We are pleased to have collaborated with the students of Terminale STI2d at Lycée Louis Lachenal, in Haute Savoie (74) as part of their final baccalaureate project which consisted of the creation of a hybrid kart with 2 motorization technologies.
They ordered an electric starter kit from us to fit on their Honda GX270 engine.
A big congratulations to them and great success in their exams.
"Good morning,
For this final year of high school, we had to complete a project whose goal was to improve a pre-existing system to make it more environmentally friendly and therefore to better manage the different energy flows.
In our case, we started with a normal thermal kart and transformed it into a hybrid kart combining two engine technologies: a thermal engine and an electric motor.
The project was divided equally among the 5 members of our group. We each had a design component, which was the longest because it was during this phase that everything had to be thought out and imagined in order to anticipate every eventuality.
Next came the simulation phase, where we were able to test the different behaviors of the kart's components. Following this, during the construction phase, we had to refurbish an old nitro kart that had seen better days. Stripping, sanding, welding, painting, and varnishing—all of this was done to get back to a sound chassis, which then allowed us to reinstall the original components (front spoiler, sidepods, internal combustion engine, seat) as well as install the new components brought about by the hybrid system (batteries, electric motor, electric starter, speed controller, etc.).
In our case, the electric starter has a double advantage:
-it improves pilot comfort
Since my colleague working on the transmission couldn't find a viable solution, the final solution, to allow the kart to run in both forward and reverse, was to install a starter motor. Because both motors are connected to the same accelerator pedal, it's necessary to be able to disconnect the internal combustion engine when reversing. The solution is therefore to turn off the internal combustion engine, reverse the direction of rotation of the electric motor, and then, once the reverse maneuver is complete, restart the internal combustion engine.
Finally, the last step was the measurements and the functional test, to verify the values found during the simulation part, but also and above all to enjoy the kart we had made!
