An Advanced Friction Drive System

[spiral]

Can it be used on a recumbent?

[evblazer]

What kind of recumbent? There are just so many configurations of seats and distances to rear wheels it can get crazy. I was able to get a friction drive working on a cruzbike sofrider frame pretty well, it is just a wallmart mtb frame afterall, but decided I hated it and I haven't figured out how to put the drive on my challenge hurricane.

[Kepler]

Thanks evblazer for answering this one. I have zero experience on recumbent style bikes. That being said, I am talking to a local recumbent bike importer who may be interested in an adaptation on the drive for a few of the models he imports.

[adrian_sm]

A new for sale thread has been created......



Kepler Friction Drive System (Sale Thread)




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[Kepler]

Just a quick note to let people know that drive will be on the New Inventors TV show tonight 8.00pm, ABC1. Aussiejester will post it on Youtube after its aired for all our international friends.

Thanks everyone.

[kevo]

Kepler,
We all expect by 9:00pm you will be inundated with orders beyond your wildest dreams.
Surfs Up,
Kevo

[Kepler]

I kind of hope not. Just getting 20 units made is hard enough. Still The next 20 (if required) should go a bit more smoothly. I have learnt plenty from this first run.

[Kepler]

Its a little difficult to know where to post with 2 threads now running but this post is about some further testing I have done over the past week so this spot seems most appropriate.

I received one of the lower cost Turnigy 85A ESCs to test with a 63-74 motor. This is the ESC. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10331&Product_Name=Turnigy__Brushless_ESC_85A_w/_5A_SBEC

Its a bit of a pain to program as its done with throttle position rather then a programming card so decided to leave it as it comes as this is the most likely way most would install it.

Bench tested it first. The soft start seemed acceptable however start-up sync at light throttle was quite jittery and as such didn’t inspire an heap of confidence. It doesn’t get a great rap on the feed back section of website either but what the heck, if goes up in smoke its only $45 wasted.

Firstly the ESC is a perfect fit for the drive and was very straight forward to install. I did all testing with 5S and used my trusty folder. (the same bike as on the TV show) To my surprise, the ESC worked perfectly. The throttle response was quite linear using a servo tester/Magura 5K throttle, and showed no sync issues under load at low RPM. All testing was done by peddling to 5mph then applying throttle in a smooth fashion. Everything from low throttle to all the way through to full throttle operated without an issue and actually felt as good as any ESC I had tested to date.

I would like to point out that I was not particularly aggressive with the throttle but accelerated briskly enough to a speed that felt too quick for this type of bike.
Now I have only run 15AH through this ESC so I have no idea if it will stand up to constant duties but as far as sync ability and throttle linearity, the ESC preformed quite acceptably. I will leave this ESC in the prototype drive and see how it stands up over the next few weeks.

[veloman]

I take it that there is no problem with the motor shaft bearings wearing? I ask because in that thread for the 'bare bones friction drive', I thought it was said the bearings ended up failing. I suppose your design addresses that?

[Hillhater]

similar to veloman,
..how much run time do you have on the outrunners without the shell bearing, IE the tunigys etc.
I can see why you chose the Hyperion initially, and i believe most of your testing has been on that motor with the dual bearings, but i would like to know how you feel the cheaper turnigy's are holding up with the drive loading on the unsupported motor casing.
aside from the Hyperion 40-35 and 40-45, are there any other motors with bearings at both ends of the casing ?? .. it has to be a better choice for reliability
(or.. just chuck a spare $25 turnigy in the backpack ! )

[sn0wchyld]

Just a quick note to let people know that drive will be on the New Inventors TV show tonight 8.00pm, ABC1. Aussiejester will post it on Youtube after its aired for all our international friends.

Thanks everyone.

HA I knew I'd seen this somewhere before!! nice work mate.