Fiest [beetleweight]

Looks good,
I don't know if the brushless will like the abuse it will get but if you don't try you will never know :uhoh:

For my axe mechanism on Gabriel (feather)
I am using an un-bustable 150w brushed motor that weighs a tonne.
The drive is chain 1-4 reduction running a tri-lobe cam with an axe arm connected via a bolt
the idea is to run the motor for about 3 turns before it engages the axe arm 2-3 turns more
and the axe hits something :uhoh: :uhoh:
to prevent the motor stalling there is a torque limiter fitted.

http://i569.photobucket.com/albums/s...l/IMGA5517.jpg

What does the cam do?

Looks good, also unsure why you're using a tri-lobe cam though?

Hopefully by slowly releasing power to the flywheel on spin-up rather than direct-driving an axe the beetle's motor won't be in danger of stalling, the damaging part will be when the motor brakes, but no problems just yet (though not run near full speed so far..)

Bike cable should be here tomorrow, will put up a video then

Re the cam
It is not used as a cam like in an IC engine. in fact it could be circular. I just used the phrase for identification purposes with the picture in the previous post.
To explain there are three bolts through the cam, one has the axe bolted loosely, so the axe arm can pivot on the bolt. the other two bolts are for engaging on the axe shaft on either the strike or the retract mode.
As with all these type of things the reality is a lot simpler than the written explanation.
I hope to run a video of the operation so you can see it and then you will see how easy the mechanism is :shock:

I think I can see how it works. I'm guessing the thought process behind it is to get the motor spinning and get some momentum going before it engages the axe, allowing for a faster swing. Less of the swing is used up by the motor starting up under load and thus you should get more speed and power.

Be cool to see it in action. :)

Just tried out the axe mechanism seems to work OK, will put a video on the Gabriel build diary tomorrow if I have time. :uhoh: :uhoh:

It works! Had to make up a new clutch part but it's working brilliantly (and very noisily) now. Will make video this evening

Current set-up:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...2016.58.29.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_...2016.57.51.jpg

And here's the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSLz4u3ybk4

You'll notice the first time I brake the clutch doesn't engage - this sometimes happens when the flywheel is going slower and doesn't have enough inertia to un-jam from the bottom of the threaded shaft. When going faster it usually separates fine, but I've only tested the thing up to 30% throttle (slightly worried bits will break if it's going too fast.. and as you can see it vibrates like mad). The motor has enough torque to re-screw the flywheel down the shaft after a release (it does this twice in the video). On the final release the cable pulled free from the clutch mountings (just a couple of M3 bolts):

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3...2017.01.10.jpg

It's not a big issue, I'll find a harder-wearing way of mounting it in future.

All in all I'm happy with the concept. Once it's in a fully-laden chassis (complete set-up weight is currently 700g, with lots of material to remove) it should hopefully move around a bit less although I don't doubt it will jump even higher with a weighted axe-head attached (and at higher flywheel speeds..). Still need to work out a re-cocking mechanism for the axe (possibly a spring).

Looks like it packs quite a punch! Will be interesting to se the damage once the axe head is fitted :)

Looks awesome! Are you hoping to put this in a Beetle?