School Senior Design project (need your help!) October 1st!

[zero9243]

So I'm a senior in college now in Electrical Engineering and we have to take a class called senior design and sign up for a project that will span the last two semesters of school. We put our top 8 project choices on a list and then the professors chose your group. I am in a group of 5 and this is the project description
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M 90: Rear Wheel Compensator

The task is to deliver a torque dampening to the rear wheel. This, torque dampening is needed to reduce the severity of the "jolt" felt when the drive belt initially accelerates the bike. This is done by smoothing out the load transfer from the belt, through the sprocket and to the rear wheel. This project should concentrate on a concept that is concealed within the hub of the rear wheel, to keep the look and feel that Harley-Davidson customers expect. The majority of work is mechanical based, with the option of integrating electronic monitoring. This monitoring possibility may be used to determine failure of part as well as effectiveness, as the part will need to meet specific effectiveness requirements. The project will also design a testing apparatus to show the effectiveness of torsion compensation. Based on the feasibility of the concepts proposed, prototyping and physical testing will be available. Specific project scope will be discussed with the advisor as the project gets under way. Students will have a TWABs (Tires, Wheels, Axles, and Bearings) Senior Project Engineer as an advisor to assist with the project.

Harley-Davidson requests the right to patent any feasible designs.

Sponsor: Harley-Davidson
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To me this sounded sort of like the cush drive that already exists in our rear wheels. Nevertheless in the coming months i may need to pick everyones brain for some good ideas . Should be a pretty neat project though!

[megaloxana]

Thats awesome. I can't wait til my senior project. Im studying Computer Aided Product Design, so this kind of stuff is exactly what I'm into. Kinda shitty Harley gets to patent your stuff but atleast you get your name on it(you should). Good luck and if I think of anything that will help you out, you'll be sure to hear from me. Keep us updated if you can/want.

[maverick]

man that sounds like a blast! i would just throw an fzr wheel on there and call it a day . have you got any ideas? try detuning the engine! then you feel much jolt at all!

[zero9243]

man that sounds like a blast! i would just throw an fzr wheel on there and call it a day . have you got any ideas? try detuning the engine! then you feel much jolt at all!

it's still really early in project development and we still have to meet with loads of people to really get started and actually get something rolling in the design process. I will update with pics and stuff when I can. I think initially there is gonna be lots of boring stuff like writing papers and stuff but hopefully we can get our hands dirty soon.

[Luke-a-Tron]

How about an electronically controlled viscous coupling? You could use it to limit back torque as well. Hell, it could even be incorporated into traction control if it was able to react quickly enough.

The way these things go, the professor will likely get the credit on paper right behind HD. Try to take the lead on communicating with your adviser. This is a fantastic opportunity to elbow into an industry that's not particularly easy to get into. You'll want to this guy to know you personally as much as possible.

Good luck with the project, it sounds like fun. I'll certainly help out with anything I can.

[haro504]

i think there is something like that already but its in the clutch or flywheel there are springs to absorb the sudden impact of power they are definatly in automobile clutches if you look at an exploded view i think you will see it. i pretty sure its in the fiber plate ina car

[megaloxana]

i think there is something like that already but its in the clutch or flywheel there are springs to absorb the sudden impact of power they are definatly in automobile clutches if you look at an exploded view i think you will see it. i pretty sure its in the fiber plate ina car

You would be refering to a sprung clutch disc such as shown in exhibit A

A:

Another example would be a dual-mass flywheel(my BMW has one) which would have a spring center similar to the clutch disc above.

[haro504]

yeah i think the fzr has a version of that in the flywheel i might be wrong but if you could incorporate that into the wheel it would deffinatly absorb some impact.if its enough to make it worth while i dont know but its an idea. maybe a longer coil to get more travel out of it would make it smoother.

[zero9243]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys and keep em comin if you have em! Again as I said we're a long way away from a prototype but anything helps!

[ragedigital]

It's called "shaft drive", tell harley to get on board...

[Fartblood]

...to keep the look and feel that Harley-Davidson customers expect...

What, the Brokeback Mountain look and feel?

[yamaha_george]

Hi,
The idea is for you to come up with a new style cush drive.
There are endless engineering white papers from I believe is AMEE or (automotive engineers association or some such)
The disc shown by ML has what I would have come up with off the back foot and that spring arrangement can have linear or progessive springs and their deflection can be easily measured with a laser distance gizmo (saves re-designing the wheel LoL) the inter face may be say USB (the most common and well documented .

Feel free to ask and may i suggest you join the chassis list at :-

:
"'MC-CHASSIS-DESIGN Mailing List'" <mc-chassis-design@micapeak.com>
They have guys from the MotoGp background and several Alumni from the Biking world such as Tony Foale & Mike Moore, Tony Constantino , Zoran (do not ask me to spell his surname)

[ragedigital]

Here's a real easy solution. Electronic rear caliper. Have it put a slight amount of pressure on the back rotor and release when getting up to 5 miles an hour or so... This keeps pressure on the rear tire until the belt pulls.

Done.

Why go through all this other mess?

[manveru]

I'm with luke-a-tron. Make fluid coupling with torque muliplication(can you say wheelie?), and the abilitity to lock up for effiency(sp?). Pretty much a lock up torque convertor on the rear wheel. the electronics would provide the lockup function.

[haro504]

it could be kinda like a shock absorber with the hub being able to rotate around 90 degrees with a thick fluid in the wheel then have fins with a few small holes in them that will let the fluid go threw slowly to absorb the drive. the same way some shocks work. the thicker the fluid the more resistance.