News

We are proud to be sponsors of the Team Chicken guys! Congratulations on two brave 2nds at the Lotus event. Not only did they overcome some tricky technical issues but managed to drive through from the back of the field in the 2nd race. Oh and did I say that their car looks a million dollars!…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They again used their Porter 10XXX to great effect and were only just bested by a team running errrr…. another 10XXX.  

 

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Maybe it’s because the sun is shining here today, but this picture of the CPR AC4400 at Iron Horse Park in Alberta made us smile.

It’s running a 4QD-300.

 

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As a refugee from the mobile phone industry it was inevitable that we’d have to try coloured covers on our controllers at some point.

Here are some of the ideas we’ve been playing with on our Pro-160…..

We’ve 3D printed the brackets and used tough 3mm perspex as a wrap around case. The LCD can be seen through the cover for programming, or can be mounted remotely.

Please let us know if you like the idea.

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Our Pro-160 passed an important milestone today [23/1/19] – the first installation in a loco!
Ian and the guys at the Aylesbury MES kindly allowed us to use their Deltic 2hp as a test mule. The new menu structure made it easy to tweak the ramps and limits and then off we went for a few laps. Everything worked exactly as intended and it barely got warm [due to the high performance mosfet drivers we’ve used].

 

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If you’ve got a heavy load to shift then have a look at this floor transporter from the guys at Pelloby. It’s an automated guided vehicle fitted with two of our Pro-150s driving a really neat 4 wheel steer system.

 

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Here it is, the first complete sample of our new Pro-160 😀  😀  😀  It’s a modular, relay free, full H-bridge progression from the Pro-150.

The testing is coming along nicely, we had it running happily at 100A today and the mosfets were only just starting to get warm. The main software elements are all working now, we just need to stitch them all together with the UI.

The headline features are:

• Up to 250A and 84V depending on mosfets, capacitors, and heatsink fitted [water cooling will be available].
• 2 x 16 digit display [can be remotely mounted].
• Multiple control modes e.g. open loop, RPM, and current control.
• Radio control input.
• Inputs for
  • Deadmans handle
  • Emergency stop
  • Travel limits
  • Battery and motor temperature
• Separate communications board.

 

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I love the strap line that Scaled Rigs are using for their new mini truck!

This is the sort of project we love doing at 4QD. The truck has a very complete specification including lights and a startingly loud and realistic engine sound system. We designed the the full wiring loom which we’re sub-contracting out for them, and we also developed a new radio control servo emulator to allow the sound card to be driven directly from our DNO-5 controller. This needed a new PCB and software which we turned around inside 2 weeks.

The design and attention to detail that has gone into this product are mightily impressive, it is definitely not your average electric vehicle! If you’re short of Xmas present ideas for your nipper then you know who to call!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The DNO-5 is being slightly customised, and joint branded.

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Recently we’ve been involved with a few electric vehicle projects where we have needed to work out the gearing and wheel diameter required to achieve a target speed from an electric motor where we know its maximum rpm. This gearing calculator helps work it out.

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Earlier this year Steve at Team Chicken asked us if we could do something to give them an edge in the Greenpower kitcar series. It took a lot of nagging on his part but we finally got our butt in gear and created the Porter 10XXX. Did it work I hear you ask? You bet, here they are en-route to winning the kitcar final at the weekend!

These guys are masters of marginal improvements, they’ve gone right back to basics and followed the Lotus maxim of “add lightness and simplicate”.

We’re chuffed to have been able to help.

Team Chicken now style themselves the Kitcar Final Champions [KFC], I suppose that’s just about better than the Vindaloo Victors, or the Madras Medalists, or the….

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We’re always on the lookout for neat or alternative ways of doing things, and Les’s approach to electric car conversion meets both those criteria.

He’s taken a classic mini engine, thrown away the cylinder head and block, and grafted a Lynch 200 motor to the flywheel.

It’s going into a Magenta kit car, can’t wait to see how it turns out!

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