-joh9n2ZabVs/U9lJ0lKzUUI/AAAAAAAAGlo/u3weZTOKfwg/s1600/powergraphs.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Notice that the inserct in the power curve occurs at the same speed as in the torque curves, which suggests consistency in the model. From the power curves I can see what my consumption should be at every speed by looking at the drag power. Black dotted line shows 8kW which is the max rated continuous power of the motor, this says I should be able to cruise around 60mph continuously without overheating (till my batteries run out).</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Now that I know my power requirements at every speed I can figure out how much range I have at every speed. This is simply done by dividing the kWh of the pack (5.3kWh) by ( 1.1 * power required to stay at that speed) The factor of 1.1 is there because I'm assuming 90% efficiency of drive train (motor, chain, tire).</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is that graph:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y8JtbEHwjyQ/U9lLhuKPGVI/AAAAAAAAGl0/cVBypwsHJao/s1600/rangespeed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y8JtbEHwjyQ/U9lLhuKPGVI/AAAAAAAAGl0/cVBypwsHJao/s1600/rangespeed.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So it looks like 50+ miles for city driving and just under 40 for highways. sounds about right to me!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Lastly I wanted to get a sense of the dynamic model of the bike (everything up to this point is steady state, i.e. no acceleration).</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In order to do this I made up a quick simulink model that includes the peak torque speed curve from before and also includes the air drag, rolling resistance and mass of the bike. Here is the simulink model.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7579464799824052722" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iuqVt0H0Xj4/U9lMnuWm5PI/AAAAAAAAGmE/hjsE7o4QKV4/s1600/simulinkmodel.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iuqVt0H0Xj4/U9lMnuWm5PI/AAAAAAAAGmE/hjsE7o4QKV4/s1600/simulinkmodel.PNG" height="186" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
With the model now I can estimate my acceleration.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kXR4v5GPgxU/U9lNL6ggZ3I/AAAAAAAAGmM/0Q10zWa6dPs/s1600/accelerationprofile.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kXR4v5GPgxU/U9lNL6ggZ3I/AAAAAAAAGmM/0Q10zWa6dPs/s1600/accelerationprofile.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So it looks like 0-60mph in 4 seconds. I'm satisfied!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So here is a summary of the findings:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
96mph top speed</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
0-60mph in 4 seconds</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
50+ mile in city and <40 highway.="" in="" p=""></40></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is assuming the following:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
AC-20 Motor</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Sevcon Gen 4 Size 6, 650Amp Limit</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
85V nominal pack voltage (A123 prismatic 26s3p)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
5.3kWh</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
For those other e-moto riders out there, does this sound reasonable? Please post your replies to elmoto.net in this thread:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.elmoto.net/showthread.php?3341-Kawasaki-ZX-6R-Conversion-quot-Cholocycle-quot">http://www.elmoto.net/showthread.php?3341-Kawasaki-ZX-6R-Conversion-quot-Cholocycle-quot</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm eager to get my batteries and controller and test cholo out!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<!--40-->robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-12532597424114560452014-07-09T22:02:00.003-06:002014-07-12T15:41:19.508-06:00Cholo and Harley-D's Project LivewireAs you probably heard Harley just released a prototype electric bike. They are currently touring the US in search for feedback from customers before they make a production bike. They are calling it "<a href="http://project.harley-davidson.com/en_US">project livewire</a>"<br />
<br />
I was lucky to be invited to ride the new bike at Boston Harley dealership in Everett on June 27th. It was a lot of fun. They also allowed a bunch of my friends with licenses to ride the bikes on the street.<br />
<br />
I really enjoyed the bike! Instant Torque, nice sound, and great looks (arguably better than most electric bikes already out there, i'm looking at you Brammo and Zero!). I got it to 60+mph and i could have definitely gone faster without traffic.<br />
<br />
I also brought Cholocycle with me (I had told the dealership I was gonna bring it), after about 10 min of Cholo being dispalyed I was asked to remove it from the exhibition! Apparently, corporate harley in wisconsin saw the bike in the "live feed" from the event and got scared at the amount of attention it was getting and asked for all "competition bikes" to be removed. It was kinda sad not to get to exhibit cholo for longer than 10 min, but I found it kinda flattering that THE Harley-Davidson considered my bike "competition".<br />
<br />
Here go some pics for the event, mostly taken by <a href="http://etotheipiplusone.net/">Charles</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IdBpYU38iMg/U74MCF09WbI/AAAAAAAADhQ/OtbvkLGTSZ0/s1600/10419470_10152533691643928_1565884459540356961_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IdBpYU38iMg/U74MCF09WbI/AAAAAAAADhQ/OtbvkLGTSZ0/s1600/10419470_10152533691643928_1565884459540356961_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yg4m-sMoeYg/U74MCkEKaEI/AAAAAAAADhU/xp3CtyoVVfI/s1600/10487195_10152533692548928_8666273813611913604_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yg4m-sMoeYg/U74MCkEKaEI/AAAAAAAADhU/xp3CtyoVVfI/s1600/10487195_10152533692548928_8666273813611913604_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jDfuoZqnW74/U74MmWdKAXI/AAAAAAAADiE/vCEhmY3_TMk/s1600/20140627_131956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jDfuoZqnW74/U74MmWdKAXI/AAAAAAAADiE/vCEhmY3_TMk/s1600/20140627_131956.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UJFXUN9Ac1U/U74MmzVOX_I/AAAAAAAADiM/mtWhvtT08xs/s1600/20140627_144407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UJFXUN9Ac1U/U74MmzVOX_I/AAAAAAAADiM/mtWhvtT08xs/s1600/20140627_144407.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Li6797gxVKY/U74MmR1uwHI/AAAAAAAADiI/a-hm-lA8YuI/s1600/20140627_151742.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Li6797gxVKY/U74MmR1uwHI/AAAAAAAADiI/a-hm-lA8YuI/s1600/20140627_151742.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-72QKBq4aNuk/U74OemH4ZsI/AAAAAAAADoI/_pUt0xQzqv8/s1600/DSCF3165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-72QKBq4aNuk/U74OemH4ZsI/AAAAAAAADoI/_pUt0xQzqv8/s1600/DSCF3165.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FYU0aqm-bUc/U74OehSomfI/AAAAAAAADoQ/7BXj6o3IDo0/s1600/DSCF3176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FYU0aqm-bUc/U74OehSomfI/AAAAAAAADoQ/7BXj6o3IDo0/s1600/DSCF3176.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QcmXDeuVpSc/U74OegXgREI/AAAAAAAADoE/eq5k61www1g/s1600/DSCF3177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QcmXDeuVpSc/U74OegXgREI/AAAAAAAADoE/eq5k61www1g/s1600/DSCF3177.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Qyfw6l49h0/U74Onw1QQeI/AAAAAAAADos/sC-GbNNZkzo/s1600/DSCF3183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Qyfw6l49h0/U74Onw1QQeI/AAAAAAAADos/sC-GbNNZkzo/s1600/DSCF3183.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DEcqUQIS5gE/U74Op6SXSiI/AAAAAAAADo0/viZ1lrbmHFY/s1600/DSCF3184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DEcqUQIS5gE/U74Op6SXSiI/AAAAAAAADo0/viZ1lrbmHFY/s1600/DSCF3184.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vBBx-grwwNk/U74OqGT5ThI/AAAAAAAADo8/gZ0WnWECHYg/s1600/DSCF3185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vBBx-grwwNk/U74OqGT5ThI/AAAAAAAADo8/gZ0WnWECHYg/s1600/DSCF3185.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JNjQDpI8OTE/U74OwXinJKI/AAAAAAAADpU/Xyj_AX8Wd10/s1600/DSCF3186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JNjQDpI8OTE/U74OwXinJKI/AAAAAAAADpU/Xyj_AX8Wd10/s1600/DSCF3186.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cblQQU_yBvk/U74Oypa7rlI/AAAAAAAADpc/YzAwz28rmjk/s1600/DSCF3187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cblQQU_yBvk/U74Oypa7rlI/AAAAAAAADpc/YzAwz28rmjk/s1600/DSCF3187.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ElwqKSK3onk/U74OzGqGMgI/AAAAAAAADpg/izHmi_37ffo/s1600/DSCF3202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ElwqKSK3onk/U74OzGqGMgI/AAAAAAAADpg/izHmi_37ffo/s1600/DSCF3202.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nFLgVhLfUFo/U74O-iBzxVI/AAAAAAAADqE/4qkwctPlkyw/s1600/DSCF3238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nFLgVhLfUFo/U74O-iBzxVI/AAAAAAAADqE/4qkwctPlkyw/s1600/DSCF3238.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_fLTN3OUgdE/U74PCT9VY0I/AAAAAAAADqU/OyWupcspDEs/s1600/DSCF3251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_fLTN3OUgdE/U74PCT9VY0I/AAAAAAAADqU/OyWupcspDEs/s1600/DSCF3251.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DFUxr2-9wK8/U8Grbe9PoWI/AAAAAAAADxg/qdxiBOAwVb0/s1600/harleygrouppic.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DFUxr2-9wK8/U8Grbe9PoWI/AAAAAAAADxg/qdxiBOAwVb0/s1600/harleygrouppic.PNG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-85688904554792663122014-07-04T19:02:00.003-06:002014-07-30T15:46:55.199-06:00Chologoodies: Charger, Decals and Tach StickerStill waiting for batteries and gen4 controller, so i have been distracted by adding some peripheral goodies to the bike. I'll let the pictures talk by themselves.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNG-j4N0N5I/U7dFbrltqOI/AAAAAAAADdI/lFTX2muT8vc/s1600/2014-06-26+20.18.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNG-j4N0N5I/U7dFbrltqOI/AAAAAAAADdI/lFTX2muT8vc/s1600/2014-06-26+20.18.14.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">arduino nano wired in to interface with the tachometer (now a current meter)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--uwGdCGC-Z4/U7dFcsH72oI/AAAAAAAADdQ/WVoZv4J84Jo/s1600/2014-06-27+00.52.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--uwGdCGC-Z4/U7dFcsH72oI/AAAAAAAADdQ/WVoZv4J84Jo/s1600/2014-06-27+00.52.31.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">joey putting the charging platform on the bike</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HyGbB31vQ8A/U7dFc4dcHTI/AAAAAAAADdc/AvOtC8EVUbM/s1600/2014-06-27+03.39.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HyGbB31vQ8A/U7dFc4dcHTI/AAAAAAAADdc/AvOtC8EVUbM/s1600/2014-06-27+03.39.40.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">retractable cord assembly from an old vaccum cleaner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9OpgCqNsTqs/U7dFc0RnWVI/AAAAAAAADdo/McQKLEKQXE4/s1600/2014-06-27+03.39.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9OpgCqNsTqs/U7dFc0RnWVI/AAAAAAAADdo/McQKLEKQXE4/s1600/2014-06-27+03.39.49.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">charging up the bike with the small on board chargers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LaOQDZji-W0/U7dFdAlgKOI/AAAAAAAADdk/8nJJ9YIRstU/s1600/2014-06-27+04.12.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LaOQDZji-W0/U7dFdAlgKOI/AAAAAAAADdk/8nJJ9YIRstU/s1600/2014-06-27+04.12.12.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">retractable cord coming out of gas tank! not super practical but it is a neat piece of poetry and gives a new meaning to fueling up your bike</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7L3YpUrWhOk/U7dFeTsuHDI/AAAAAAAADd4/qazEVgxeDEg/s1600/2014-07-01+08.14.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7L3YpUrWhOk/U7dFeTsuHDI/AAAAAAAADd4/qazEVgxeDEg/s1600/2014-07-01+08.14.51.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HV, MIT and Beantown Taqueria stickers!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5m5jqauB30/U7dFejU8-_I/AAAAAAAADd8/goJIvBukkLA/s1600/2014-07-01+08.15.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5m5jqauB30/U7dFejU8-_I/AAAAAAAADd8/goJIvBukkLA/s1600/2014-07-01+08.15.03.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">representing the coolest center at MIT (edgerton.mit.edu)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W7PTsJUaogU/U7dOngrvNLI/AAAAAAAADeg/EVwKXPwCAgo/s1600/2014-07-04+20.55.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W7PTsJUaogU/U7dOngrvNLI/AAAAAAAADeg/EVwKXPwCAgo/s1600/2014-07-04+20.55.50.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">new tach/ampmeter sticker!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-80087090290826328592014-06-13T01:10:00.001-06:002014-07-04T19:04:51.710-06:00getting the Cholo ready for the road p.1Still waiting for my batteries and Sevcon Size 6... so not much has changed regarding the power train of the vehicle. I have decided to spend time and money getting ready to get the bike road legal. I bought a bunch of stuff including: new brake pads, new rotors, new brake fluid, a new gauge cluster, rear view mirrors etc.<br />
<br />
