Low drag motorcycle design wins top European award

Imperial researchers design a new high speed motorcycle design

Researchers from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering win top European award <em>– News</em>

Wednesday 7 May, 2008
By Colin Smith

Work to improve motorcycle dynamics has won an Imperial postgraduate a prestigious European award last month.

Amrit Sharma, a PhD student from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, has won a gold medal for automotive design at the Young European Arena of Research Awards, announced at the Transport Research Arena conference in Slovenia on 23 April 2008.

Tear drop shape dramatically improves performance

Mr Sharma won the award for mathematical models which show how air flowing over a bike can exert pressures on the vehicle, thus slowing it down and making it less efficient. This is known as aerodynamic drag.

Mr Sharma and a team from the Control and Power Research Group along with motorcycle manufacturer ECOSSE Spirit are using the mathematical models to improve the design of the company’s ES1 racing motorcycle.

New designs tested by Mr Sharma’s model include rearranging the front and rear suspension, constructing the body from fibreglass, as well as moving the chain drive and altering where a rider’s feet and upper body are located. This creates a new shape for the vehicle, resembling a teardrop, which according to tests dramatically reduces the dragging effects of air flowing over the vehicle by approximately 50 per cent.

This was also shown via modelling and mathematical algorithms to increase the speed of the ES1 motorcycle by 30 percent compared to other vehicles in its class.

The team believes it will have a working prototype of the new version ES1 by December 2008.

Mr Sharma said he was extremely pleased to win the award from a field of more than 250 entrants from across Europe. He said:

“I am extremely flattered to have taken home a gold medal. There were a lot of good entrants from across Europe and coming first out of a very strong field is an achievement.”

Professor David Limebeer from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering congratulated Amrit Sharma on his efforts adding:

“The Young European Arena of Research is an extremely prestigious award for scientists who are exploring road transportation issues in their research. Imperial College London was the only British university to win gold in this competition and I really congratulate Amrit for his outstanding research – a well deserved recognition.”

Mr Sharma did Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London and obtained a MEng degree in 2006 and is currently in the College’s PhD programme with his main area of interest in control dynamical systems.

Mr Sharma says before working on the ES1 designs he had no interest in motorsports but since then his interest has been piqued, however, he is unsure whether he wishes to take up a career in the field.

The Young European Arena of Research is a competition for scientists who are conducting their research in the field of road transport.

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