February 2025 Newsletter

Thank you all who continue to follow our journey and to those who support our mission!

As a reminder, our Wefunder campaign closes on Apr 25, 2025! This will be your last chance to invest in Lit Motors at the company’s current valuation of $90M. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity.

We couldn’t have made this much progress without you and we encourage you to support our mission this year! We have some great updates for you this month!

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New Team Member!

We’re excited to introduce Brian Underhill, joining the team in the role of Controls Engineer. Brian worked on Control Moment Gyros and Momentum Control Systems for 7+ years at Honeywell Space Systems. He was a key player in the development of a Momentum Control Systems Testbed, a 3000 lb 'satellite' floating on a spherical air bearing, actuated by an array of Control Moment Gyros.

This testbed was used by Honeywell engineers, as well as guest investigators, to develop and test 'steering laws' to control such CMG arrays. He has authored numerous patents and conference papers related to this work. In addition to his CMG/MCS work, Brian's interests also include energy and the environment, particularly the responsible consideration of these in any product’s development.

Brian will work closely with our VP of Controls, David Bailey and the Controls and Dynamics team. With several decades of combined expertise, their collaboration will be invaluable in optimizing the performance of our CMGs and the vehicle.

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Subscale Updates: ⚙️

More news from the subscale development team this month! We’ve been upgrading parts of the subscale gyros from plastic to metal at our Portland lab. These components should greatly improve the gyros’ longevity and performance.

As we near getting the controls fully flushed out, we’ve completed milling of  all of the upgraded parts and shipped them out to Mike, along with the baseplate for the electronics and subscale model. This baseplate will serve as both a display platform for demonstrations and a convenient way to transport the model when attending events or meeting with investors.

As we push towards the final stages of sub-scale model development and our control algorithms take shape, we’re making significant strides in the development of our next-generation gyroscopes. These will play a critical role in the stability and performance of our control systems, serving as a foundation for both sub-scale and full scale implementations.

In collaboration with Ideenion, leveraging their expertise in precision machining and system integration, Michael Bailey, David Bailey, and Brian Underhill are providing critical input and analysis to ensure the gyroscopes meet our performance standards.

Once completed, Ideenion will machine and balance both sub-scale and full-scale gyroscopes for us, ensuring they are optimized for seamless integration within our overall system. These next generation gyroscopes will be implemented into our sub-scale model, where they will undergo extensive testing and validation within our control framework.

Following the successful integration at the sub-scale level, we plan to install them into the Dirty Mule chassis for real-world testing

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Sub Scale Controller

Our Portland team is also refining the sub-scale model with enhancements to improve both aesthetics and user interaction. These refinements include a new controller for the sub-scale model, aiming to improve both its functionality and overall user experience.

The current controller uses a simple direction and navigation scroll wheel rotary encoder and a 12 pixel circle RGD light. The new controller will offer a more modern design that improves accessibility and real-time interaction. This upgrade will help streamline both development and demonstration efforts.

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Thank you all for your encouragement, support, and investment in our mission!

More updates coming soon!

Danny Kim

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