I am still looking for a ZX6E front fairing (can't find a decent one on ebay/the interwebs). I also made and added a spacer to the motorshaft and a shaft collar so now the sprocket is axially constrained on both sides and I dont have to depend on the set-screw/locktite for any constraint on the sprocket. I also got to use some sweeeeet new lathes (Proto trak) and after using them it will be extremely hard to go back to any other lathe.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9G42-MgmXpU/U5qgGV9AHWI/AAAAAAAADa0/NAvkyGdC1jw/s1600/2014-06-11+19.39.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9G42-MgmXpU/U5qgGV9AHWI/AAAAAAAADa0/NAvkyGdC1jw/s1600/2014-06-11+19.39.55.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">brand new brake pads and brake fluid!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SY6fcX_xqlU/U5qgEwQIqZI/AAAAAAAADak/-wU3KmHE6cM/s1600/2014-06-11+18.18.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SY6fcX_xqlU/U5qgEwQIqZI/AAAAAAAADak/-wU3KmHE6cM/s1600/2014-06-11+18.18.45.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hacking into the tach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MtIyjcJRBv4/U5qgE-vtZrI/AAAAAAAADas/q8v9h54SG-o/s1600/2014-06-11+19.38.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MtIyjcJRBv4/U5qgE-vtZrI/AAAAAAAADas/q8v9h54SG-o/s1600/2014-06-11+19.38.50.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">using a function generator to hack the tach into showing me current</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HIIEn9OniCc/U5qgEzWanXI/AAAAAAAADag/UpmF7adTCZU/s1600/2014-06-11+19.39.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HIIEn9OniCc/U5qgEzWanXI/AAAAAAAADag/UpmF7adTCZU/s1600/2014-06-11+19.39.07.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the tach responds... now to hook it up to an arduino to show it in real time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The tach normally runs of the signal from one of the ignition coils, you can fake a coil signal by any periodic signal (sine, square) etc of around 5V-12V, i used a function generator and then an arduino. Turns out every 20Hz is aprox 1.2kRPM for this bike (it'll depend on how many cylinders your bike has, mine had 4). It turns out if you use 12V you get the full range of the tach. With help from my friend Jacob we hooked up a hall current sensor that Charles gave me to an arduino. The arduino brings in the voltage from the sensor and then sends a pulse of a frequency that corresponds to the current into the tach. I offset the 0 current position on the tach to be about of a third of the way into the tach so I could also show negative currents and thus show much current I'm regening. Next step is to print a new sticker for the tach that says "current" instead of RPM! I am also planning to hack into the fuel gauge to show battery charge or voltage and also hack into the temp gauge.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0-g4FssHdhM" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
I decided it was time to get into 3d printing so i decided to start printing some lug covers for the high current terminals on the controller and motor. After a couple of iterations I got a pretty satisfactory lug cover.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w-QXVQCAXPo/U5qlzDyhHDI/AAAAAAAADbE/at2ZUMf3lLg/s1600/20140613_025444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w-QXVQCAXPo/U5qlzDyhHDI/AAAAAAAADbE/at2ZUMf3lLg/s1600/20140613_025444.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">v2 and 3 of the lug covers, more coming soon!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_542493163"></span>I also replaced the speedometer cable and tested the bike in the hallway, I got up to 20mph! I don't want to go any faster than that indoors! I am still waiting for the bracket to mount it to the frame as well as headlights and other parts.<br />
<br />
Next steps is to start wiring all the brake lights and turn signals. I might add a 12V battery and DC/DC to the system so that I dont have so drain all the power for auxiliaries from the sevcon. I am also trying to use as much of the old harness as possible (junction box, switches, connectors).robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-67837673998387902912014-05-27T14:34:00.000-06:002014-07-04T19:04:51.703-06:00I'm Riding Cholo!Hey folks, its been long since the last update. This was a busy semester (but my last, yay!). I spent the last couple of weeks debugging the sevcon controllers to work with my AC-20.<br />
<br />
I rigged up my testbed in the EVT room.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mn9v-5D1ywk/U4ThJ2o2EgI/AAAAAAAADU0/G3G0JVxA6s0/s1600/DSCF2914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mn9v-5D1ywk/U4ThJ2o2EgI/AAAAAAAADU0/G3G0JVxA6s0/s1600/DSCF2914.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EVT test room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDYGrD7DrW0/U4ThJ0qx8SI/AAAAAAAADUw/v9wdYc1zvto/s1600/DSCF2916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDYGrD7DrW0/U4ThJ0qx8SI/AAAAAAAADUw/v9wdYc1zvto/s1600/DSCF2916.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">making sure to keep tires off the ground</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yqBB7Z7Cj00/U4ThNM8EY8I/AAAAAAAADVQ/l3joHA7v4Zs/s1600/DSCF2917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yqBB7Z7Cj00/U4ThNM8EY8I/AAAAAAAADVQ/l3joHA7v4Zs/s1600/DSCF2917.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sevcon espAC with the bike</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K15K0R16-nU/U4ThLuWoxXI/AAAAAAAADVE/2_6y_JypbAY/s1600/2014-05-15+17.23.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K15K0R16-nU/U4ThLuWoxXI/AAAAAAAADVE/2_6y_JypbAY/s1600/2014-05-15+17.23.29.jpg" height="320" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">in the process of testing cholo ride, I had to revive two dead cells in this pack</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tDAO645kYzA/U4T2BALjXDI/AAAAAAAADV8/6I6jOWYy2to/s1600/2014-05-23+18.54.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tDAO645kYzA/U4T2BALjXDI/AAAAAAAADV8/6I6jOWYy2to/s1600/2014-05-23+18.54.19.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">putting the controller into the bike!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8NS_bSfOU0o/U4T2BKxw6AI/AAAAAAAADWA/ScHBHWIs2FU/s1600/2014-05-23+22.13.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8NS_bSfOU0o/U4T2BKxw6AI/AAAAAAAADWA/ScHBHWIs2FU/s1600/2014-05-23+22.13.52.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GFzGNjuA-CA/U4T2BDRjS0I/AAAAAAAADWE/n_iUA6vJ85s/s1600/2014-05-23+22.18.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GFzGNjuA-CA/U4T2BDRjS0I/AAAAAAAADWE/n_iUA6vJ85s/s1600/2014-05-23+22.18.19.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bike with zip tied batteries (better batteries and battery mounting coming soon!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iVBtf08j_wc/U4ThMp0nDfI/AAAAAAAADVM/GSlXcXPuh54/s1600/2014-05-15+20.26.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iVBtf08j_wc/U4ThMp0nDfI/AAAAAAAADVM/GSlXcXPuh54/s1600/2014-05-15+20.26.59.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">blown fuse!!!! during some auto-tune testing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PrB6FsI6YgI/U4ThNVZYlYI/AAAAAAAADVU/1mHbrR0vt7M/s1600/2014-05-15+21.44.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PrB6FsI6YgI/U4ThNVZYlYI/AAAAAAAADVU/1mHbrR0vt7M/s1600/2014-05-15+21.44.43.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">power supply+espAC for autotuning</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After struggling with the sevcon for a couple of hours Dgonz and I finally got this to happen!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/ejcgEB_dWp4/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/ejcgEB_dWp4?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/ejcgEB_dWp4?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Finally we waited for sunny sunday to do this:</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/DnOPD6ya_0w/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/DnOPD6ya_0w?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/DnOPD6ya_0w?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
I rode it around campus for a bit (i didn't want to ride too much given the bike is <b><u>totally not</u></b> street legal right now). Lots of fun! I Still need to mess around with the settings and fine tuning of the motor to get 100% of the motor potential. Currently I have a 72V 15Ah LiFePO4 pack (1kWh), I am hoping to upgrade this to 5kWh soon. I am also waiting for a sevcon gen4 size 6 to arrive to finish the bike.<br />
<br />
[a more comprehensive update for the sevcon troubleshooting will be coming soon! in the meantime follow <a href="http://yameb.blogspot.com/2013/08/etekchopper-using-sevcon-gen4-motor.html">this</a> as it is the best online tutorial that I found, credit to dgonz for all the sevcon help]robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-23078712945293327212014-02-02T13:36:00.001-06:002014-07-04T19:04:51.696-06:00Cholocycle - Motor and Motor Mounts<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AUFttxjwxOg/Uu6apMpqFiI/AAAAAAAADBU/6gqN6xtuG0U/s1600/2014-01-23+16.27.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>
<br />
Camilo and Victor spent lots of time making the clamps fit perfectly:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pO0QlT9A2jY/Uu6Ya-u_hVI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/cgO2D3cRqNY/s1600/2014-01-23+05.12.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pO0QlT9A2jY/Uu6Ya-u_hVI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/cgO2D3cRqNY/s1600/2014-01-23+05.12.38.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">camilo staring at the clamps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lD7fw0OuH0k/Uu6YbZWqxqI/AAAAAAAAC_c/RL7HtT15kvY/s1600/2014-01-23+05.12.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lD7fw0OuH0k/Uu6YbZWqxqI/AAAAAAAAC_c/RL7HtT15kvY/s1600/2014-01-23+05.12.49.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">victor posing for the camera</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIdmj1gpx-Q/Uu6YXp3k8yI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/Uz7rbpZozVE/s1600/2014-01-22+22.10.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIdmj1gpx-Q/Uu6YXp3k8yI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/Uz7rbpZozVE/s1600/2014-01-22+22.10.00.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We then made renderings for the motor and its mounts (for prettiness sake)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VMT7tsjvxVg/Uu6YdDaqkrI/AAAAAAAADAY/QBsJ1eDl3JE/s1600/2014-01-23+15.07.18.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VMT7tsjvxVg/Uu6YdDaqkrI/AAAAAAAADAY/QBsJ1eDl3JE/s1600/2014-01-23+15.07.18.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rendered motor mount (soooo pretty)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TJq3x6nCt9s/Uu6YdknCU4I/AAAAAAAADAg/GzGO4UY2-5A/s1600/2014-01-23+15.07.36.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TJq3x6nCt9s/Uu6YdknCU4I/AAAAAAAADAg/GzGO4UY2-5A/s1600/2014-01-23+15.07.36.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AUFttxjwxOg/Uu6apMpqFiI/AAAAAAAADBU/6gqN6xtuG0U/s1600/2014-01-23+16.27.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AUFttxjwxOg/Uu6apMpqFiI/AAAAAAAADBU/6gqN6xtuG0U/s1600/2014-01-23+16.27.33.jpg" height="320" style="cursor: move;" width="191" /></a>The AC-20 finally arrived!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FTi-1TWFCaA/Uu6X6kZL08I/AAAAAAAAC-Q/51QcdD5fkcU/s1600/2014-01-23+18.57.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FTi-1TWFCaA/Uu6X6kZL08I/AAAAAAAAC-Q/51QcdD5fkcU/s1600/2014-01-23+18.57.11.jpg" height="238" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">sexy motor!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Shout-out to Travis at <a href="http://emf-power.com/">http://emf-power.com/</a> who sold us the AC-20!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
When the motor arrived we checked the laser cut clamps with the actual motor and then it was time for some waterjetting!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jkewjWwS1CE/Uu6ZZygw7lI/AAAAAAAADAs/ptnXUo0YfT0/s1600/2014-01-23+20.17.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jkewjWwS1CE/Uu6ZZygw7lI/AAAAAAAADAs/ptnXUo0YfT0/s1600/2014-01-23+20.17.23.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">good fit!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg7fyaXnSuA/Uu6Z7EmpkOI/AAAAAAAADBE/B0YvrMZzFIQ/s1600/2014-01-28+17.37.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg7fyaXnSuA/Uu6Z7EmpkOI/AAAAAAAADBE/B0YvrMZzFIQ/s1600/2014-01-28+17.37.12.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">waterjet pieces!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Roberto did some post machining on the water jet pieces, he drilled and tapped holes for the starboard clamp.<br />
<br />
<br />
We also machined the sprocket with its bolt circle and its bore.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E-3mnd07av8/Uu6ZaBJ5jWI/AAAAAAAADBA/vSvCm8jgsIE/s1600/2014-01-23+23.11.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E-3mnd07av8/Uu6ZaBJ5jWI/AAAAAAAADBA/vSvCm8jgsIE/s1600/2014-01-23+23.11.40.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-YyINH_1gU/Uu6ZaJA39KI/AAAAAAAADA8/B6lEIuRBIqE/s1600/2014-01-23+23.11.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-YyINH_1gU/Uu6ZaJA39KI/AAAAAAAADA8/B6lEIuRBIqE/s1600/2014-01-23+23.11.36.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmypCk3WePg/Uu6cRWA_OXI/AAAAAAAADBk/NpDxrAGTlV0/s1600/2014-01-31+19.54.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmypCk3WePg/Uu6cRWA_OXI/AAAAAAAADBk/NpDxrAGTlV0/s1600/2014-01-31+19.54.31.jpg" height="320" width="191" /></a>With the pieces waterjet and post machined it was motor mounting time! Roberto and Jacob spent part of their friday night putting the motor in. It took a while but it came out great!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tvJnFuBFi0Q/Uu6cSyp8j6I/AAAAAAAADCY/aoKirR7lImw/s1600/2014-01-31+21.07.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tvJnFuBFi0Q/Uu6cSyp8j6I/AAAAAAAADCY/aoKirR7lImw/s1600/2014-01-31+21.07.56.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ho8PVFH5dlw/Uu6cSQ9ApuI/AAAAAAAADB0/0FkyC9POdU0/s1600/2014-01-31+21.07.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ho8PVFH5dlw/Uu6cSQ9ApuI/AAAAAAAADB0/0FkyC9POdU0/s1600/2014-01-31+21.07.44.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Ap28mu-SgQ/Uu6cSPhaohI/AAAAAAAADBw/nc2T3cqT7Z0/s1600/2014-01-31+21.07.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Ap28mu-SgQ/Uu6cSPhaohI/AAAAAAAADBw/nc2T3cqT7Z0/s1600/2014-01-31+21.07.36.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KgB6AI3cCFw/Uu6cT9xDxKI/AAAAAAAADCg/m5dcgmOUIkk/s1600/2014-01-31+21.31.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KgB6AI3cCFw/Uu6cT9xDxKI/AAAAAAAADCg/m5dcgmOUIkk/s1600/2014-01-31+21.31.55.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F41Zs_hXLrg/Uu7QbLUl8LI/AAAAAAAADDM/sHkZY2hBX-4/s1600/2014-02-02+16.54.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F41Zs_hXLrg/Uu7QbLUl8LI/AAAAAAAADDM/sHkZY2hBX-4/s1600/2014-02-02+16.54.11.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the chain is on!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our next big challenge is to get our Sevcon Gen4 driving the motor. Stay tuned for more updates!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
