Re: ccc 2014

Posted by Paul H (admin) on
URL: http://uk-hbbr-forum.61.s1.nabble.com/ccc-2014-tp4026878p4027716.html

Pete,

My thoughts below are intended to help - so don't take them the wrong way.

I've always thought using power tools to drive a canoe as silly; no boat engineer would ever use such a motor with brushes and batteries designed for very short cycles. Look at every single electric boat on the planet - does it use power tools? No!

Look at Formula 1 this year. Regenerative braking to charge batteries into a corner in parallel with mechanical braking, given an 80hp boost along the straights with an electric motor. They are also strictly limited to 100kg of fuel per race, with a limit of 1.7kg per lap I think. Basically you cannot finish a race without regenerative charging at corners. All extremely high tech to research and pioneer electric cars in the future.

So why not have a limit on battery energy and allow any motor to be used. Widgets from the RC world to monitor energy consumed are less than £20. Then you start to pioneer practical small electric boats/canoes with efficiency in mind. Give a special award for the chap that does a lap with minimum energy etc. or furthest distance for a given energy.

Make it exciting for the crowds for sure, but watch an F1 grand prix and they have real time fuel used per car per lap and the race so far. Lewis Hamilton seems to use less fuel than anyone, but he is second in the championship.

I understand sponsorship, but the practical reality is that cordless drills are not going to replace diesel engines or 4 stroke outboards.

So how about:
Cordless category
First past the post knockout...its fun to watch
Second prize for most efficient lap in a given time etc. [using energy meters for electric RC models]

Open category
For any motor, but a strict limit on energy per lap. In other words the chap with a huge motor might be penalised and lose against a more modest motor (which could be a cordless!). Adjust rules on day to make it fun. Its highly likely the winners will be the electric boats of the future, just like the F1 concept.


cheers
Paul


Edit: Replaced power with energy (energy is what shows on your home meter, for your electric bills)

Canoe distance per energy is like miles per gallon, lower means less CO2 blah blah blah.