In order to evaluate the performance of the completed trike I plan on putting together some instrumantation to measure it’s performance. Variables I would like to log are the following:
Speed
Time
Grade
Motor Amps
From these I can compare the actual performance to the predicted performance calculations I have made. To recored the data Dr. K.J pointed me to this $109 USB DA board: http://www.measurementcomputing.com/cbicatalog/cbiproduct_new.asp?dept_id=412&pf_id=1535&mscssid=JCM5JCEEDRK38KSPRT8QX1R3D4TK5GC7
This will plug into a laptop and allow recording of up to 8 analog inputs – currently I will need only three:
speed – optical sensor
grade – inclinometer
amps – measure voltage with shunt
The time can be tracked within the DA module, it is possible I could use additional inputs for TC’s or strain gages.
Here are some links to different inclinometers:
http://www.riekerinc.com/ElectronicInclinometers.htm
http://www.usdigital.com/products/incremental-inclinometers.shtml