A really big thanks to our friends at <a href="http://elmoto.net/">elmoto.net</a> especially the folks that responded to our <a href="https://www.elmoto.net/showthread.php?3341-Kawasaki-ZX-6R-Conversion-quot-Cholocycle-quot">thread</a> (big shout-out to Noah Podolefsky and Ted Dillard for their resources on AC-20 motor mounting.robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-26520384267151033062014-01-16T19:05:00.000-06:002014-07-04T19:04:51.698-06:00Dismantling, cleaning, and welding CholoCycle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Hey guys, a lot has happened since our last blog post. We bought an <a href="http://emf-power.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">AC-20 Motor</a> which should arrive very soon. We also got a <a href="http://www.sevcon.com/ac-controllers/gen4%E2%84%A2.aspx" style="text-decoration: none;">AC motor controller from SevCon.</a></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white;"> When we took the engine off CholoCycle we realized several things. We had a lot of space for batteries, several anchor points to mount stuff, and sadly, one of the previous owners had tried to cut the frame :(. This meant we had to dismantle the frame so we could take it to an experienced welder who can weld aluminum. Thanks to Scott from the Central Machine Shop for helping us out! </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sOnUS9egM6c/UtY8KUiGSAI/AAAAAAAAAsA/CGAUlb4Zo_I/s1600/2013-11-10+22.34.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sOnUS9egM6c/UtY8KUiGSAI/AAAAAAAAAsA/CGAUlb4Zo_I/s320/2013-11-10+22.34.24.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Someone tried cutting the frame</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-44rPmNKFpHY/UtY5Uc61tVI/AAAAAAAAAmE/5xl1fxuerLc/s1600/2014-01-10+19.02.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-44rPmNKFpHY/UtY5Uc61tVI/AAAAAAAAAmE/5xl1fxuerLc/s320/2014-01-10+19.02.46.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Before</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The first thing we did after taking the fairings and seat off was to make a mock-up of our motor. We conveniently found a PVC pipe that was around the same diameter as our motor.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YsxN-qBpjAQ/UtY5UTwYDeI/AAAAAAAAAmA/T4uuO2zczdw/s1600/2014-01-10+20.21.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YsxN-qBpjAQ/UtY5UTwYDeI/AAAAAAAAAmA/T4uuO2zczdw/s320/2014-01-10+20.21.04.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uuaAIWlWD8Q/UtY5URE5qRI/AAAAAAAAAmI/AqFESp9wxMM/s1600/2014-01-10+20.21.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uuaAIWlWD8Q/UtY5URE5qRI/AAAAAAAAAmI/AqFESp9wxMM/s320/2014-01-10+20.21.13.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Motor model fits pretty well</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g2U1v3KCCQY/UtY5Wc_d-FI/AAAAAAAAAmk/Jcsj85xAd4I/s1600/2014-01-10+20.22.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g2U1v3KCCQY/UtY5Wc_d-FI/AAAAAAAAAmk/Jcsj85xAd4I/s320/2014-01-10+20.22.23.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Motor model picture from top</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dlmh9OsrI0Q/UtY5WqMkl0I/AAAAAAAAAmg/BhWGvGV3hjU/s1600/2014-01-10+20.23.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dlmh9OsrI0Q/UtY5WqMkl0I/AAAAAAAAAmg/BhWGvGV3hjU/s320/2014-01-10+20.23.27.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Motor model picture from the chain side</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">While we were looking for the best place to mount the motor we realized how dirty the frame was. We had three options to clean the bike:</span><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">1. Bring a bucket of water and rags to the shop and wipe it down.</span><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">2. Roll it home and hose it down.</span><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">3. Roll it next door to D-Lab and shower it..... literally</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t0ZelDOD1cg/UtY5YHa2AwI/AAAAAAAAAm8/8A7LVSCIhJ0/s1600/2014-01-10+20.56.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t0ZelDOD1cg/UtY5YHa2AwI/AAAAAAAAAm8/8A7LVSCIhJ0/s320/2014-01-10+20.56.41.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Our Spanish friends are helping us wash choloCycle</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZslxeCsIH6w/UtY5ZjaP4pI/AAAAAAAAAnM/8AZxRZEmvx0/s1600/2014-01-10+20.58.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZslxeCsIH6w/UtY5ZjaP4pI/AAAAAAAAAnM/8AZxRZEmvx0/s320/2014-01-10+20.58.05.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yup, it's going in the shower; Hmm, Camilo doesn't want to get his shirt wet.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ClYmLpWeEy8/UtY5bC1zUVI/AAAAAAAAAn4/F5TYlC1vWZM/s1600/2014-01-10+21.05.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ClYmLpWeEy8/UtY5bC1zUVI/AAAAAAAAAn4/F5TYlC1vWZM/s320/2014-01-10+21.05.31.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Look at that Spanish ingenuity</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KCyqwBKbDAc/UtY5ctDXIaI/AAAAAAAAAoM/L9M5rDir04w/s1600/2014-01-10+21.11.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KCyqwBKbDAc/UtY5ctDXIaI/AAAAAAAAAoM/L9M5rDir04w/s320/2014-01-10+21.11.24.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Working hard. I should be a manager.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k15DLXfI9Ko/UtY5ePa0p5I/AAAAAAAAAos/1oj2hmv4ZvE/s1600/2014-01-10+22.15.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k15DLXfI9Ko/UtY5ePa0p5I/AAAAAAAAAos/1oj2hmv4ZvE/s320/2014-01-10+22.15.03.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Squeaky Clean! :D</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Now that CholoCycle is clean we cut out cardboard to make a quick model of the aluminum plate we would use to mount the ac-20.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y5SDdw8FB6k/UtY5eWJmgaI/AAAAAAAAAo4/q3fHx0roohU/s1600/2014-01-12+14.54.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y5SDdw8FB6k/UtY5eWJmgaI/AAAAAAAAAo4/q3fHx0roohU/s320/2014-01-12+14.54.21.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sT1QIvfgVbo/UtY5fUgIIrI/AAAAAAAAApE/qiFZ1M5KI-g/s1600/2014-01-12+14.54.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sT1QIvfgVbo/UtY5fUgIIrI/AAAAAAAAApE/qiFZ1M5KI-g/s320/2014-01-12+14.54.45.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iO63iOJIhrA/UtY5gGAESbI/AAAAAAAAApU/4HxvLhcbrgs/s1600/2014-01-12+14.55.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iO63iOJIhrA/UtY5gGAESbI/AAAAAAAAApU/4HxvLhcbrgs/s320/2014-01-12+14.55.07.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Quick cutout of one of the motor mounts</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYl8Ge83yFQ/UtY5gBzL_hI/AAAAAAAAApg/YCNjjEwC0b4/s1600/2014-01-12+16.42.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYl8Ge83yFQ/UtY5gBzL_hI/AAAAAAAAApg/YCNjjEwC0b4/s320/2014-01-12+16.42.30.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Zip-tied motor model in place</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Cg-vm0Oxfs/UtY5gfE7hGI/AAAAAAAAApk/93bVQkHY6KM/s1600/2014-01-12+21.16.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Cg-vm0Oxfs/UtY5gfE7hGI/AAAAAAAAApk/93bVQkHY6KM/s320/2014-01-12+21.16.58.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">First motor mount in place; third anchor point needed.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-weUzVRpsBus/UtY5hAUf4vI/AAAAAAAAAqA/p5lEnZoAqT4/s1600/2014-01-12+21.17.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-weUzVRpsBus/UtY5hAUf4vI/AAAAAAAAAqA/p5lEnZoAqT4/s320/2014-01-12+21.17.26.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Much better picture of the motor mount. Oh Hai Roberto</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The first two anchor points for the motor mount were not hard to find. The only problem with them is that they are not coplanar. This means we will have to make a spacer for at least one of those mounting points. More on that later! For the third mounting point we are thinking about welding a piece of c-channel (or maybe L-bracket) onto the side of the frame. We would then bolt the motor mount onto that c-channel so the mount is removable.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TLzno-T4vSI/Uth4RU-VFJI/AAAAAAAAAsc/OTmNU4aHGxc/s1600/2014-01-16+19.05.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TLzno-T4vSI/Uth4RU-VFJI/AAAAAAAAAsc/OTmNU4aHGxc/s1600/2014-01-16+19.05.35.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">C-Channel welded on red square</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span id="goog_486031879" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-97AsFNjk8Go/UtY5ktzbFCI/AAAAAAAAArA/kG_fJSNMDrY/s1600/2014-01-13+23.39.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-97AsFNjk8Go/UtY5ktzbFCI/AAAAAAAAArA/kG_fJSNMDrY/s320/2014-01-13+23.39.36.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">There goes the front wheel....</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PPxmXIfLNQM/Uth-4ECRdhI/AAAAAAAAAs0/zIY-MG674Ec/s1600/2014-01-13+23.39.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PPxmXIfLNQM/Uth-4ECRdhI/AAAAAAAAAs0/zIY-MG674Ec/s1600/2014-01-13+23.39.27.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Back wheel and swing arm are off too..</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9xgRqh7vmOs/UtY5lpGhQDI/AAAAAAAAArM/eTNV8vmIv9I/s1600/2014-01-13+23.39.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9xgRqh7vmOs/UtY5lpGhQDI/AAAAAAAAArM/eTNV8vmIv9I/s320/2014-01-13+23.39.40.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Time to take to the welder...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lrN58Iy3ErI/Uth-4c5ZwaI/AAAAAAAAAs4/JgSCP3lXxl0/s1600/2014-01-14+13.44.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lrN58Iy3ErI/Uth-4c5ZwaI/AAAAAAAAAs4/JgSCP3lXxl0/s1600/2014-01-14+13.44.58.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Who came up with the best way of carrying the chassis? Roberto? or...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rvSHv_SqATQ/Uth9wtDpXEI/AAAAAAAAAss/1OmFDnYp4PY/s1600/2014-01-15+16.03.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rvSHv_SqATQ/Uth9wtDpXEI/AAAAAAAAAss/1OmFDnYp4PY/s1600/2014-01-15+16.03.52.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Or me? Lol at <a href="http://yameb.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">Dgonz</a> and <a href="http://orangenarwhals.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">Nancy</a> in the background</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">After taking apart the frame we also made new battery mock-ups. We settled on two different configurations. One in which we have the two batteries mounted side by side vertically. This means we would have to cut the cross-arm that joins the two sides of the frame. The second configuration would not require us to cut off the cross-arm. We would place them on top of each other in a criss-cross pattern. We still don't know which batteries we are getting but it seems that all the batteries will have the same width and height. For this reason we think that the vertical configuration would allow us to use longer modules.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bEJ0vO0TUko/UtY5l_OODrI/AAAAAAAAArU/DfFXR0uHGcg/s1600/2014-01-14+00.18.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bEJ0vO0TUko/UtY5l_OODrI/AAAAAAAAArU/DfFXR0uHGcg/s320/2014-01-14+00.18.27.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Vertical Battery Configuration</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mgedtmhpvqc/UtY5nOuXDcI/AAAAAAAAAro/NW5RXuMEy_s/s1600/2014-01-14+00.21.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mgedtmhpvqc/UtY5nOuXDcI/AAAAAAAAAro/NW5RXuMEy_s/s320/2014-01-14+00.21.07.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Vertical Battery Configuration Side View</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qYV2M8cK34A/UtY5mWg_gYI/AAAAAAAAArc/5Si6fK8YwVc/s1600/2014-01-14+00.20.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qYV2M8cK34A/UtY5mWg_gYI/AAAAAAAAArc/5Si6fK8YwVc/s320/2014-01-14+00.20.09.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Criss-Cross Battery Configuration</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LmCOQNXTpWo/UtY5myTO7nI/AAAAAAAAArg/kmlFOE4jpdA/s1600/2014-01-14+00.20.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LmCOQNXTpWo/UtY5myTO7nI/AAAAAAAAArg/kmlFOE4jpdA/s320/2014-01-14+00.20.16.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Criss-Cross Battery Configuration Top View</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Looks like the Sevcon Controller is arriving tomorrow and the ac-20 will arrive very soon too. More to come in the next couple of days!</span></span>robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-7906264817581831712013-11-13T15:34:00.001-06:002014-07-04T19:04:51.708-06:00CholoCycle: Engine take down and battery mock-up<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
<a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/2013/11/cholocycle-engine-take-down-and-battery.html" style="background-color: white; font-size: 22px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">CholoCycle Engine take down and battery mock-up</span></a></h3>
<div class="post-header" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">
<div class="post-header-line-1">
