Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[Blue Bomber Man]

Perhaps a tad more expensive, but I would think a sheet metal box would be better for heat dissipation reasons and probably more durable.

[bennelson]

A lot of the commercial controllers appear to have an extruded aluminum case on them.

If we could get some of that stuff, we would be all set!

There MUST be generic extruded boxes out there we could get our hands on!

[struja]

Originally Posted by Blue Bomber Man

Perhaps a tad more expensive, but I would think a sheet metal box would be better for heat dissipation reasons and probably more durable.

Originally Posted by bennelson

A lot of the commercial controllers appear to have an extruded aluminum case on them.
If we could get some of that stuff, we would be all set!
There MUST be generic extruded boxes out there we could get our hands on!

Hello!

my box is made from -Al- ''L'' and ''I'' profiles and every thing is bolted together .
cost of box is ~20$

[Wherewolf]

Hmmm......like this?

Workin' on it!


Wherewolf

[MPaulHolmes]

I just messed up a 3 ounce board, but I have 23 more, so it's all good. I bought them in bulk from Ebay awhile back. If you want to know the truth, I was trying to keep my

Right 4.5 cranks
Up 5 cranks
Right 2.5 cranks.

etc...

and my mother in law came in and started talking to me. I lost track, and got confused, and messed up the whole thing! I'm OK now! dang it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it difficult to get a couple little motors that get attached to the x and y axis turn things, and then program the motors to do the counting? This is far too annoying for words.

[Blue Bomber Man]

You are talking about a CNC mill, which usually cost a few thousand. However I recently found a DYI on an instructable.com that shows how to build one cheeply, and the same author shows how to interface it with a computer.

I'm leaving for a hike, but when I come back I'll look up some stuff for you on it.

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Wherewolf

Hmmm......like this?

Workin' on it!


Wherewolf

Yes, Wherewolf, something along those lines is exactly what I was thinking.

I LOVED the clear case on the MK1 controller for how it showed off the guts, however, I think somthing nice and solid with the heat sink would be better. If we were able to get some nice extruded cases, we could build them as part of a kit, which would include the case, the printed circuit boards, and the parts list.

The MK1 was also somewhat difficult to mount in my car, due to the fact that the heat sink side was down, and it only had small aluminum mounting flanges on it, which were not out at the full width of the controller.

[4litre6]

Great open source project you guys have going here.
I'm only a recent lurker, and have read the whole lot.

I would love to help where possible. I have plenty of electronics experience, and can design schematics and PCBs in Protel, draw and model in Autocad and Pro Engineer. I'll help whenever I see an opportunity, but you guys have already done so much great work, and EV motor control is a new area for me.

Are the controller PCB's already being designed?
Those aluminium heatsink cases are great and generally have PCB slots inside but are reasonably expensive due to the aluminium content and die costs for the extrusion.
If you need and can utilise the heatsink properties of the case then it is great but you will need to consider the case before committing to the final PCB design.
Once you have the extrusion picked out. A CAD drawing of some end plates with the cutouts for connectors and maybe a fan grill etc can be used by anyone with a CNC mill or water or laser cutter to make some smart ends to finish it off.
Hey presto, I like it.
Can't wait to build my own.
Cheers,
4litre6

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by 4litre6

Are the controller PCB's already being designed?
Those aluminium heatsink cases are great and generally have PCB slots inside but are reasonably expensive due to the aluminium content and die costs for the extrusion.

The PCB layout is being worked on right as we speak. Some safety features are being added to the control section. The power PCB section is much simpler, and is basically figured out. For PCB sizes, the power section needs about 6.8"x7" for 400 amps, 6.8"x8" for 500 amps, and 6.8"x9" for 600 amps. I think the control board is going to be around 3"x8" or some such. Your help would be much appreciated! Very soon the control board will be more certain.

[GrahamMc]

I just want to jump in and say go go go! I got my taxes back and have set aside the $ for my controller. Still looking for a glider. I saw a '73 240z that would be perfect but it is not for sale. I want something that screams. Unfortunately, on my budget I can only afford something that whimpers.

Isn't most of the cost associated with a high end electric motor in the actual hand winding of it? Next project, open source 100 HP open source ev motor.