Revelation of VeloX2

Revelation of VeloX2 from Human Power Team on Vimeo.

After a half year of research, design and testing we are revealing the new design. This is exactly one year after the revelation of the VeloX.

Molds for the VeloX2 ready for production

In the last couple of weeks the molds for the VeloX2 were produced by Nedcam. Yesterday these molds arrived at DSM Zwolle where a part of our team is now producing the monocoque. In this blog the first pictures of the molds are shown. Coming weeks we will give you updates about the progress via our website and twitter.

One part of the molds	The canopy under the milling machine

The molds arriving at DSM Zwolle	Checking the fitting of the two molds

Checking if the dimensions of the molds are correct	Start of the production!

Production Monocoque at DSM Part 1

Today is the second day we are working at DSM Resins at Zwolle. The next 3 weeks we will be working on the production of the monocoque! To make the monocoque, 3 team members will be working full time at the DSM Resins work floor. We produce the monocoque at DSM Resins because DSM has several people that will help and support us with their knowledge.

Yesterday we were mainly waiting for the moulds to arrive from Germany, where they are made by Nedcam. In the morning we did a safety training, this is required to work at DSM, so everyone who will be working at DSM or are on the backup list, joined the training. For the Delft people this meant waking up early! After a tour through the workplace followed by lunch it was waiting in all excitement for the moulds to arrive... Halfway through the afternoon they finally arrived, and they looked great!

Today the moulds had to be prepared for lamination and cutting the foam sandwich to the sizes. Because of the delay yesterday, it was quite challenging to not get behind anymore on schedule. But with the help of some DSM employees, it all came to a happy end!

Production Monocoque at DSM Part 2

The following day we started constructing the monocoque using hand lamination. The result is two halves of the monocoque, which then can be put together to form our final monocoque.

The molds with gelcoat	Bright Science. Brighter Living

The documentation!	Let's begin!

Unidirection tape	The workfloor

First layer of carbon fiber	Laminating

Connecting the two halves to each other meant that we had to crawl into the monocoque trough our canopy opening. This was really exciting as it became clear to us that our monocoque is almost finished and we are actually sitting inside the VeloX2, that might break some records!

Molds on each other	Laminating

After a week of hard work, today was finally the time of de-molding the complete monocoque. Everything went smooth and the results are astonishing! We would like to thank Nedcam for the beautiful moulds which did their job perfectly and DSM Zwolle for helping us produce the monocoque using their experience and knowledge, we couldn’t have done it without them!

First mold released!	End result!

Production Monocoque at DSM Part 3

The monocoque features an opening for the riders to get in. So we also need a canopy to close that opening. After the first monocoque was released from the moulds, we could start with laminating the canopy.

Laminated canopy	Canopy in vacuum bag

Canopy	Canopy + monocoque

Due to the possibility that the monocoque will get damaged after a crash, we wanted to make a second one, just in case it is beyond repair. So this week was mainly spent on preparing and laminating the second monocoque. The only thing that rests us now is releasing the monocoque from the moulds! And of course also a second canopy has been made, which we will demould tomorrow as well!

Second monocoque in production

If all goes well, we will return to Delft today, where the production of other parts for the VeloX 2 is going according to schedule! Last three weeks were a blast, it was a great experience!

Parts for VeloX2	Foamcore for frame

Bits and pieces

Last week a part of our team returned from DSM Zwolle where two beautiful monocoque’s and canopies where produced. In the meantime a lot of work is done on all the bits and pieces that will be installed in the VeloX2. In the coming weeks we will give you updates about the parts which we are producing at the moment in our D:Dream hall. Lets begin with the frame:

D:Dream Hall of the TU Delft	The lathing machines

We will build a frame inside the monocoque to keep all the parts such as the StuD-Drive, front fork and the powertrain in place. We will build this frame at the end of this month at the company VDL Fibertech in Best. On this moment all the necessary parts to build this frame are being produced.

CNC milled foam core for frame	CNC milled foam core for frame

 

Laminating molds which will be used for laminating the frame	Homemade headset insert for the laminating mold

 

Laminating mold	Aluminum rods to produce the inserts

Front fork

The VeloX2 has a special fork. The main requirement of the fork is that it has to be safe and stiff. deformation in the forks can cause that the bike to become unstable (High Speed Wobbe). The fork must remain very narrow because the limited space between the legs. For this reason we have designed our own fork. The fork is made from a well-known steel used in the bicycle industry called reynolds steel 953. This high strength steel is ideal for the production of our fork. Our fork was produced by Nico Bakker Frame Construction.

Fork	Fork

Air inlet

Like last year we will use NACA Ducts to provide the drivers with oxygen and ventilation during the race. These are specially shaped inlets which ensure a minimal disturbance of the flow. The design was originally called a "submerged inlet", since it consists of a shallow ramp with curved walls recessed into the exposed surface of a streamlined body, such as an aircraft. It is especially favored in racing car design.

NACA Duct	NACA Duct

Our nacaducts are produced by DSM like those of the NUNA6 solar car. For the production, DSM has used a technique called " Stereolithography " with a special material Somos ® Next. Stereolithography is an additive manufacturing process which employs a vat of liquid ultraviolet curable photopolymer "resin" and an ultraviolet laser to build parts' layers one at a time. For each layer, the laser beam traces a cross-section of the part pattern on the surface of the liquid resin. Exposure to the ultraviolet laser light cures and solidifies the pattern traced on the resin and joins it to the layer below.

Camera system

In contrast to the VeloX, the VeloX2 will no longer have a front window. Instead of a window the driver will use a camera system where the front view is shown on a display. This system has now been built into the VeloX and all the cyclists reacted possitive (thankfully). From a safety point of view we will build the entire system redundantly. This means that everything is mounted twice and independently on the bike.

Visualisation	System built into the VeloX for training

SRM

Schoberer Rad Meßtechnik (SRM) is a company which created the first mobile ergometer for bicycles, formed in 1986 by Ulrich Schoberer.

The SRM Powermeter uses built-in strain gauges to determine the power, in Watts, that the cyclist outputs to the bicycle cranks and chainring. Together with our sponsor SRM we have worked on a custom power meter that is compatible with our Stud-Drive.

SRM	SRM