I haven't been back here for awhile. I had thought that the topic had been pretty much exhausted, a few had responded to my initial request and I have been actively persuing those suggestions. By no means has the dust settled yet on the "answer" to this situation, but honestly, because of the extraordinary help that I have received from the guys here on ES and from the Power Assist group, the prospect of acquiring a complete solution is near fruition. The guys who stepped up to help here at ES ( the "Doc", TD, and Justin) have been super and have given me a slew of info to work with, mostly in PM's (so as to not bog folks down with my particular agendas and the logistics that I need to bear in mind). They have been tremendously generous in their time, and concern for seeing this project reach a successful conclusion. I assure all reading, there will be a solution. And thanks Safe for your enthusiasm in concurring that this mind set of power governing is the key to a successful venue that defines "e-assist" or "power assist" racing.
I agree with TD about his assessment of the capabilities of the CA as they stand now, and as confirmed by Justin's further input regarding the current parameters under which the fabulous CA now operates. I was aware of the functionality of the CA's performance last spring ( and of course before that) when considering a "watt hour" limiting factor to govern the races at PIR, and was also mindful of the fact that an "ultimate" solution could not be reached in the time frame afforded to me. The CA and other power meter devices had to be relegated to the "next year" shelf, for reasons of expedience and keeping my vigilance on simply making the race a success that year. Those operating parameters and the functionality of the CA were and have been discussed with Justin several times. He has clued me into some variables that may be persued, and they are indeed very useful and germane to the needs I am looking for. One must also realize that the time/cost for Justin to do such a "custom" reconfiguration has to be warranted by a return on said investment and I am respectfully aware of that. A definite option that we are examining.
The Doc Watson and the Watts up meters are also great tools for the applications they are set up for. They do present one small issue, and that is they have a voltage limit on their input of 60 volts. In most cases, this is very reasonable for the major applications of the assist world, but, with the prospect of trying to accommodate the folks who show up with higher voltages, it does denote a limiting ability for the racers.
Another interesting thought was the "Kill a Watt" meter that Doc was suggesting. It also has some promise, but it too needs to be examined further. TD was also giving a hand in that regard as he is attempting to build such a critter and he will be keeping me in the loop as to the progress of his project, it will be interesting to get his results and build technique, definitely very handy for me to see what it takes for him to make it from scratch.
There are some other options I am currently exploring too. These gizmos all bear the same thing in mind as to my original concept, that the race would be best served by utilizing a form of governance on board each paricipating bike. The "best to my ability" attempt at regulating the contests via categorizing racers by watt hour availability (amp hours on board and voltage being used) was a decent approach at making the races as fair as possible, but is still less exacting than the succinctness that can be attained by a watt hour meter OR watt hour power cut off device.
Recumbent raises a few interesting points. He has a well warranted concern as to the costs involved to the racer incurred at the event. You bet. That is one of the factors we need to compile into our mix of data when we analyse all the variables that have to go into the decision making process. We aim to keep this as affordable as possible to ourselves and the participants as we can. Some may think I am being cheap, I would like to think I am being financially aware of the balance that needs to be achieved so as to insure healthy growth for our event while giving the racers a cool race venue at a very reasonable cost.
The next point he mentioned was that it was a matter of money spent on the system (chain drive system was mentioned) and the aero ness that would insure a victory. Well, maybe yes and maybe not really. Bear in mind that the race does not have any hills in it and no stop and go, just lots of corners and some long straights. So you are pretty much in your efficiency band the entire time, whether you run a hub motor or a chain drive system. And remember (and this also addresses your other question about pedaling), I try to calculate a watt hour useage for a certain distance based upon the rider "assisting" in the power output effort. Imagine that, human assist, or as some call it, e-assist ! Races are determined such that one may be able to complete the course on just electric power alone, but they would have to go sloooowly to do it, you may have a lot of fun, but don't count on winning ( if that's your bag!). And, there are divisions for the amount of aeroness that your bike (and you) present. Various amounts of streamlining of your ride will determine the category you directly compete in. Some folks keep thinking that only the super streamlined crowd will win, well yeah, maybe in their division against others who have the same amount of fairing and watt hours available. The person that shows up on a MTB and no fairing whatsoever is not going to get pitted against a streamliner that can do triple the speed on the same amount of energy, naw.
Pedaling is a good thing ! I know I'm going to get some grief from some streamliner guys that want to go 60 - 70 mph the whole way on just electric alone, and that would be a hoot to see, but so solly chawlie ! We gotta have safety first. We have to be mindful of the liability issues from an insurance point of view. The parameters under the insurance need to "roughly" conform to what a legal e-assist bike is ( and that's kinda ambiguous), so don't bug me on that one ok? :lol: And lastly, the idea is to promote "e-assist" modes of transportation, not all out elecric motorcylcle racing ( which is very cool), just not at this venue. Maybe I can arrange electric drag racing during the evenings? hmm. Therefore pedaling will be encouraged. ( note* "IF" there is a possibility for "exhibition" performances, and the insurance allows it, I may give it a real think through).
The watt hour remedy is forthcoming and it will be mindful of the needs of this race as well as the future of other racing venues to come.
Tom
As they say in racing:
