CSIRO Motors ? ?

Nimbuzz

1 kW
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
300
Location
Stinson Beach, CA
Has anyone heard anything about CSIRO hub motors that are from Austrailia, are used in the solar car races and have the highest torque/weight ratio of any motors in the world? No iron in them. My googling reaps me the above info and no more -- nothing about availability or bicycle useage etc.

http://www.csiro.au/solutions/psz7.html

http://www.users.bigpond.com/solarbbq/bikeexp/bexp.htm OR http://tinyurl.com/2tczf6

http://www.users.bigpond.com/solarbbq/bikesale/bsale.htm OR http://tinyurl.com/37al36

I'm now writing Bret White and asking him too.
 
Here's some detailed technical information on the motor:
http://www.tip.csiro.au/Machines/success/sc.html

and here:
http://www.tip.csiro.au/Machines/papers/iwscem/index.html

Pretty cool.
 
40 poles -- wow. Does so many make the controller timing scheme much more complex?
 
xyster said:
40 poles -- wow. Does so many make the controller timing scheme much more complex?

No. It's still 3 phase and has 3 hall sensors. A Crystalyte motor has a bunch of poles (I forget how many), it's the number of magnet poles on the rotor.

The real unique thing about this motor is the ironless stator. It's just a bunch of copper wire bent and glued together.
 
I haven't groked the whole thing yet but I was thinking that instead of the usual iron magnets in the outer rim it also has coils there -- but the one diagram shows careful and complex orientation of the magnets' polarity.

I'll read all the stuff tomorrow.

One question is -- if CSIRO is proven by winning the hi tech and demanding solar races why isn't the technology being developed/produced for peeps like us? Perhaps the cost would be much greater and the power and weight would'nt be that much better than a C-Lyte etc.

I just got a reply from Brett White that CSIRO just made a small batch of essential parts kits for some solar race teams to use to complete building motors but that no production is planned. SUP with that?!?!
 
Nimbuzz said:
if CSIRO is proven by winning the hi tech and demanding solar races why isn't the technology being developed/produced for peeps like us? <SNIP>no production is planned. SUP with that?!?!

From their site:
"CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world."

So the teck *is* being developed for the peeps! CSIRO just does the R&D. Your next step would be to enter into a licensing agreement with CSIRO/whoever and then go into production...

Video here shows a bit of the motors being assembled:
http://www.csiro.au/multimedia/ppf32.html

I see that two years ago, the Aurora solar car was using CSIRO plus a controller from Tritium:
http://www.tritium.com.au/

Start saving your pennies
:)

Lock
 
I wish somebody would do it too.

Unfortunately, to be affordable it would probably need to be made in China. The design does make good use of materials, so the material cost should be less than, say, a Crystalyte motor of similar power. With sufficient automation, the manufacturing process could be much less expensive also, but the startup costs for the machinery would require a huge volume to be cost-effective. This seems to be the catch-22 a lot of EV stuff gets caught in.

A smaller version with reduction gearing like a Puma would be really cool. I'd be willing to sacrafice the efficiency loss of the gears for a more compact size (which would make it cheaper too).
 
Back
Top