Road to recovery

[Nefarious]

Those who follow the race page will have already seen, but Saturday marked the long awaited return to track, not just for me, but also for Colin, my friend who lost his legs at Silverstone last year. A bit of delicate string-pulling persuaded the powers that be at Knockhill to turn a blind eye to legal details and let Colin out on track before the trackday and during the lunch break.

How about this for a statement of intent from a man who only learned to walk again 4 months ago (T-shirt courtesy of Scott ) :


Challenges were not insignificant. Just basic fit was tricky - the car is set up for me, at 6'2", Colin is 5'2" and moves his legs very differently (much more bend in the knee to compensate for lack of ankle). Many, many foam bolsters were used and the harness belts were re-adjusted many, many times. Secondly, the clutch. The pedals in the Westfield (and the racecar) are floor hinged. Physio-typicals would use the clutch by planting the heal and flexing the ankle. Obviously, Colin can't do that, so the movement has to originate from the hip, which means he actually has to brace from the shoulder, and effectively twist his whole body. a) there's a safety issue with that, as he should be strapped down hard enough that that isn't possible b) it's going to get very tiring very quickly and c) he doesn't have the feel in the foot for delicate clutch control. Not helped by the fact that the clutch in the Westfield is quite heavy, and all the foam padding was making it difficult to brace against the seat. I adjusted the bite super-high as a bit of a bodge to let him change gear at all, but it wasn't ideal and now goes on the to-do list for next time. He also kept knocking the ignition off with his knee

And let's not forget the psychological challenge. *I* was feeling a bit trepidatious going out again (the last time I was on track, I was in floods of tears and wheeling my car off the grid because I couldn't bring myself to restart the race). I can only imagine the fears and revulsion going through Colin's head.I only hope I can learn a fraction of that determination and tenacity!

All in all a fantastic day. Great to blow out my own cobwebs and remind myself what a fab bit of kit the Westie is. Even better to take a couple of steps forward to getting the Captain back on the grid



Scott - can you post the fly-by video?

[Broccers]

Positive news

[V8Granite]

Absolutely fantastic

It’s people doing things like this that get those who can’t get past their limitations to keep going, hugely inspirational.

Dave!

[nuttinnew]

The grid pic; the tower in the background ties in well with the t-shirt and there's so much determination in the air even the weather's done its bit

[mik]

Beyond brilliant. Really good to see.

[Jimmy Choo]

Did Colin have any problems with the pedals due to his MASSIVE BALLS?

Really pleased to see him back on track.

[scotta]

Video uploading will link when done.

Took him out for a run in the Club Racer as well - 7 laps were enough for him on maximum attack. Not having legs to brace against the seatbelt was hurting him in the braking zones.

[scotta]

[Jimmy Choo]

Top camera work, Scott. Kept your fingers nicely out of shot.

[scotta]

Top camera work, Scott. Kept your fingers nicely out of shot.

Yeah not my best effort it must be said.

Here's a TVR to make amends

[Ascender]

Incredible stuff, properly inspirational. Will be really interested to hear future updates.

[Nefarious]

Will be really interested to hear future updates.

Well, the job list for this week includes rigging up a prototype hand clutch in the Westie (he's a biker too, so familiar with using a hand clutch). As a starting point, I've got the braking system off a child's bike and an old brake master-cylinder that I'm planning to hook up to the intake manifold for a bit of vacuum-assist. When it moves translates to the racecar (which has a hydraulic clutch anyway), i'll use a motorbike lever/master and the vacuum servo off some little hatchback.
Also looking at some modifications to Colin's prosthetics. Mostly using some second hand ski boots and a suspension damper from the same child's bike as above. Tempted to add pneumatic linear actuators, but must resist to temptation of go full Lee Majors

[JonMad]

Brilliant to see, and you really are the nicest chap, Neil, on top of all the engineering skills. Chapeau.

[jamcg]

Will be really interested to hear future updates.

