Arcimoto Mean Lean Machine
Tilting 3-wheel Ebike: mechanical design and suspension analysis software
Led all mechanical work on Arcimoto's tilting three-wheel electric vehicle and built a generalized suspension-geometry simulation framework - evolving it from a Python script into a full Unity application with an evolutionary optimizer. Before/after vehicle data confirms the design changes.
My contribution
- Led all mechanical work on the tilting three-wheel electric vehicle.
- Built a generalized suspension-geometry simulation framework - first in Python, then a full Unity application with an integrated UI and an evolutionary optimization algorithm adaptable to any vehicle geometry.
- Created all manufacturing files and worked hands-on with machinists through production.
- Collected before/after vehicle performance data that validates the simulation-driven design changes.
Objective
The Mean Lean Machine is a tilting three-wheel EV whose handling depends heavily on its suspension geometry. Rather than tune that geometry by hand, the goal was a reusable optimization engine - something that could search the geometry space automatically and adapt to any vehicle, not just this one. I was responsible for the mechanical design, the manufacturing files, and the validation data.
Technical details
The framework began as a Python model of the suspension geometry and grew into a full Unity application with an integrated UI and an evolutionary optimization algorithm. Because the geometry is parameterized generally, the same optimizer can be pointed at any vehicle. The simulation drove concrete design changes, which were then carried into manufacturing files and built - and the before/after vehicle data confirms the predicted improvements.
