The goal of this project is to investigate a new type of motor for e-bikes: the rim motor. A rim motor is similar to the hub motor, as it is mounted in the hub of the wheel, but instead of just occupying the hub of the wheel the motor will be fully integrated in the wheel itself. The motor is best compared to a linear motor, with a round actuator. This motor however will have the magnets incorporated into the wheel itself. The coils will be mounted outside the wheel on a part of the frame of the bike.
Project description
To expand our knowledge of e-bike motors, we contacted the company IDbike, based in Riel, the Netherlands. Rim motors are not applied in e-bikes today, so to develop the first prototype a lot of research was needed. Besides research, all the designs had to be developed from scratch. During this project, we used a lot of trial and error while testing components in virtual workspaces like EMWorks and COMSOL. When we got decent simulation results, a prototype of the rim motor was created and tested. Our goals was to show feasibility of the the concept (or prove that is not realistically feasible).
Project results
Our design of the first rim motor prototype focused on simplicity of realization and aimed at proving (or disproving) the principle of the rim motor. Despite the many simulations we did before building the actual prototype, we still encountered many challenges during fabrication, In the end, a working prototype was created that enables further testing of this new motor concept.
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Acknowledgement
We would like to thank IDbike, based in Riel – the Netherlands, for giving the opportunity to Fontys students to work on this challenging project, and for their support during the project.