It looks like Thrustmaster will soon be expanding its direct drive wheel lineup to incorporate something a little bit different, because it's announcing a “direct axle drive” unit today.
Thrustmaster currently only produces the T818 PCs as a direct drive base, and there was talk of introducing latest products to resolve this problem for a while. However document made available today to newsletter subscribers goes into a little bit more detail about what we are able to expect – and when.
It is sort of a technologically complex treaty – even the title: “Direct axle drive: presenting the next generation of direct drive wheelbases“, this is just too wordy, however the effect is that Thrustmaster is working with a technology that’s radically different from some other direct drive wheels in the marketplace.
It principally comes all the way down to the orientation of the engine components. Each DD wheel uses a “radial flux” design wherein the shaft acts as a motor rotor and rotates inside a series of powerful magnets surrounding it that act as a stator.
Thrustmaster believes that this design has flaws, primarily through an effect called “gearing”. This occurs as a consequence of the force exerted perpendicular to the shaft through the magnetic flux because the rotor rotates, which ends up in the wheel tending to withstand or increase rotation little or no.
The “axial flux” design works in a different way by placing two sets of magnets on the shaft across the stator in order that the magnetic flux is parallel to the shaft and almost completely eliminates meshing. It also means the device will be much smaller, lighter and more efficient – although Thrustmaster admits that heat build-up might be an even bigger problem, but adds that it worked with an anonymous partner who created the answer.
This radial and axial design also has counterparts within the automotive industry, where most electric vehicles have radial flux motors. However, British company YASA creates specialized axial-jet engines to be used in high-performance hybrids akin to the Lamborghini Revuelto and Koenigsegg Regera, with twice the facility density of radial-jet units.
We don't know much else about what Thrustmaster has in store for the time being, apart from the incontrovertible fact that the wheel shall be unveiled globally on Friday, October 11. Watch this space for more!