Well, the job list for this week includes rigging up a prototype hand clutch in the Westie (he's a biker too, so familiar with using a hand clutch). As a starting point, I've got the braking system off a child's bike and an old brake master-cylinder that I'm planning to hook up to the intake manifold for a bit of vacuum-assist. When it moves translates to the racecar (which has a hydraulic clutch anyway), i'll use a motorbike lever/master and the vacuum servo off some little hatchback.
Also looking at some modifications to Colin's prosthetics. Mostly using some second hand ski boots and a suspension damper from the same child's bike as above. Tempted to add pneumatic linear actuators, but must resist to temptation of go full Lee Majors

What about using a clutch actuator off an automated manual gearbox like the old m3 smg system?

[Nefarious]

Will be really interested to hear future updates.

Well, the job list for this week includes rigging up a prototype hand clutch in the Westie (he's a biker too, so familiar with using a hand clutch). As a starting point, I've got the braking system off a child's bike and an old brake master-cylinder that I'm planning to hook up to the intake manifold for a bit of vacuum-assist. When it moves translates to the racecar (which has a hydraulic clutch anyway), i'll use a motorbike lever/master and the vacuum servo off some little hatchback.
Also looking at some modifications to Colin's prosthetics. Mostly using some second hand ski boots and a suspension damper from the same child's bike as above. Tempted to add pneumatic linear actuators, but must resist to temptation of go full Lee Majors

What about using a clutch actuator off an automated manual gearbox like the old m3 smg system?

If I wanted to go super simple, I'd just use a linear servo, and have it on a DPDT swtich, but then there's no feel at all and the operation would be very harsh. What they tried to do with SMG system (and lots of commercial hand-clutch conversion kits) is use clever computertronics to finesse that operation by using data like engine revs and clutch position. However, it still isn't anything like as good as a human brain *feeling* the bite point - not just for basic shifting but things like finessing a downshift or a full-power corner exit. And lets be honest - the collective machinations of BMW worked on SMG for years, and it was still shit. What chance to I have of bettering their efforts?

Much better to make use of what we already have available - Colin's brain - and make a system with the most *feel* possible. Sadly, the force/travel characteristics of a bike clutch (or BMX brakes ) are very different from a car clutch system (car system wants more force *and* more travel), so no amount of clever levers/pivots/etc are going to deliver enough pull, with enough force to overcome the racing clutch springs without becoming very tiring very quickly. Anything with electric motors means toothed wheels and no feel, and I like the idea of using pneumatics because its all sitting right next to a big ol' 250bhp air pump

However, since my previous post, I've realised a slight problem. The Westfield runs TBs, so there's no manifold to take pressure off Now kicking around an idea around a sliding spring arrangement similar to how the gas struts on a car boot work. Just need to figure out how to make the force more linear through the clutch travel without putting a load of force on it at rest.

[Ascender]

That's really interesting. I can't comprehend how it must feel to try and learn to drive again, something which we all take for granted and relies on all these senses built up over years - even moreso if you've been racing for years. Not to mention the other physical interactions which become more difficult or tiring to do - it must be like pulling a thread and unravelling all these other things you need to fix/change which you hadn't considered before.

I also can't comprehend the engineering work you're doing to come up with solutions for this stuff. Top work Neil!

[NGRhodes]

Is that Colin Turner ? If so I remember reading about the accident
So glad he is bouncing back !

My cousin crashed his motorbike and broke his back and can't walk anymore. He has an MK Indy (bike engined) with hand controls, I am sure there is plenty that could be done to accommodate Colin.

[Jimmy Choo]

Here's a TVR to make amends

*splumphf*

[mik]

Is that Colin Turner ? If so I remember reading about the accident
So glad he is bouncing back !

Correct. Neil also coordinate this

[Nefarious]

Is that Colin Turner ? If so I remember reading about the accident
So glad he is bouncing back !

Correct. Neil also coordinate this

Yeah. That went quite well (many thanks to those from this parish who contributed)