Newsletter of January 2022
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The first month of the new year has been all about preparation. Preparing ourselves and the superbikes for testing and racing. Not only did we work on the bikes, but also planned some testing and racing days! Our first testday will be on the 22nd of February at TT Circuit Assen.
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Planning, planning, planning. All of our subteams are currently very busy with planning testing days, dynotests, partner visits, filming days, the bike reveal and much more. That also means that a lot of progress is being planned. We are more than excited to reach those goals as soon as possible to show the world our accomplishments!
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The chassis team is measuring and securing everything to make sure that we can test our superbike without having to worry about parts not fitting well. They also determined the centre of gravity of the superbikes. If you want to read more about this, scroll down to "A word from our Chief Chassis".
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The powertrain team put in some extra hours this month. Not only did they work together with the manufacturer of the charger to try and fix it, but they also tidied up the cables in the DELTA-XE. More specific information about this can be found under "A word from our Chief Powertrain".
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Gelkoh GmbH is a company that is specialized in the handling of batteries. They have many solutions on this front for storage, transport and working with batteries. Gelkoh GmbH has provided us with a battery box so that we are able to store and transport our battery pack in the most safe manner possible.
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ETC, or Enrichment Technology Company is a company that believes that nuclear energy has a key role to play in securing a sustainable energy global supply. Through the development of uranium enrichment technology, they are committed to the continuing of supply of low-carbon energy for the future. They support us both financially and through the workshop they give us in order to improve our team and function more effectively.
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A word from our Chief Chassis
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After a well deserved rest during the Christmas break, the chassis subteam is back in the office. A main focus was fitting the subframe (the seat) on the Delta-XE. Due to warping of the mounting tabs when welding the frame, the mounting holes were misaligned. As a result, the bolts mounting the subframe to the frame did not fit properly. With some alterations made to these tabs, the subframe now fits perfectly.
Last week, we fitted the actual battery pack in the Delta-XE for the first time. So far, only a wooden mock-up battery was used. The main reasons to fit the battery pack are to determine the centre of gravity of the motorcycle and to find issues to be resolved before taking the bike to the track. The position of the centre of gravity is important to correctly tune the suspension of the motorcycle and to improve the performance on the racetrack. This is first explored in a virtual environment that simulates the motorcycle.
As with most innovation, we stumbled upon some unexpected issues. Fitting the battery pack caused some minor inconvenience, as the dimensions of the mock-up battery did not exactly match the real battery pack. Right now, our focus is fixing these minor problems to get the bikes race ready as soon as possible. In addition, we reviewed the regulations to determine what needs to change for the Apex-RS and the Delta-XE to conform with the requirements.
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A word from our Chief Powertrain
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After re-scheduling the first test day on the dyno, January was supposed to become the month with our first real big test. However, the same problem which played tricks on us (an error in communication between the motorcycle and the charger) in December has not been solved yet. Right after the Christmas break we picked up where we left before the break, and contact was established with the manufacturer of the charger. The charger was delivered to the manufacturer, and after a first inspection, the hopes were high that the problem would be solved within a matter of days. The problem turned out to be more challenging to solve, since our charger makes use of some custom implemented solutions to let the motorcycle and charger communicate. Since it was not possible to charge the batteries, the test day was postponed for a second time. Currently we are very busy to find a temporary solution.
The fact that the test day was postponed, does not mean we have been sitting still. A big subject during the past few weeks was the low voltage wiring overhaul of the Delta XE. During the construction of the Delta XE, the different devices requiring low voltage (CAN nodes, pumps, ECU, etc.) have been added to the motorcycle one-by-one. As a result, more wires than strictly required were used, and the use of connectors was not uniform. Therefore multiple thin wires were replaced by single thicker ones, and uniformity in the use of connectors is established. This results in a more robust, racing grade, low voltage wiring system, in which trouble shooting will be easier.
In the coming weeks we will be working on solving the charger issue, so that we can finally have our first test day on the dynamometer. Simultaneously we will be preparing our first test day on the circuit, which is scheduled to be in the end of February.
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31 Januari - 4 February
Projectweek Saxion University of Applied Sciences
10 February
Promo stand at University
22 February
Testing Day at Assen
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Thanks for staying up to date with Electric Superbike Twente!
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