Newsletter of March 2022

As you might know, we have been working very hard on the Delta-XE and the Apex-RS. We will show our partners and family all the work we have put in so far. Inside and outside the bike. We will show all the technical improvements and milestones aswell as the new livery! 

PCV Group is one of the largest, fast-growing product design and development companies in end-to-end product development in the Netherlands. They are experts in mechatronics and embedded systems, combining their engineering technology with project management skills. PCV Group is specialized in dispensing & dosing system solutions. People Creating Value has been with us from the beginning. They support us financially and help us solve problems.

Motorique is a new partner of ours. They have great passion for motors, motorsport and engineering. The shop of Motorique has everything motor related from helmets to tires. They help us by providing us the items necessary to transport the bikes safely and provides us with tires and tire warmers.

March was all about helping the powertrain subteam. As the chassis tasks are in its finalising stage, our team has more time to investigate or help out powertrain with their work.  

Finalising our chassis work include making technical drawings to fabricate pivot adjusters. These are used to change the suspension behaviour of the motorcycle. They can help with tuning our bikes to show its maximum capabilities on a certain circuit or adhering to our driver's preference. 

Secondly, the Apex-RS went to be tested at Ten Kate Racing Products. Here we put the bike through an endurance test and a peak power test. The motorcycle behaved as expected, yet there are still some projects that need our attention. For example, it was noticed that the cooling of the Apex-RS's electric motor was not at a desirable level. Therefore, we are putting more effort in redesigning the whole cooling system. By for example including shorter tubing and easier extractable parts such that maintenance becomes more convenient.  

Additionally, the feedback and data collected from Assen was analysed. Here our driver Finn de Bruin indicated the need for a steer damper on the Delta-XE to increase its handling. Currently, we are finalising the attachments to the frame of the bike and steering wheel for the damper on both the Apex-RS and Delta-XE.  

In a later stage, the chassis team assisted the powertrain team to complete the battery pack overhaul planned for the Delta-XE. During the overhaul we implemented better High Voltage Interlock (HVIL) connectors and a maintenance plug. The maintenance plug mechanically disconnects the current loop in the battery, making it 100% safe to work on. The HVIL connectors were installed in a more suitable location to prevent it from disconnecting due to vibrations. Moreover, all the bolts were replaced and a spring washer added to increase the tightness, ensuring these would not fibrate lose when the bike is racing. Another project picked up by chassis was the validation of the placement of the temperature sensors in the battery pack. For this purpose, a small battery pack was fabricated corresponding to the situation in the actual battery pack, this time with additional sensors on all imaginable places of the battery pack. This way it could be verified if the temperature readings we gather are also the temperatures which we care about the most. For example, the reading in the middle of the cell is significantly higher than the reading on the bottom, hence these are the crucial values to watch while racing.  

Lastly this month, EST had the first edition of the technical "Raad van Toezicht". This evening previous teams were invited to join us for a moment to brainstorm together. We elaborate on the challenges we face with the motorcycles and present our solutions. We try to use the knowledge, they have gain through their time in the team and get a different perspective on the issues that we had not yet considered. With these evenings we aim to avoid repeating problems and prevent potential pitfalls. The first edition went well and gained some useful tips and suggestions that we can further work on.

Another busy month has passed, with many new projects and events.  
A project we just finished is the overhaul of the battery pack of the Delta XE. In the past we experienced some strange sensor readings during the balancing of the battery pack. During the investigation of this problem we found out that a soldered PCB insert had come loose. Recently we experienced this problem again, and therefore it was chosen to take the entire battery pack apart, double check all connections, and replace where required.  

We seized the opportunity to replace certain 3D printed parts as well. The old parts were made from PLA, which softens when the battery cells reach their maximum temperature. Since we want to prevent these parts from deformation, they were replaced with PEKK parts, which do not soften at the maximum temperatures our battery cells reach.  

Finally, a Manual Service Disconnect (MSD) plug was installed in the battery pack. This plug forms a galvanic connection between the two halves of the battery pack, and makes working on the battery pack a lot safer.  

The main challenge we are currently facing with the Delta XE is still the tuning of the controller. Our engineers have met with various partners and companies and received a lot of input. Due to time constraints we have not been able to confirm all input yet, and we will continue working on this in the coming weeks.  

We have also been busy working on the Apex RS. The tests on the dyno look promising. The bike performs stable. However, it is not ready to go to the circuit again since we can currently not read out the battery management data with the on-board systems.   

Finally we have established an advisory board for the technical teams. Up till now we communicated by means of WhatsApp, e-mail, phone and sometimes a one-on-one meeting, but we figured it would be a good idea to discuss challenges, designs, ideas and planning in a meeting. I do not speak for myself when I say the first edition was a success, and delivered us a lot of input.