There are many forms of personal transportation available for medium to long distance travel: planes, trains, cars, motorbikes, scooters, and bikes. But for short-ranged transportation, there is yet a solution that is easy to learn, compact, and stylish.
Our solution fulfils that niche.
We are designing a turning-assisted electric skateboard that can easily take you from Point A to Point B in style. Simply stand on the board, and use a wireless remote to control the acceleration and braking. The differential motorized wheels mean that you can make those really tight turns around corners when you lean-in on your turn.
We know that skateboarding is not for everyone. Our solution also has removable training handle that provides additional stability when you need it. A convenient push-button on the handle let's you accelerate/brake the board.
Our fully-functional prototype. Come to the 2014 Mechatronics Symposium for more!
Stay tuned to this section for the latest updates related to our project! This section will be periodically updated before the Symposium date.
After finishing the board, we decided to go cornering indoors. Sweet!
After the board was put together, it took a lot of programming and troubleshooting. At last, we have a test run of it! Here is a video of it in action (it can definitely go faster, by the way):
Wiring is pretty close to being finished. Will need to organize these better.
After securing the handle and the motor mounts on, it looks like they are not aligned. Looks like we will have to chamfer those edges and make a few modifications. Good thing we have some time alloted to trial and error! Also to be done, the electronics.
It turns out that a lever switch on the end is more ergonomic. Feels fairly natural to hold down both with thumb and index finger. It should work with longer fingers/bigger hands. As a bonus, unscrew and flip the lever switch and handle to make it left-hand compatible.
We briefly mounted the motor on the board to see how well it spins. Quick video demo:
Drive system all done!
Extenders are finally complete. It took a long time to machine all that stainless steel. Here is a preview of the motor mounts:
The handle used for training mode is complete! It is made of aluminium extrudes, making it fairly light. The holes along the shaft make it height adjustable. Now to put the electronics sometime...
Using his extensive experience in mechanical design, Kevin has contributed to the project by designing the drive system and selection of the mechanical components required to create the drive system. He contributed to many areas in the project such as the initial calculations for the design requirements as well as motor selection and calculations.
Competent in both mechanical and electrical domains, Eric has contributed to the electrical design of the skateboard, as well the selection of all components such as the speed controller, batteries and motors. With graphics know-how, he is also responsible for the design of the symposium poster.
With experience in the electrical and software domain, Calvin has contributed to the team by designing the handle of the skateboard, including switch selection and cabling. He is also responsible for the design and creation of the team website.
Competent in both electrical and software design, Anurag has contributed to the team by designing the software component of the project. He also selected the microcontroller for the project including integration with the wireless controller.