Regenerative Braking and E-Ped Fairing
Students Heading link
- Zong Liu
- Blake Oelhafen
- Kacper Skwiot
Project Description Heading link
The main objective of this project is to improve the overall functionality of Dr. Bernikers E-PED. This entails the design of a fairing that protects the motor from projectiles and unwanted contact with foreign substances while maintaining the proper ventilation. The fairing structure will be designed around an ME 0909 brush-type DC motor attached to the frame of a vintage 1977 Pacer Super Sport Moped. The motor attached to the bike is equipped with a fan to dissipate the heat during operation. The fairing must allow for proper ventilation so that the motor’s built-in fan can properly ventilate, which will be done using natural ventilation incorporated into the design of the fairing. Customer requirements state that the fairing must be removable with simple tools and that it must be able to be replicated relatively easily in case of failure. The choices made for material selection were under the assumption of worst case winter and summer scenarios that the E-PED could potentially operate in. Material research and simulations were done with such conditions until the most cost and weight effective material was obvious for selection. The results of this project are not intended for mass production or manufacturing; therefore, all financial calculations were made according to the established budget. The secondary objective of this project is to establish the efficiency and potential range increase that a regenerative braking system could provide. The main goal of a regenerative braking system is to convert kinetic energy from the braking of the E-PED into electrical energy that returns as charge to the battery, thus, increasing the range that the battery can travel. For this project, the main goal for regenerative braking is to determine the range increase of the E-PED if a system were to be installed.