TL MOTO team was created with the aim of competing at Motostudent, an international competition held every two years in Aragon, which gathers dozens of teams from 17 different countries. When the project started, the challenge had only one category: MotoStudent Petrol (internal combustion engine). From 2015 another category was created: MotoStudent electric (100% electric propulsion system). This year, TL MOTO team will create a prototype from scratch in this category.
Thousands of engineering students and motorcycle enthusiasts met in this 4-day competition. The jury is composed not only of industry professionals but also of professionals from this area. “The competition has two phases: MS1, which is focused on the industrialization project and on the technological innovation of the motorcycle; and MS2, which evaluates the performance of the prototype”, explains the project leader, Francisco Jesus.
The motorcycle design and geometry are decisive, so the team members have to work hard. “More team members will always be welcomed”, said Francisco Jesus. “It’s very good to create a project, to see the results and to see it working. It’s an opportunity to develop our technical knowledge”, he stresses.
Besides the new members, the team has been struggling to get as many sponsors as possible. And, in this sense, good news have recently came up: a sponsorship from Farnell Element14 – electronic components distributor – will allow to further leverage this project. “We need a lot of components, tools and equipment, and Farnell Element14 will provide us with a series of components and tools that will be essential to our work”, says Francisco Jesus. “Thanks to Farnell we will be able to equip our workbench and we will have most of the components to build our prototype”, he adds. The team also joined the element14 community – a design engineer community for sharing electronic engineering solutions – where they will publish articles on the development of the prototype.
In October the team will go to Aragon with a strong will to win and, above all, to evolve. “Our goal is to be the best, but I don’t know if we will achieve that this year”, says Francisco Jesus. There is still another plan for the future: “We would like to be able to compete in the national championship with this electric prototype, but we don’t know if it will be possible. We would like very much that our team enter the national motorcycling.
