stopped bullying, kept building

[Morgen 3Eman]

Hi Folks,

Since I had time on my hands I thought I'd try to build a trike that can lean into corners.  The math was interesting.  I figured out a way to raise the center of gravity when the trike leans, so it wants to sit straight up by itself.  It corners really well.

It is powered by an MP3, 48V GM stuff.

TTFN,
Dennis

[Bikemad]

Nice one Dennis, how about a nice video so we can see how far it leans?
I'll be looking closely for sparks coming from the front outer edges of those swinging arms.

Any chance of some more details and photos of the tilt mechanism showing the differential movement.

Alan
 

[Morgen 3Eman]

Hi Alan,

I have the lean limited to 15 degrees right now.  I am using counter-phased cams to couple the swing arms weight-shift induced motion from one side to the other, with the cam shape determining the amount of righting force at a given lean angle.  If you think of the cams as variable length levers, moving in opposite directions, you'll get the idea.  I'll try to remember to get some video for you. 

I'm playing around with  cam profiles and phasing, and I have found some that are just plain scary to ride, and others that hardly move at all, so I clearly have a lot of work to do to find the sweet spot.  But, hey, it keeps me from annoying people on the board:)

No worries about the swing arm hitting the ground, the trike will be laying on its side by then.   

TTFN
Dennis

[GM Canada]

What an interesting ride!

Can we see some close up pictures of the leaning mechanism. I can't really tell how it works from the picture provided.

Gary