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8283290021717964663" itemprop="description articleBody" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; position: relative; width: 586px;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/">Victor </a>and I have been wanting to make an electric motorcycle for the longest time. This summer we actually started planning and budgeting everything out. over the last couple of months we had been craiglisting and going over different places in MA to spec out bike but couldn't find an appropiate one.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">About 2-3 weeks ago we were fortunate to receive </span><a href="http://techx.mit.edu/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; text-decoration: none;">techX</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> project funding. We got $500 funding that we decided to put towards the frame acquisition. We intensified our craiglist search and last week we found some guy in dedham that had a bunch of bikes with blown engines he was willing to sell to us. We visited his sketchy ass shop (seriously, it looked like an abandoned warehouse from outside) and we found a kawasaki ZX-6R that we liked.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_6HrP-31RKA/UoLprlqgjaI/AAAAAAAACYw/aLzPh643nMs/s400/2013-11-09+17.51.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="379" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_6HrP-31RKA/UoLprlqgjaI/AAAAAAAACYw/aLzPh643nMs/s640/2013-11-09+17.51.01.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="line-height: 19.5px;">proud parents!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">We brought the frame back to MIT and the next day starting gutting the bike.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gYQKIgsT3cM/UoNEzRHz83I/AAAAAAAAAd4/povjAZvQnHA/s1600/2013-11-09+15.52.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gYQKIgsT3cM/UoNEzRHz83I/AAAAAAAAAd4/povjAZvQnHA/s640/2013-11-09+15.52.18.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19.5px; text-align: left;">We brought the frame back to MIT...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">...and the next day starting gutting the bike.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uEtAs6B0aak/UoNHAI6tsiI/AAAAAAAAAeE/l6TequsxGMc/s1600/2013-11-10+19.59.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uEtAs6B0aak/UoNHAI6tsiI/AAAAAAAAAeE/l6TequsxGMc/s640/2013-11-10+19.59.27.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19.5px;">taking out the carbs</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHnb_nEpE2s/UoNEFxVyF7I/AAAAAAAAAYA/tVz6HCxmhbA/s1600/2013-11-10+20.10.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHnb_nEpE2s/UoNEFxVyF7I/AAAAAAAAAYA/tVz6HCxmhbA/s640/2013-11-10+20.10.48.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19.5px;">taking off the radiators</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wjH_c3RIWsI/UoNEG-PhdmI/AAAAAAAAAYU/mcv0XgXda5Q/s1600/2013-11-10+20.44.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wjH_c3RIWsI/UoNEG-PhdmI/AAAAAAAAAYU/mcv0XgXda5Q/s640/2013-11-10+20.44.05.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Time to take out the engine!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />This turned out to be a much tougher job than we expected even considering we had 5 people (plus a camera-man) working on this.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cKo8Z208UZg/UoNEJOti8CI/AAAAAAAAAZM/P95nqYCr3tE/s1600/2013-11-10+21.20.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cKo8Z208UZg/UoNEJOti8CI/AAAAAAAAAZM/P95nqYCr3tE/s640/2013-11-10+21.20.46.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Let's try to lift the whole bike upwards.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;">Hmmm, that didn't work...How the hell did they even get this engine inside there in the first place?!</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iJQoH8emVzU/UoNEJ13xWSI/AAAAAAAAAZc/NR-DtpUD7cQ/s1600/2013-11-10+21.22.20-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iJQoH8emVzU/UoNEJ13xWSI/AAAAAAAAAZc/NR-DtpUD7cQ/s640/2013-11-10+21.22.20-1.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Let's try to lift only the back....</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;">After several different attempts we finally managed to separate the engine from the chassis.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5sZCDX_7lBk/UoNELlUKqyI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/sKLTv2TxmTY/s1600/2013-11-10+21.54.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5sZCDX_7lBk/UoNELlUKqyI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/sKLTv2TxmTY/s640/2013-11-10+21.54.18.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Finally the engine is out! </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy3Pex5eWBE/UoNELmweqPI/AAAAAAAAAec/vFQkW48SOZE/s1600/2013-11-10+21.57.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jy3Pex5eWBE/UoNELmweqPI/AAAAAAAAAec/vFQkW48SOZE/s640/2013-11-10+21.57.28.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Couldn't let that snapchat disappear</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wjc87wAjxEw/UoNEMzHdDyI/AAAAAAAAAa4/vzTY2cjLuNM/s1600/2013-11-10+22.34.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wjc87wAjxEw/UoNEMzHdDyI/AAAAAAAAAa4/vzTY2cjLuNM/s640/2013-11-10+22.34.09.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Look at all that space!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vckzUP9lvPg/UoNEMSQwhbI/AAAAAAAAAag/0-qconw4agA/s1600/2013-11-10+22.33.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vckzUP9lvPg/UoNEMSQwhbI/AAAAAAAAAag/0-qconw4agA/s640/2013-11-10+22.33.54.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">SO HEAVY.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Taking off the engine was a cool and rather challenging task, we put a jack and a piece of wood under the bike and then unbolted the engine and then lifted the bike off the engine. This last part was especially tricky given the weird shape engines have. Nevertheless, after about 3 hours we were done! Thanks to Esther M., George H, <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/onetesla/onetesla-a-diy-singing-tesla-coil" style="text-decoration: none;">Heidi B.</a>, <a href="http://etotheipiplusone.net/" style="text-decoration: none;">Charlesg</a> and Rachel D.C. for their help in the gutting!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">We took all the stock fairings off cause they were in pretty crappy condition and we are gonna buy a body kit for the bike. Here are some options we found: </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/cholocycle" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; text-decoration: none;">http://tinyurl.com/cholocycle</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">. I put up a poll to ask our friends on fb what color the bike should be. We got pretty hilarious responses, check them out below:</span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDQxQTecqwQ/UoLumgjC0BI/AAAAAAAACe8/JKcvVd3mH4Q/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-11-12+at+10.13.17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="102" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDQxQTecqwQ/UoLumgjC0BI/AAAAAAAACe8/JKcvVd3mH4Q/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-11-12+at+10.13.17+PM.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Roberto and I went to N52 today and laser-cutted a cardboard mock-up of one of the batteries we are considering. We tried several configurations. Our two main concerns are that we need to leave space for the motor (modeled as the red circle in the first picture) and we want the batteries as low as possible for a lower center of mass. </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9ANAdE2S_2k/UoNVLIvaEkI/AAAAAAAAAe4/IVCMhYpETOM/s1600/imageedit_3_2116202451.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9ANAdE2S_2k/UoNVLIvaEkI/AAAAAAAAAe4/IVCMhYpETOM/s640/imageedit_3_2116202451.gif" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Probably the best configuration</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_PRUTE4m7Q/UoNEP8HjLpI/AAAAAAAAAcg/-Glg2yLf7LU/s1600/2013-11-13+00.17.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_PRUTE4m7Q/UoNEP8HjLpI/AAAAAAAAAcg/-Glg2yLf7LU/s640/2013-11-13+00.17.17.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Maybe vertical?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nf_x5aazm9Q/UoNER_yeWiI/AAAAAAAAAdc/IVYgPgcJPzY/s1600/2013-11-13+00.24.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nf_x5aazm9Q/UoNER_yeWiI/AAAAAAAAAdc/IVYgPgcJPzY/s640/2013-11-13+00.24.06.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">This might actually work too. Clearance worries me a little though</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--93Nbi_CQ7Q/UoNEQcUQckI/AAAAAAAAAc0/R6rFh90Qkyg/s1600/2013-11-13+00.18.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--93Nbi_CQ7Q/UoNEQcUQckI/AAAAAAAAAc0/R6rFh90Qkyg/s640/2013-11-13+00.18.22.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">We considered this for a second</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r8EfUc5KUes/UoNESZmcILI/AAAAAAAAAdg/1qicJOMQY18/s1600/2013-11-13+00.25.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r8EfUc5KUes/UoNESZmcILI/AAAAAAAAAdg/1qicJOMQY18/s640/2013-11-13+00.25.07.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Until we realized where all the weight of the bike would go if we drop choloCycle.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">With the frame gutted, I started the mechanical design for the battery and motor holder. I was looking for some CAD for the ninja and stumbled upon </span><a href="http://dnguyenx21.bol.ucla.edu/assets/docs/Daniel_Nguyen_Kawasaki_Ninja.pdf" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; text-decoration: none;">this</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> gem. A guy named Daniel Nguyen made a CAD of a ninja for his Intro to Cad class in UCLA. He intended to CAD the 2009 Ninja but he used the specs from a service manual for the 2002 model, which is the model we bought! I emailed daniel and he was gracious enough to let us have the CAD! Woohooo!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">We imported the CAD to solidworks and got rid of fairings and engines and exhaust etc and gave it some colors.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m8qtZKKgvGs/UoLwcc2r8SI/AAAAAAAACfI/2bdz1VqiIPs/s320/choloCycleFirstPicNoRender.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="410" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m8qtZKKgvGs/UoLwcc2r8SI/AAAAAAAACfI/2bdz1VqiIPs/s640/choloCycleFirstPicNoRender.PNG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">So pretty!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">We mainly need the frame CAD so we can fit batteries and motors and whatever mounts we have.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">We are in the process of buying more stuff for the motorcycle (like motor and trying to get some batteries). We'll keep posting stuff during the build! Any questions let us know in the comments below.</span></span></div>
robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-36829311113529315642013-02-11T14:03:00.002-06:002014-07-04T19:06:07.290-06:00Impractical Bikes!<br />
As part of MIT IAP (Independent Activities Period) I took part in an Impractical Bicycle Dynamics Class. The class was led by Jack Whipple (D-lab Shop Manager) and Mars (Crazy Bike Expert), the point of this class was to create unconventional bicycles that were still somewhat rideable.<br />
<br />
The class had 4 teams of 2 people each. The bikes constructed were:<br />
<br />
1. (My team) "Bucky" A bicycle where arms provide propulsion and legs provide steering.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uwb-oSaAxJA/URlLuWeWybI/AAAAAAAABGI/HkieM-PSKPU/s1600/2013-01-31+14.00.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uwb-oSaAxJA/URlLuWeWybI/AAAAAAAABGI/HkieM-PSKPU/s320/2013-01-31+14.00.13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
2. Snowmobike: A pedal powered contraption with a huge snowmobile tanktread.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qo93648E20A/URlL20FJVuI/AAAAAAAABGQ/C8MGAwhPvmU/s1600/2013-02-01+15.00.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qo93648E20A/URlL20FJVuI/AAAAAAAABGQ/C8MGAwhPvmU/s320/2013-02-01+15.00.28.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
3. Chopper: A chopper style bicycle.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bXk3yoy9kmo/URlMwDKFTvI/AAAAAAAABGc/4Bajp8WnA5U/s1600/justintymor.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bXk3yoy9kmo/URlMwDKFTvI/AAAAAAAABGc/4Bajp8WnA5U/s320/justintymor.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
4. Tall+Cargo: A tall bike that also has space for cargo.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ICC1DID9G8/URlNRTpc-3I/AAAAAAAABGk/Tlcl-Q-H7NE/s1600/santiago_marcos.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ICC1DID9G8/URlNRTpc-3I/AAAAAAAABGk/Tlcl-Q-H7NE/s320/santiago_marcos.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
You can find more details on each bike at the class website: <a href="http://aibd.mit.edu/">aibd.mit.edu</a>.<br />
<br />
During the last day of class we had a small crazy bikes party outside of N51, here is a small video of the most incredible moment of that day, MARS RIDING BUCKY!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hlgdL-Z0rHc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Many thanks to the instructors of the class for putting it together! I really hope AIBD becomes an IAP classic at MIT and as a result that the bicycle hacking community at MIT grows!robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-81717616152744156622012-11-21T17:30:00.000-06:002012-11-21T17:30:08.410-06:00Bose Speakers!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BoNrcOqMYCM/UK1jgCemU7I/AAAAAAAAA1Y/wdqTX6SNFyU/s1600/2012-11-20+15.43.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
About a month ago one of my professors invited me to be part of a speaker building seminar with <a href="http://www.bose.com/">Bose</a>. The purpose of this seminar was to expose us to the kind of stuff that Bose does, learn some basic acoustic theory and build some speakers!<br />
<br />
The seminar was amazing, the guys from Bose explained some really cool features they put into their products. They showed us this "magic sound wand" which they could use to point at some location and make sounds seem like if it was coming from there. It was kinda spooky but awesome. We also learned a bunch about the use of crossover to give you better sound quality. One of the coolest things they showed was how they designed a new type of speaker cone which exhibits no parasitic harmonics under the audible range and thus was able to produce a pure note much better than a normal speaker cone. (I wish I had a video of this but they had a strobe going in the demo, so it was hard to film).<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dCcLDNTUXtc/UK1jKkAHGGI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/OfIXFIG1skk/s1600/2012-11-20+15.52.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aRMFq-94bpc/UK1iNF14NDI/AAAAAAAAA1A/PwHH-s6If-Y/s1600/2012-11-20+16.06.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aRMFq-94bpc/UK1iNF14NDI/AAAAAAAAA1A/PwHH-s6If-Y/s400/2012-11-20+16.06.30.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pink cone has parasitic modes, waffle cone (blue) gives you<br /> a much more pure note and no parasitics</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UfUDLHvG9-4/UK1iHHM_mFI/AAAAAAAAA04/MjG-SYaEapY/s1600/2012-11-20+15.21.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UfUDLHvG9-4/UK1iHHM_mFI/AAAAAAAAA04/MjG-SYaEapY/s400/2012-11-20+15.21.51.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bose dude holding the magic sound wand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The speaker building part was pretty fun too! We build two speaker cabinets out of PVC and MDF. At the end of the seminar we all put our speakers together and were able to play a 30 track piece in lobby 13!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AhDLOFbLCd8/UK1jAVRseUI/AAAAAAAAA1I/PGZDsov8y3Q/s1600/2012-11-20+15.00.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AhDLOFbLCd8/UK1jAVRseUI/AAAAAAAAA1I/PGZDsov8y3Q/s400/2012-11-20+15.00.17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">speakers under construction</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dCcLDNTUXtc/UK1jKkAHGGI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/OfIXFIG1skk/s1600/2012-11-20+15.52.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dCcLDNTUXtc/UK1jKkAHGGI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/OfIXFIG1skk/s400/2012-11-20+15.52.44.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WALL OF SOUND!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BoNrcOqMYCM/UK1jgCemU7I/AAAAAAAAA1Y/wdqTX6SNFyU/s1600/2012-11-20+15.43.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BoNrcOqMYCM/UK1jgCemU7I/AAAAAAAAA1Y/wdqTX6SNFyU/s400/2012-11-20+15.43.39.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sareena rudely interrupting my photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-52943971472567585052012-11-17T20:12:00.001-06:002014-07-04T19:05:46.102-06:00Tic Mag Toe v1.0Hey guys!<br />
