| Opensource DIY solar powered scooters! From Montreal?? Mais Oui! |
[Aug. 17th, 2005|02:53 pm] |
Ok eh, so this one is a shoutout to my much missed hometown, Montreal. Where some people have been changing the world one cell phone battery at a time (well more than that, later).
So what it's not the hottest ride on the street... and at best they go about 40kmH (not bad, eh). But as they say back home, check-ca: these vehicles can keep going like the energizer bunny! The guys who made these scooters have taken them on day trips up to the Laurentians (not just 150km away, but steep hills!). And that is from solar power.
sure.. they're pretty lightweight, have to be, they also (aside from the wheels) have no moving parts no pistons no gears no clutch.... they work by my-absolutely-even-more-favorite-than-stirling-engines-technology: good ol' pulses and magnets! Increase pulse frequency and you speed up, decrease and you slow down. no fuss no muss. And why all the cellphone batteries (150 used batteries per vehicle)? well they bundle them up into packs that deliver enough voltage and wattage to run the vehicle.. they recharge very quickly (1/2 hr in the sun), and on longer trips one packet can be driving the engine, while the other packets are recharging in the sun on the open road... ahh just like Easy Rider
Oh and they don't sell them. The schematics are all free and on-line.. ( Read more... ) |
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