MIT students build DIY Segways, electric karts
Remember the DIY Segway that we showed you? The same group of students from MIT and their friends from some area high schools known as the Edgerton Center Summer Engineering Workshop are back at it this year with a new project, an electric kart that has some rather high-tech features built in. Weighing in at 350 lbs. with 36 volts of lead-acid batteries on board, the coolest piece of the e-kart puzzle is the ultracapacitor "boost" mode. That capacitor is also called upon to store extra energy from braking that would otherwise be lost. The kart is capable of going about 35 miles per hour and has a max output of 300 amps. The students designed and built their own motor controller in lieu of purchasing one off-the-shelf. A separately excited motor allows for a bit of "gearing" despite the single speed transmission. It's a cool project that deserves some recognition.
[Source: MIT]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lad 9:08PM (9/22/2008)
Nice engineering work even with outdated battery technology.
How about taking on the challenge of building a plug-in electric lawn tractor using affordable "Firefly Batteries;" something similar to the old GE Elec-Trac. I think this would make an excellent student project.
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