<br />
As some of you know over the summer I became super interested in Magnetic Levitation. I started reading/learning about it and got super excited. I bought a <a href="http://www.arttec.net/Levitation/index.html">maglev kit</a> from Guy Marsden and it was super cool to see it levitate a pen.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LGH2p2fcm9A/UKhDV_7m76I/AAAAAAAAA0o/7tE7u0eySNU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-11-17+at+9.08.44+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LGH2p2fcm9A/UKhDV_7m76I/AAAAAAAAA0o/7tE7u0eySNU/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-11-17+at+9.08.44+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Currently I am working on my own design using a switching mode converter and some analog feedback. Fun fact: it turns out that my Master's Thesis is going to be on modeling and control of Magnetic Bearings!<br />
<br />
The previous examples I have mentioned are examples of active magnetic levitation, where a controller regulates the position of an object via feedback. Another kind of MagLev that exists is passive maglev which requires no active feedback. Turns out you can build a stable maglev system with no active control using Diamagnetic materials.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamagnetism">Diamagnetism</a> is the property some materials have to repel magnetic fields. It is normally not a very strong effect but it is enough to make sheets of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolytic_carbon">Pyrolytic Graphite</a> levitate over strong neodymium magnets. My graduate advisor and I have been trying to think of uses of diamagnetism however given the forces involved are so low that we have not found any "real world" uses! I started to try and think of non-industrial non-real world uses and I thought it would be awesome to build a chess or checkers board with pieces made of pyrolytic graphite that levitate over the board. However given that the rare earth magnets are so expensive I decided to go with making a TicTacToe board first. I call this new creation <b>Tic Mag Toe</b> (im very proud of this name jajajaj...). I built a prototype this weekend:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ojDYcY-mR0U/UKg8DakVIoI/AAAAAAAAA0U/s1U6nAKnS1w/s1600/2012-11-17+13.30.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ojDYcY-mR0U/UKg8DakVIoI/AAAAAAAAA0U/s1U6nAKnS1w/s320/2012-11-17+13.30.33.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tic mag toe v1.0</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Getting the magnet in the checkerboard configuration was a little tricky cause they are crazy strong. We also had the world's first tic-mag-toe match:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8cQYtYBE4O4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
I won it and became the undefeated world champion of Tic-Mag-Toe! However 10 minutes later Harry beat me twice... thus losing my glorious title to Canada.<br />
<br />
My next step is to encase the magnet board into a nice laser cut frame and figure out a way to make nicer playing pieces. Then when I get enough money I'll go for the checkers board and maybe the chess board! For those of you wondering I got the supplies from <a href="http://www.kjmagnetics.com/">http://www.kjmagnetics.com/</a> the best source for strong magnets I could find online!robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-10221755457933130182012-11-13T22:57:00.001-06:002014-07-04T19:05:08.742-06:00ThermoDynamic Bread!Hey guys!<br />
<br />
A lot of you have probably noticed that if you put 1 object in the microwave for X amount of time, then the temperature of the object goes up by some amount, however if you put two of the same objects for the same amount of time then each object will be individually less hot than in the first case. To me this was always an obvious fact that I learned from my early teenage years heating up tortillas in the microwave (I use tortillas as the example because it's funny cause I'm Latino).<br />
<br />
At MIT I have learned that this is not an obvious fact for some people, one time during my junior year I had an argument with a freshman on the subject. He was convinced that if we put two sandwiches in the microwave for the same time as one, all three sandwiches will end up with the same temperature. I quickly tried to correct him but he gave me some stupid explanation on how the air will not heat up as much of you put two things instead of one thus making the efficiency higher blah blah blah... I tried to appeal to his inner scientist/engineer and talked about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics">first law of thermodynamics</a> applied to microwaves but that did not work so then i just made fun of him which made him get kinda mad (sounds like I was being mean, but HEY! he asked for it! never mess with the FIRST LAW)<br />
<br />
A couple of weeks ago I had the same argument with a friend who argued that formation of standing waves blah blah blah and that the temperature rise under the two conditions would be the same. (this case he was arguing that putting two Maruchan soups will heat each up the same as just putting one in. I tried to give my Thermo First Law speech AGAIN but it did not work so I was forced to do some late night experimenting: please enjoy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/_AgsordZEIc/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_AgsordZEIc&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_AgsordZEIc&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
BAM! SCIENCE! I was right yet again, the single piece of bread exhibited a temp. rise that was 1.6 times greater than the two pieces of bread. However the question now is, why isn't that a factor 2? (half the mass means double temp. change for a same heat energy influx). That got me thinking on how the efficiency of the microwave varied with the properties of the food you cooked. (granted, the experimental set-up could be a total failure, thus I will be trying to repeat it in the next couple of days with cups of water instead of bread).<br />
<br />
I started exploring the internets for answers I found some people that pretty much agreed with me (click <a href="http://www.quora.com/Why-does-cooking-two-of-the-same-item-in-a-microwave-oven-take-longer-than-one#">here</a> to see). Then some more people <a href="http://askville.amazon.com/microwave-timings-linear/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=14811169">here</a>. After this basic research it was obvious that the food properties (composition and geometry) and a lot to do with the linearity of the heating times, which adds an unknown for cooks in knowing how long to heat up things for. Interestingly fact: microwaves were initially unpopular because they were so "unpredictable" as far as heating times are concerned. (link to wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven">microwave</a> page<br />
<br />
I will be conducting some more experiments of my own to check out how valid the linearity of heating times holds for things like water, bread and other random things.<br />
<br />
Keep posted for the results! If you have any other "scientific experiments" or kitchen science questions that need to be answered please let me know and I'll do my best to address them in this blog!robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-28917663955002013782012-11-12T12:01:00.000-06:002014-07-04T19:04:51.701-06:00ChiquiCycle!Hey avid readers!<br />
<br />
Sorry for the long delay, as a quick life update: in the last couple months I have started grad school at MIT (its going amazing!) and i joined the <a href="http://mit.edu/evt/">Electric Vehicle Team</a> after my ex-roomie <a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/">Victober</a> infected me with the Electric Vehicle Fever. At the start of the school year, Victor and I worked on <a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/2012/09/tinycycle.html">TinyCycle</a>, after we finished it Victor and I took <a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/2012/05/railscooter.html">RailScooter</a> and TinyCycle to the NYC Maker Faire, it was a day full of annoying delays (oversleeping, subway breaking down, forgetting to charge EVs etc etc) however it was a lot of fun and all the MIT folks raced their EVs around the power series track (Vicky and I also raced our EVs in the streets of Manhattan (not recommended) but that is another story...).<br />
<br />
This whole experience left me really wanting a tiny electric motorcycle, just like TinyCycle. I looked around on craigslist and emailed/called/texted a couple of folks but never got an answer. Luckily for me it turned out that one student group in 2.009 (MIT's Product Design Class) had taken apart a mini razor motorcycle as part of a class project and now it was sitting there alone in pieces. So i decided to do what every good samaritan would do... TAKE IT and give it a new home!. Thus my ChiquiCycle adventure started!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K9HTxDAScu0/UKEu_f9pXZI/AAAAAAAAAy8/4zWkXey2oXQ/s1600/2012-10-27+10.54.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K9HTxDAScu0/UKEu_f9pXZI/AAAAAAAAAy8/4zWkXey2oXQ/s320/2012-10-27+10.54.58.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ChiquiCycle in Pieces</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OIcJCqRwDPk/UKEvKRKKAOI/AAAAAAAAAzE/7H9dYsllfbQ/s1600/2012-10-27+19.02.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OIcJCqRwDPk/UKEvKRKKAOI/AAAAAAAAAzE/7H9dYsllfbQ/s320/2012-10-27+19.02.53.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ChiquiCycle put together (no drive train or electronics)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It took me about a workday to put together all the parts I got from the 2.009 kids, it turns out they had lost the handlebars, the steering axle and most of the hardware. I eventually grabbed some scooter handlebars from MITERS, turned new steering axle pieces myself and grabbed some metric hardware from the shop. The motorcycle was now ready for its electronics! I started by procuring all the important parts: Motor, Controller and batteries. I had my ex-roomie victor help me with the battery pack (please see his excellent <a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-make-battery-pack.html">tutorial</a> on how to assemble a Li battery pack!). The motor I used was <a href="http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=18128">this</a> one and I decided to use a sketchy brushless motor controller from China that victor had laying around (in the near future Victober and I are planning to write a paper on sizing your motor and controller for your pocket bicycle).<br />
<br />
We aimed to make the drive train assembly as simple as possible. I used an aluminum L-bracket to mount the motor. We took the driving sprocket out of the old motor the motorcycle came with. These sprockets normally come with a D shaped hole so it can transmit torque. I was lucky that the size of the sprocket bore was an M8 (same as my motor) this saved me the time it would take to machine an adapter. I pressed a spacer on the shaft then sanded the shaft to give it a D profile, put the sprocket on the shaft and finally machined a collar to constrain the sprocket axially.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ezbio3IyxqA/UKEyV7KOt_I/AAAAAAAAAzU/gGQaHefMTtw/s1600/2012-11-03+19.30.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ezbio3IyxqA/UKEyV7KOt_I/AAAAAAAAAzU/gGQaHefMTtw/s320/2012-11-03+19.30.15.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my drive-train assembly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w31ypmGrvtM/UKEyj95kmdI/AAAAAAAAAzc/XYhQmlr7ZWs/s1600/2012-11-03+19.30.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w31ypmGrvtM/UKEyj95kmdI/AAAAAAAAAzc/XYhQmlr7ZWs/s320/2012-11-03+19.30.28.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">close up of driving sprocket mounting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The controller mounting was pretty easy (i just reused the mounting holes for the original brushless controller.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-udwBrHk4WuA/UKEzKS3Eg0I/AAAAAAAAAzk/B5uDmBGBqhY/s1600/2012-11-03+22.41.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-udwBrHk4WuA/UKEzKS3Eg0I/AAAAAAAAAzk/B5uDmBGBqhY/s320/2012-11-03+22.41.05.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ChiquiCycle Frame with batteries, motor and controller! ALMOST DONE!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
At this point ChiquiCycle was ready to roll!<br />
<br />
We did some test runs (videos pending...) and it was obvious that we needed the controller to output more current to make our ride more exciting! With the help of <a href="http://www.etotheipiplusone.net/?page_id=2">Charles</a> we hacked the motor controller to output more current and added hall effect sensors for motor startup. The scooter handlebars were making it impossible to ride chiquicycle semi-comfortably so I changed them to bicycle handle bars. I added a couple more pieces of the original plastic body and a <a href="http://www.teslamotors.com/">Tesla</a> decal and this was the "final" product:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f0l7OluK0U4/UKE1yytunZI/AAAAAAAAAzw/joBTuUjef1o/s1600/2012-11-08+22.31.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f0l7OluK0U4/UKE1yytunZI/AAAAAAAAAzw/joBTuUjef1o/s320/2012-11-08+22.31.43.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ENTER CHIQUICYLE! (videos will be posted soon)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
fun fact: I posted the above picture to the Tesla facebook page hoping that it would give me the opportunity to work at Tesla in the near future! I got over 130 "likes" from random people! My hope is that Elon Musk sees it and offers me a job in Tesla!<br />
<br />
