Comments for Project Streetliner

Comment on Key learnings and time well spent by Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:15:14 +0000

Oh that is VERY COOL! Are you guys using an organic tilt, or are you doing a power assist?

Comment on Key learnings and time well spent by Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:48:29 +0000

Here’s a glimpse of what the ATV donor idea can do for you. We’ve been doing some building over the last year, with a sponsor. You can see pictures and video at the web page here.

http://tiltingvehicle.com/

To test the tilt control system we’ve had it out to a Police training skid track (polished concrete covered with water) where our first time out we beat the best lap time by all the competing cars by ~2sec. There isn’t a body on it yet, but there are a few renderings of where we are headed with it.

Aaron…
TvA

Comment on Of experimental aircraft and the future of transportation by Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:02:20 +0000

Thanks Bob!

This little project hasn’t gotten a lot of my attention lately, as I’m still doing a lot of learning through other projects (motorcycles mostly) that will help prepare me to really take this on. In 2012, Tech Shop is supposed to open here in the Twin Cities. When it does, I expect work on the Streetliner will take off in earnest. In the meantime, this little project is always percolating in the back of my mind.

Comment on Of experimental aircraft and the future of transportation by Bob Hayhurst

Bob Hayhurst — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:54:06 +0000

I love the idea that you’re willing to take on such a task and commit to it over the long haul. I’ve always entertained the idea of building a vehicle, such as streetliner, but the demands of work etc. have always gotten in the way. I’ve read a portion (but not all) of your ideas and it seems like you have accomplished much. You might find this site interesting; http://www.microcarmuseum.com. I’m not sure if I saw it on MF or not, so you may already be familiar with it. One way or the other, good luck with the project!!

Comment on Tilting Motor Works by Gordon Hoffman

Gordon Hoffman — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:15:10 +0000

Can the covered trike be far behind?

Comment on Wheel size, wheel pants, stability and leverage by Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:29:00 +0000

Gordon,

The vehicle leans organically, just like a motorcycle. It’s a combination of angular momentum and inertia, again, just like a motorcycle. On a motorcycle, you “counter-steer” — that is, you actually turn the handlebars left to lean the vehicle right. This happens because of two factors. The first is angular momentum — the gyroscopic effect of spinning wheels that causes them to resist motion not in their axis of motion. That resistance “reacts” to inputs at 90º to that input. So a “turning” input on the front wheel(s) from above causes a reaction for the wheel to rotate at 90º to that input — which results in a lean. The second half of leaning and vehicle stability is just inertia. Because a motorcycle (or my vehicle through the mechanics of the front suspension) is able to fall over, you actually use gravity and inertia to make the vehicle lean into a turn by turning in the opposite direction for just an instant before turning back into that turn. It’s kinda tough to visualize, but in a way, you’re sort of turning into that turn just slighty faster than your falling over and the sum of those forces is a stable lean that is then supplemented by the angular momentum of the wheels.

Hope that helps.

Comment on Wheel size, wheel pants, stability and leverage by Gordon Hoffman

Gordon Hoffman — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:15:11 +0000

Hi again Nathaniel, I was wondering how you make the vehicle lean….can you force it? Can it stay upright while on a sloping surface? I want to keep my vehicle light enough so that human power would still be effective.
Thank you, Gordon Hoffman

Comment on Video: The front suspension explained (sort of) by Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:57:52 +0000

Glad I could help. My initial Streetliner prototype will be bicycle-based, I’m sure.

Comment on Video: The front suspension explained (sort of) by Gordon Hoffman

Gordon Hoffman — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:52:25 +0000

Thank you Nathaniel, I have been designing a leaning 3 wheeler which will actually be an electrically assisted, covered, tricycle. I am working with a similar layout as yours except I’m trying to keep it fairly narrow, which is making me think of shifting the suspension a little during the tilting cycle (I would have to send drawings for clarity). Seeing your model helps me visualize.
Gordon Hoffman of Lewiston, ID

Comment on Of experimental aircraft and the future of transportation by Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:52:03 +0000

I’d like to see more of it too. I just read their posting about safety and it made me think about the Ultralight standards, which are as sensible as they are clever. They consist of an empty weight limit, a gross weight limit, and a wing loading limit. Those three factors conspire to keep all ultralights reasonable. You can’t cram it full of power because it’ll weight to much and your wing loading will be too high. You can’t just make the wings bigger to drop the wing loading because then your gross weight will be too high. A similar set of minimalist guidelines for homebuilt cars could be really useful. Even simply copying existing standards, such as the SCAA roll-cage standards, then combining that with a series of gross vehicle weight categories with corresponding engine displacement/horsepower limits.

If there were some ground rules within which to work, kit makers and home builders alike could start building cars and evolving the segment.