I'd like to thank the people that helped me out with this project, namely <a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/">Victor</a>, <a href="http://www.etotheipiplusone.net/">Charles</a>, Lauren, Rango and Harry!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KlElrxMEnG8/UKE3LTR_3gI/AAAAAAAAAz8/SSfPO-ZuIlA/s1600/2012-11-02+22.16.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KlElrxMEnG8/UKE3LTR_3gI/AAAAAAAAAz8/SSfPO-ZuIlA/s320/2012-11-02+22.16.28.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my awesome pit crew! (lauren and rango)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This project along with Victober's TinyCycle has pushed several friends to buy a tiny motorcycle! We are in the process of creating the Pocket Motorcycle Squad (PMS) and we aim to have a techfair booth in early 2013. Here's a picture of Lauren's chopper and future member of PMS!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bHLXJzQ6asE/UKE3_JNNKuI/AAAAAAAAA0E/3mngz6TDY5c/s1600/2012-11-10+11.06.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bHLXJzQ6asE/UKE3_JNNKuI/AAAAAAAAA0E/3mngz6TDY5c/s320/2012-11-10+11.06.45.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
UPDATE: Here is an <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-Mini-Motorcycle/">instructable </a>for Chiquicycle! It has almost 30k views and it won 2nd place in a "cars and motorcycles" contest winning me a bottle of "water spot remover"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ImbHZTxyPaI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-368478410043315152012-05-20T09:43:00.001-06:002012-05-20T09:43:21.938-06:00Tech Dinghy Challenge!Hey guys!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last friday was the very first annual Tech Dinghy Challenge at the MIT Sailing Pavilion!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Next House (my old dorm) put together a team for this event full of craziness, sailing and burgers (how could I miss it!?) The competition consisted of getting a team of people and then everyone had to eat at least one burger in 5 minutes time then we had to cram as many people in a boat as possible (modifications were allowed) and then sail to the boston shore and come back! Points were awarded for burgers eaten, people in boat and crossing time.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We modified the tech (sailboat) by adding outriggers with inflatables. We built it desperately in the hours before the competition and honestly I was not sure if it was going to work but PROPS to the designers, they did an awesome job and our modifications were rock solid! Here is a pic of us before putting the boat in the water...</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span id="goog_515694670"></span><span id="goog_515694671"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LVFAs97CxN8/T7kOIJclGmI/AAAAAAAAAwA/bgjYbFG9__0/s1600/P3190082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LVFAs97CxN8/T7kOIJclGmI/AAAAAAAAAwA/bgjYbFG9__0/s320/P3190082.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
I was fortunate enough to skipper the boat. With so many people on board I had to make use of every resource possible to steer the boat (rudder, sail... even paddles!). IT WAS AWESOME! We had so many sailboats around us taking pictures and throwing water at us! Some incompetent boats even crashed into us which made me extremely mad (why on earth would you crash into a boat with 30 people that is almost sinking?) at some point I was about to jump into the water swim into their boat and pull their rudder out for vengeance. However I desisted...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
But my FAVORITE PART was the grand finale, and as videos speak louder than words...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zNmfS4GPsIw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Awesome right? Props to Jeff from the dockstaff who sank us with the wake of his boat! We eventually had to bail the boat to prevent it from sinking into the charles for ever ajajajajja!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I can't wait for next year's challenge! Big shout out to the next house team!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuJmJYcWz3I/T7kQnJdOMsI/AAAAAAAAAwI/eMIKdVBMWXc/s1600/DSC00489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuJmJYcWz3I/T7kQnJdOMsI/AAAAAAAAAwI/eMIKdVBMWXc/s400/DSC00489.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RETURNING TO SHORE!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AeAqQIcL1_0/T7kQpdZgraI/AAAAAAAAAwU/W3DE1pd7YBc/s1600/DSC00492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AeAqQIcL1_0/T7kQpdZgraI/AAAAAAAAAwU/W3DE1pd7YBc/s400/DSC00492.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NEXT HOUSE TEAM!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-45522597004395307862012-05-15T13:58:00.001-06:002014-07-04T19:05:08.751-06:00Flavorful Borderline Racist VideoSo... I'm taking an awesome class called 4.301 - Intro to Visual Arts. And for our first assignment in this class we did a video project. At the start I was not sure of what I wanted to do with my video but with help from my friends and some random inspiration that happens very late at night I decided to do something ridiculous (surprise surprise!)<br />
<br />
The video is pretty self explanatory:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZSrNJoQT6BM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
So... yeah not self explanatory at all ajaj! The assignment for this video was to think of the theme "Shaping Time" and alto to think about "circuits and systems". I decided to change the name to "Shopping Time" and then to use the supermarket at the system to study, i found the supermarket an interesting system because so many different cultures combine in a small very efficient space. I dressed up with a huge clock to relate to the "shaping time" theme (contrary to public opinion I did not want to emulate flavor flav, actually i did not know who he was when i decided on my outfit). The music was one of my favorite parts because it allowed me to present the different cultures and circumstances via audio and sound.<br />
<br />
My prof. really liked the video and even called it "borderline racist", which I am not sure if it is a compliment or not.robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-20042768132557375422012-05-14T22:57:00.000-06:002012-05-16T17:11:31.936-06:00Hematocrit Centrifugehey!<br />
<br />
I am sure many of you guys have heard of D-Lab... but just in case I'll explain: <a href="http://d-lab.mit.edu/">D-Lab</a> is a group at MIT that designs solutions to problems in the third world, they try to alleviate poverty and improve people's quality of life thought Design, Dialogue and Dissemination (thus the D in D-Lab).<br />
<br />
I took D-Lab Design this semester and out team designed a Hematocrit Centrifuge! A H. Centrifuge is a key tool in diagnosing anemia, you basically spin blood for 5 min and then look at the proportion of red to clear solution (red blood cells to plasma) and from this you can diagnose anemia (a normal human has 40-45% red stuff). Given that most people with anemia live in the developing world, they need rapid ways to diagnose it however industry grade centrifuges cost more than a $1000 and require electricity which is a no-no for a lot of rural clinics out there.<br />
<br />
Thus our team designed a centrifuge that could be built for around $40-100 using a power drill transmission. We took apart a drill and used the gear box to provide a good gear reduction for the spinning of blood. Here is a picture of the final design:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7j6Pa8a2lNg/T7Hds8tMoQI/AAAAAAAAAos/RgS-sfXziUg/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7j6Pa8a2lNg/T7Hds8tMoQI/AAAAAAAAAos/RgS-sfXziUg/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our design has a footprint of about 1' by 1' by < 2', which is a big reduction from our Nigerian Community partner's bike centrifuge. My favorite feature of the centrifuge is that we put in a loose nut in the handle that rattles around when it goes too slow but when the speed is fast enough the centrifugal acceleration overcomes gravity and the nut sticks to the outside. This is how we make sure we are spinning the blood fast enough. Here is some of the math:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K7FY1OFGncA/T7Hh2sahJWI/AAAAAAAAApI/GoP3GB59hSI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-05-15+at+12.55.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K7FY1OFGncA/T7Hh2sahJWI/AAAAAAAAApI/GoP3GB59hSI/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-05-15+at+12.55.13+AM.png" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wooo! 2.003 in action!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I had my blood drawn at a clinic and then we spun the blood and got pretty good results! We even spun some diluted blood (to simulate anemic conditions):</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tx_gMFJwdSQ/T7Heo6-IjmI/AAAAAAAAAo0/UGGJRHPD6XI/s1600/hematocrit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tx_gMFJwdSQ/T7Heo6-IjmI/AAAAAAAAAo0/UGGJRHPD6XI/s320/hematocrit.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">woooo! I am not anemic!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My group is continuing our communications with Dr. Awojobi (an awesome doctor/designer in Nigeria) to flesh out details on a new design of a centrifuge based on a hand drill. So far he has sent us this picture of his progress so far:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SY888-_Djf0/T7HfKiOxQ8I/AAAAAAAAAo8/4338bnz78l8/s1600/DRILL+A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SY888-_Djf0/T7HfKiOxQ8I/AAAAAAAAAo8/4338bnz78l8/s320/DRILL+A.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">exciting prototype!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Hopefully he can implement this new design successfully in Nigeria and disseminate it around the world! Meanwhile I will try and see if people back home in El Salvador have an interest in the hand crank centrifuge we built! I'll keep you guys posted! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofex6drUNEc">Here</a> is a video of us testing out the centrifuge (a big shout out to my awesome teammates (Melvin Salinas, Kwami "The King" Williams, Daisy Chang and Kevin Kung)<br />
<br />
(a shout out for my other roomie and lil bro <a href="http://dov2.blogspot.com/">David</a> who I just learned also has a blog!)</div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE: 16 May 2012</b><br />
<br />
Dr Awojobi (our partner from Nigeria) just emailed us saying that he has successfully implemented hand drills into his prototype and came up with a model that is about a third of the size of the prototype he has been using for 11 years and costs half as much! Here is a pic:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PMnYP8QGa7U/T7Qznd9PAPI/AAAAAAAAApY/QaVLFVIlUuc/s1600/MANUAL+CENTRIFUGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PMnYP8QGa7U/T7Qznd9PAPI/AAAAAAAAApY/QaVLFVIlUuc/s320/MANUAL+CENTRIFUGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It is really exciting to see that what we worked on during the semester has had real impact on a someones life!</div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-78836261751662344092012-05-14T22:25:00.000-06:002012-05-14T22:25:14.206-06:00Stepper Scanner ControlIf you know me at MIT, your probably know that I really enjoy controls and mechatronics. Even though my degree says "Mechanical and Ocean Engineering" I have done most of not all my requirements studying control theory and practical applications of control.<br />
<br />
This blog post is about the controller design for a lithographic stepper. A "stepper" is a essentially a read head that moves in steps on a silicon wafer while the wafer is exposed to UV radiation. The catch is that the error in position during the half second of UV curing is on the order of tens of nanometers. For my digital controls class, we had to come up with a design for the controller structure.<br />
<br />
Although we did not have the opportunity to implement the controller in real hardware, our professor included a lot of non-linearities and real world problems and parameters (he even brought in an old stepper to class) which made the problem incredibly interesting.<br />
<br />
Here is a picture of the model for the stepper.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-juwYxBPRvd8/T7HXAs6lHiI/AAAAAAAAAoY/7LamSoJT104/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-05-15+at+12.08.58+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-juwYxBPRvd8/T7HXAs6lHiI/AAAAAAAAAoY/7LamSoJT104/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-05-15+at+12.08.58+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
yep... its pretty convoluted! but luckily the professor helped us derive the state space model in class and thus we could focus on the control design of the stage.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We used completely classical control techniques (screw LQR and Kalman filters!) including decoupling and trajectory generations to get optimal performance. Most of the analysis was done is simulink, here is a screenshot of the final simulink model!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HxKaXSUHtTs/T7HZQo4OgkI/AAAAAAAAAog/JMa5GXGPhTg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-03-09+at+12.00.33+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HxKaXSUHtTs/T7HZQo4OgkI/AAAAAAAAAog/JMa5GXGPhTg/s640/Screen+Shot+2012-03-09+at+12.00.33+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The final controller took over 36hrs of work to figure out but it worked great (in theory!) and I learned a great ton about design in controllers and how to be able to compensate for disturbances, noise, saturations and more of those great things that pop up in the real world. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This was an awesome project to do and hopefully a good intro to my maybe job this summer at ASML!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Thanks to Prof. Trumper and all my controlfreak buddies for the collaboration during 2.171!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-23395274745832801462012-05-14T21:35:00.002-06:002014-07-04T19:06:23.138-06:00Re-Induction of Blog Motion!Hey guys!<br />
I have recently (yesterday) decided to restart this blog!<br />
<br />
After being inspired by my awesome roomie <a href="http://viictorrodriguez.blogspot.com/">Vicky Rodriguez</a> I have decided to revamp my blog and make it a maker blog!<br />
<br />
I'll be posting about stuff I have made/taken apart for classes, for fun, or just random ideas that I have! Please feel free to submit any ideas or comments and I'll definitely take into account your feedback!<br />
<br />
For this re-induction post I have decided to talk about a simple Induction Motor me and my roommates made at 2am in September 2011 because we were bored.<br />
<br />
Here is a video of the motor running!<br />
<br />
<object><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="movie" value="https://www.facebook.com/v/10150640436899104"></param>
<embed src="https://www.facebook.com/v/10150640436899104" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="1"></embed></object><br />
<br />
I have recently been really interested in induction motors, ever since I found out about them I cant stop thinking of possibilites to use them (of course, them being such an "old" technology most of their uses have been figured out).<br />
<br />
A induction motor works on the principle of electromagnetic induction (surprise, surprise!), AC is pumped into the stator coils which induces a current in the rotor (a lid in my motor) and this induced current tries to catch up to the changing magnetic field in the stators. Thus we get motion without no mechanical connection whatsoever!<br />
<br />
The motor is classified as a split phase motor, this is because I used one voltage source (a 9V RMS 60Hz sinusoid) and then hooked up one stator coil in series with 220uF a capacitor to create a phase shift which gives the motor self starting capabilities.<br />
<br />
Credits to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_tesla">Nikola Tesla</a>, the real life Tony Stark who invented the induction motor (as well as a myriad of other devices!)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XurC2gwQOaU/T7HNOb99R9I/AAAAAAAAAoA/NcPTwdL5KHg/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2012-05-14%2Bat%2B11.27.03%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XurC2gwQOaU/T7HNOb99R9I/AAAAAAAAAoA/NcPTwdL5KHg/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2012-05-14%2Bat%2B11.27.03%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading guys and please stay tuned to the blog! I'll to try update the website very regularly and document what I do!robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-73405523151776473292011-07-15T06:44:00.007-06:002011-07-15T07:22:28.081-06:00Delft and the illegal bbqDear readers<br /><br />Last saturday was a pretty packed and awesome day. We had planned to go sailing in Kaag again, however it seemed the weather was not cooperating with us, nevertheless we gave sailing a chance and departed to Kaag at about 1100, we got there and hopped on the 40 sec ferry again.<br /><br />In the sailing club conditions for sailing were amazing! It was sunny and we had constant 16-17 knot winds with gusts up to 20-22. Handling the main sheet was a real workout. I think the most interesting new thing we saw was a pizza boat floating in the middle of the lake system, sort of like a drive-in (sail-in) pizza restaurant.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d5p6SAwEkdw/TiA7UmB5-cI/AAAAAAAAAiI/COTKkZpZqCg/s1600/P7040046.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d5p6SAwEkdw/TiA7UmB5-cI/AAAAAAAAAiI/COTKkZpZqCg/s200/P7040046.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629564759205083586" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o6iFXoMK2Cg/TiA7UCJ0G6I/AAAAAAAAAiA/gtcxFEGFYps/s1600/P7040041.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o6iFXoMK2Cg/TiA7UCJ0G6I/AAAAAAAAAiA/gtcxFEGFYps/s200/P7040041.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629564749574577058" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3RT8YHFZTY4/TiA7T1RU4KI/AAAAAAAAAh4/X8Bfgex2waI/s1600/P7040054.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3RT8YHFZTY4/TiA7T1RU4KI/AAAAAAAAAh4/X8Bfgex2waI/s200/P7040054.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629564746116423842" /></a><br /><br />After Kaag, we decided to go to Delft to get some beers and walk around the city centre. We went into an Albert Heijn (the Dutch equivalent of Shaw's) and one of my coworkers spotted a "disposable bbq" (it is basically a tray with charcoal and wood…super convenient!) So we decided to do a bbq in the middle of the street, we knew it was probably not permitted but we figured we should give it a chance.<br /><br />We found a nice cozy spot near the central city square and started the fire. We had some burgers (btw dutch hamburger meat sucks) and some sausages and we started off some drumsticks. People in the street kept staring at us and smiling and old woman actually came close and told us that our bbq was an amazing idea.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxv8xh1X3h0/TiA83thOBcI/AAAAAAAAAiY/bzXH_jRpIV0/s1600/P1010713.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxv8xh1X3h0/TiA83thOBcI/AAAAAAAAAiY/bzXH_jRpIV0/s200/P1010713.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629566462022518210" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CbBG5wth4Yo/TiA83Xl69JI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/vcF_K-y13ck/s1600/P1010709.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CbBG5wth4Yo/TiA83Xl69JI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/vcF_K-y13ck/s200/P1010709.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629566456136660114" /></a><br /><br />After about 45min of bbq this police car drove by and stopped. They stayed their for about a minute and then drove off, we thought he was going to come stop our fun but apparently not (that's what we thought). Then about 10 minutes later this bum stops by and starts talking to us. This guy was a hyperactive bum and very sketchy looking (ripped clothes and a drugged look on his face). He also told us what we were doing is "PEEEERRRRRFECT" and we offered him a sausage so he would leave, he said we were "blessed" after that he posed for the camera and then we offered him a beer and then he finally left. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Vr4TCW8qtM/TiA9iZZMOLI/AAAAAAAAAio/ZA96GzB9Eq4/s1600/P1010716.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Vr4TCW8qtM/TiA9iZZMOLI/AAAAAAAAAio/ZA96GzB9Eq4/s200/P1010716.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629567195354511538" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kxnm51nEqvw/TiA9iNCJQ4I/AAAAAAAAAig/mfjYwrKdhjk/s1600/P1010715.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kxnm51nEqvw/TiA9iNCJQ4I/AAAAAAAAAig/mfjYwrKdhjk/s200/P1010715.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629567192036623234" /></a><br /><br />Then another 10 min later the cops show up again and this time they take no prisoners (ok… that probably sounded too dramatic) but yeah… they stopped by and told us a bbq in the street was not permitted and we should stop. They let us go with a warning only after we put off the bbq with dirty canal water. After that the cops left and we walked around the city centre. We found some cool swings as well as other nice stuff. After that we headed back home and went to bed because the next day we were going to AMSTERDAM!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2xC48VQAKAM/TiA-pev8bWI/AAAAAAAAAjA/x9mQiV5N2GU/s1600/P1010733.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2xC48VQAKAM/TiA-pev8bWI/AAAAAAAAAjA/x9mQiV5N2GU/s200/P1010733.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629568416562834786" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kj5KVU9uXPg/TiA-orIVMTI/AAAAAAAAAi4/Umbju0QJWj4/s1600/P1010736.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kj5KVU9uXPg/TiA-orIVMTI/AAAAAAAAAi4/Umbju0QJWj4/s200/P1010736.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629568402706477362" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7aErmrQWWiE/TiA-oY2mwXI/AAAAAAAAAiw/NHNaf_6roag/s1600/P1010717.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7aErmrQWWiE/TiA-oY2mwXI/AAAAAAAAAiw/NHNaf_6roag/s200/P1010717.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629568397800292722" /></a>robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-9643819599369417722011-07-11T18:27:00.008-06:002011-07-11T19:13:02.999-06:00Bruxelles!hey my avid readers!<br /><br />I deeply apologize for my lack of blog posts over the last week. Stuff is getting busy here in Rotterdam plus I have finally started travelling around! (exciting!)<br /><br />As I stated in the last chapter of my adventure, after spending a beautiful and windy Saturday sailing in Kaag, me and my friend Francois decided to visit brussels! We woke up early and got to the station, some agent told us something misleading and we ended up taking a train to Paris (ooops...) the condutor was kinda pissed and charged us extra, however luckily the train had a stop in Brussels and actually got us there a little faster. <br /><br />We started off Brussels looking for the "Grand Place" (pronounced in French) this is a little square in the middle of the old town of belgium, its super nice and has lots of very nice buildings! Some pics:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzNuLn7cpt8/ThuX8_OAcKI/AAAAAAAAAgo/8WRmkGLpEAk/s1600/P6280594.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzNuLn7cpt8/ThuX8_OAcKI/AAAAAAAAAgo/8WRmkGLpEAk/s200/P6280594.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628259233347694754" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qzxIDdRhrv0/ThuX8MI9pfI/AAAAAAAAAgg/9RwMXD6q-Gw/s1600/P6280595.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qzxIDdRhrv0/ThuX8MI9pfI/AAAAAAAAAgg/9RwMXD6q-Gw/s200/P6280595.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628259219636332018" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9X8TwbBdQgg/ThuX74TBI0I/AAAAAAAAAgY/k9u0kjq9go4/s1600/P6280599.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9X8TwbBdQgg/ThuX74TBI0I/AAAAAAAAAgY/k9u0kjq9go4/s200/P6280599.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628259214309794626" /></a><br /><br />After walking around for a little bit, we looked for "delices et caprices" this is a beer tasting shop that my friend recommended, we went there but unfortunately it was closed (and remained closed for the rest of the day). Then we took a long walk to this small plaza near the EU Parliament, there we had the "best fries in the world" and a mitraillette (means machine gun), it was basically a subway with lots of fries and the meat and sauce you want. I got Pita and "mosterd" , it was pretty good! We also had some beer that we got in the supermarker, we got a beer called "La Chouffe" this is a pretty famous beer, not famous in the way Heineken, Sam Adams and Guinness are famous but its famous for being a really good quality Belgian beer. It had a soft sweet taste and it was a good beer for a sunny day. After that we went back to the city centre and had some more beers.<br /><br />We went to the Delirium bar, this bar is pretty famous and actually holds the Guinness World record of beer variety, they have 2004 different beers available. We tried many different beers including a mango beer, mango beer was actually very good but did not taste like beer at all! However my favorite beer was "triple karmelite", after tasting this beer all other beers you have in Holland taste like water! A cool thing they had in the bar was that tourists sign bills (bank notes) from their native country and stick them to the wall. I saw bills from Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil and a lot of American dollars, also curiously we saw a lot of bills from Boston. Many of them were marked "go red sox", here are some pics:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5iSyLohUoaU/ThucJc3vtqI/AAAAAAAAAhA/HX3UgGmS4qk/s1600/P6280645.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5iSyLohUoaU/ThucJc3vtqI/AAAAAAAAAhA/HX3UgGmS4qk/s200/P6280645.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628263845512328866" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jeRd7eYuL9Y/ThucJWGzZ_I/AAAAAAAAAg4/Fb00RRdfkeE/s1600/P6280644.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jeRd7eYuL9Y/ThucJWGzZ_I/AAAAAAAAAg4/Fb00RRdfkeE/s200/P6280644.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628263843696437234" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a-vxiBMW98g/ThucI3mk7dI/AAAAAAAAAgw/W6EM_GwfMJA/s1600/P6280649.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a-vxiBMW98g/ThucI3mk7dI/AAAAAAAAAgw/W6EM_GwfMJA/s200/P6280649.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628263835508207058" /></a><br /><br />Its funny how in Brussels they are obsessed with "manneken pis" also know as "the statue of the little boy peeing", all over the city you see souvenirs, decorations and all sorts of stuff modelled after this famous statue, just before leaving Brussels, we were lucky that we ran into the original "manneken pis"! It is a very small statue (only 61cm, 24in high)! Here are some pics of the all the manneken paraphernalia:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Fud7BqdUeg/ThueZrnGHNI/AAAAAAAAAhg/cE3U_P7mEjI/s1600/P6280664.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Fud7BqdUeg/ThueZrnGHNI/AAAAAAAAAhg/cE3U_P7mEjI/s200/P6280664.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628266323370187986" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_C9DmJCjGmI/ThueZUsEE8I/AAAAAAAAAhY/CO5Cz8et7pw/s1600/P6280639.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_C9DmJCjGmI/ThueZUsEE8I/AAAAAAAAAhY/CO5Cz8et7pw/s200/P6280639.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628266317217010626" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fqqhUmDdZs8/ThueY9VBQFI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/6P3AGALg46g/s1600/P6280634.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fqqhUmDdZs8/ThueY9VBQFI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/6P3AGALg46g/s200/P6280634.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628266310946340946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J9-0fTqd2SQ/ThueYhPSkgI/AAAAAAAAAhI/pJ57WifBRLo/s1600/P6280633.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J9-0fTqd2SQ/ThueYhPSkgI/AAAAAAAAAhI/pJ57WifBRLo/s200/P6280633.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628266303406117378" /></a><br /><br />Yep, so thats all I have to say on my day in Belgium! I'll leave you guys with some pictures of funny stuff we saw in Brussels!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NC_FNCWx0YA/Thue4Zfs7uI/AAAAAAAAAhw/D9P-wF3_jBc/s1600/P6280662.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NC_FNCWx0YA/Thue4Zfs7uI/AAAAAAAAAhw/D9P-wF3_jBc/s200/P6280662.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628266851083284194" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-akcJAs1Bn7A/Thue4QCIxEI/AAAAAAAAAho/gpqZ3HYMJrc/s1600/P6280667.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-akcJAs1Bn7A/Thue4QCIxEI/AAAAAAAAAho/gpqZ3HYMJrc/s200/P6280667.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628266848543360066" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In case you dont get it: the picture of the chalkboard was of a restaurant with live music, they said they had espectaculos en vivo" but the way they divided the world "espectaculos" made it seem it said "culos en vivo".robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-440668715635399552011-07-02T15:24:00.008-06:002011-07-02T16:22:18.848-06:00Valk and the Ketchup BicycleHey guys! <br /><br />Sorry for not updating since wednesday, but today's entry will have lots of pictures and lots of stuff to make up for my brief absence!<br /><br />Thursday and Friday were really good days at work, these last couple of days I have been more dedicated to the naval architecture of the project so I have been learning lots and lots of naval arch. and looking up many many boats to inspire the Protei design. But what made these days awesome was that we started playing football after work! One of the guys that just arrived to the place is also a football fan so we organized little 2 on 2 or 2 on 3 games in a little space outside our workspace. Playing football was amazing! I felt so alive after the games and playing with your coworkers is a great motivator!<br /><br />However what made my week was today! Today we went to the island of <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kaag,+Netherlands&hl=en&ll=52.215127,4.551344&spn=0.030554,0.068665&sll=42.358041,-71.090968&sspn=0.009212,0.017166&z=14">Kaag</a> to a sailing club there and took some boats out!<br /><br />Let me give you a narrative about the day. So my day started at 3am when I woke up to watch Argentina-Bolivia (result was 1-1), I was super disappointed and I can't remember seeing Argentina play that bad in a while, hopefully the coach fixes up the team for the next couple of games. At 5am i took a 3 hour nap and then at 8am we took the sketchy white van to Kaag. The funny thing about Kaag is that the only access to the island is this "ferry" which you drive your car on and it moves you like 7 meters to the island, its super ridiculous that there is no bridge! (they also charge for the ferry ride, so that might explain why they don't build a bridge!) Here some pictures of the "ferry".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yA1Ya0wuIz0/Tg-QS5SHFdI/AAAAAAAAAZg/nTUiiGa0VWI/s1600/P6270094.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yA1Ya0wuIz0/Tg-QS5SHFdI/AAAAAAAAAZg/nTUiiGa0VWI/s200/P6270094.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624873113897866706" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9qSc2vlVBQ0/Tg-QSejZX8I/AAAAAAAAAZY/lSgihL0jGHs/s1600/P6270041.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9qSc2vlVBQ0/Tg-QSejZX8I/AAAAAAAAAZY/lSgihL0jGHs/s200/P6270041.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624873106722611138" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R_OXPU4QWw4/Tg-QRzhtUwI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/VzyDxov4qO4/s1600/P6270039.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R_OXPU4QWw4/Tg-QRzhtUwI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/VzyDxov4qO4/s200/P6270039.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624873095172805378" /></a><br /><br />After the ferry we went into Kaag, this is a super cute island where the roads are super narrow and it resembles the whitest of the white suburbs you can imagine. I'm sure they were worried when they saw me walking on their streets. These are some pics of the island:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_WhhUYmYfh0/Tg-SCflrAzI/AAAAAAAAAaI/tST2JW_2pWI/s1600/P6270060.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_WhhUYmYfh0/Tg-SCflrAzI/AAAAAAAAAaI/tST2JW_2pWI/s200/P6270060.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624875031145939762" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zbXopxGInMQ/Tg-SCDJqzTI/AAAAAAAAAaA/-4gh74qnTgU/s1600/P6270051.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zbXopxGInMQ/Tg-SCDJqzTI/AAAAAAAAAaA/-4gh74qnTgU/s200/P6270051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624875023512292658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B5VupSumRpo/Tg-SBroUm3I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/jC6kZhrDvdw/s1600/P6270047.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B5VupSumRpo/Tg-SBroUm3I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/jC6kZhrDvdw/s200/P6270047.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624875017198410610" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TWt8UsvVEwE/Tg-SBVAfxOI/AAAAAAAAAZw/VNtOhK1wXLw/s1600/P6270061.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TWt8UsvVEwE/Tg-SBVAfxOI/AAAAAAAAAZw/VNtOhK1wXLw/s200/P6270061.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624875011125789922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6g6fyWoWFbw/Tg-SA89yVRI/AAAAAAAAAZo/bFHqoERvNQs/s1600/P6270049.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6g6fyWoWFbw/Tg-SA89yVRI/AAAAAAAAAZo/bFHqoERvNQs/s200/P6270049.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624875004671972626" /></a><br /><br />After some introductions to the friendly club staff they gave us two boats to go out sailing. What was super funny was that the manager gave us these 6m boats without even checking if we could sail or anything, (this would never happen at MIT). We rigged up our "valks" (means falcon in dutch), I skippered one of the boats and had a crew of two, while the other four took the other valk. We set off for adventure!<br /><br />Remember that map of Kaag I showed at the start of the post? Do you see all that water? ALL that water is space where we can sail, they don't constrain us to any single region and there is so much to explore in this canal-lake system! We got used to the boat pretty fast and we starting going in the canals and enjoying the landscapes full of windmills. One of my favorite part when we sailed was when we went into this "residential canal" where people live in floating houses! They have docks in their back yard and we would pass with the boat and we could see them having dinner inside and they would wave at us, it was so cool! We even saw some cows in this mini-farm right next to the water. After exiting the canal we had some fun with wing-on-wing sailing. We also had some fun looking at the people on the other boat, one of them actually jumped into the river to retrieve his cap. In total we sailed about 5-6 hours (with a small lunch break in the middle). It was so amaaaaaazing! <br /><br />Also we got super lucky with the sailing club, the club is sponsoring our project so they are letting us sail for free on saturdays as well as test our prototypes with their help. The club itself is super nice! They have an amazing lobby, dining room, terrace, even a game room with ping pong. Also the people that work there are super cool! It is a family owned business so that makes it even more special!<br /><br />Here are some pics of sailing! Look at my facebook for all the pics of Kaag!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTKnTihkGEU/Tg-Wjklwi0I/AAAAAAAAAaw/kLxL4SqTXZs/s1600/P6270043.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTKnTihkGEU/Tg-Wjklwi0I/AAAAAAAAAaw/kLxL4SqTXZs/s200/P6270043.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624879997470673730" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TcbPjIX9pPw/Tg-WjNe9B0I/AAAAAAAAAao/nB4o2cqtTXU/s1600/P6270076.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TcbPjIX9pPw/Tg-WjNe9B0I/AAAAAAAAAao/nB4o2cqtTXU/s200/P6270076.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624879991268116290" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vsbo1NQo0Lw/Tg-WixYDHPI/AAAAAAAAAag/JdXmMNzThTE/s1600/P6270073.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vsbo1NQo0Lw/Tg-WixYDHPI/AAAAAAAAAag/JdXmMNzThTE/s200/P6270073.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624879983722962162" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hr1Aw9T7gKU/Tg-WidYvqFI/AAAAAAAAAaY/I31mvx0Gx70/s1600/P6270085.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hr1Aw9T7gKU/Tg-WidYvqFI/AAAAAAAAAaY/I31mvx0Gx70/s200/P6270085.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624879978357172306" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IsrbOhP2hKc/Tg-WiAJ0L-I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/9cOtuj15tvc/s1600/P6270077.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IsrbOhP2hKc/Tg-WiAJ0L-I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/9cOtuj15tvc/s200/P6270077.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624879970509926370" /></a><br /><br />A surreal thing about sailing in Kaag is that the water is actually at a higher level than the countryside! Its so weird to look at! Here are some pics that try to show it (they don't do it justice though).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qMrBQJfp1sc/Tg-X-CGQztI/AAAAAAAAAbI/B7xKnju1axk/s1600/P6270086.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qMrBQJfp1sc/Tg-X-CGQztI/AAAAAAAAAbI/B7xKnju1axk/s200/P6270086.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624881551579860690" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nVPJadynBeE/Tg-X9kBhFNI/AAAAAAAAAbA/IVUTlam_B70/s1600/P6270083.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nVPJadynBeE/Tg-X9kBhFNI/AAAAAAAAAbA/IVUTlam_B70/s200/P6270083.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624881543506891986" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0VgM1xI9YQQ/Tg-X9fJnvWI/AAAAAAAAAa4/TQwfI9nCJ8A/s1600/P6270082.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0VgM1xI9YQQ/Tg-X9fJnvWI/AAAAAAAAAa4/TQwfI9nCJ8A/s200/P6270082.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624881542198705506" /></a><br /><br /><br />And at the end of the day I spotted this! A heinz ketchup bicycle!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuGPS76vcT8/Tg-YU26Q6yI/AAAAAAAAAbY/mDLeq2vpLX0/s1600/P6270092.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuGPS76vcT8/Tg-YU26Q6yI/AAAAAAAAAbY/mDLeq2vpLX0/s200/P6270092.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624881943713737506" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XFxzfbzhx1o/Tg-YUg3rOsI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/4NjaOmz89ic/s1600/P6270091.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XFxzfbzhx1o/Tg-YUg3rOsI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/4NjaOmz89ic/s200/P6270091.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624881937797298882" /></a><br /><br /><br />Today was probably the best day I have had in the Netherlands so far... I think I finally found a place here that I would love to live in! Imagine having a canal in your backyard! And tomorrow I am going to BRUSSELS!!! Time to drink some good quality beer (im tired of Heineken...) and of course some belgian chocolate!robermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464799824052722.post-16087522787983501922011-06-29T15:05:00.003-06:002011-06-29T15:38:54.490-06:00Laundry, Tacos and the Red/Blue BanditsHello avid readers!<br /><br />Welcome to another exciting chapter of my summer life. The last two days in Rotterdam have been pretty average, at work I have been helping out with some construction as well as come research for the naval architecture of the project, however some of our progress has been slowed down because our marine advisor for the project (a Naval Architect in Chile) has been unable to communicate with us because his university was shut down due to student protests (typical latin american university issues). However, today I got the joy of playing with a sewing machine from the 1940's, it is a beautiful machine, swiss made and super tough. One of the coolest things I saw in the machine is how it handles different stitching patterns. In order to get a different stitching patterns you load one of this "cartridges" (basically a cylinder with a hole in the middle and a special pattern in the curve surface.) then when the machine runs, this cartridge rotates and the curved part moves this other part thats spring loaded to it and that moves the needle around (basically a cam mechanism). It was awesome to see, and I think I have added a vintage sewing machine to the things I have to buy for my future collection (in addition to a centrifugal governor and a planimeter.)<br /><br />After my day at work I went over to my friend apartment to have some tacos! It was good to have some homemade food! After dinner we went to Kralingen Paas (the nice park I talked about last week) and looked for a sailing club so I could rent some boat for a couple of hours in the afternoon. After a bit of walking we found a sailing club!!! The club we found is not in the best state (I'll upload some pics when I go there again) but they have a good amount of boats, its close to my house and it has affordable rates so I'll be able to sail after work a couple of times a week. I will try to sail next week. In the meanwhile me and my coworkers are going sailing in the weekend (for free) so stayed tuned with the blog for some pictures!<br /><br />Also something funny happened while walking to the sailing club. We were in this neighborhood and then this little dutch kid starts talking to me and my friend in dutch, his mom came after us and asked us if we had stolen the keys to a bicycle that was on the street (yeah... I know what you are thinking damn dutch people always going for the hispanics!....thats what I thought at first) we told her we had no idea of what she was talking about and she took it well, she told us someone had told her that two people, one wearing red one wearing blue were seen taking the keys to the bike (yep... just our luck, my friend was in a red "thing 3" shirt and I was wearing the blue "go greek! 2010" shirt) the lady was nice and she told us to look out for "white dutch people in blue and red" , after that we walked away...<br /><br />I took the cheap route again and did my laundry at my friend's this time I took a lot so it was a little problematic to carry it on the way back, but almost every bike here in holland has a little space at the back where you can tie your "cargo" so it was not too bad. Apparently no one has a dryer here in the Netherlands so all my clothes are outside drying (hopefully they will be ready for tomorrow!).<br /><br />That been my life so far! Please don't hesitate to put any questions or any other thoughts in the "comments" section below, I'll do my best to answer/address them. Also if you want me to make an entry on something specific don't be afraid to ask!<br /><br />Ciao kids!<br /><br />-Rrobermelendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09791934210397032984noreply@blogger.com0