Paul and Sabrina's Cheap 3 Phase Inverter (AC Controller) with Field Oriented Control

[wootwootman]

These are my current settings. It seems the motor-type is correct, however I'm not so sure about the encoder-ticks value. If this is set wrong, what value would I need for the encoder board, 512?

Also, I think I'm getting 4 Index pulses per rotation. I've attached a screenshot taken of just under a full rotation and I can see 3 pulses. Is there any config setting I should change on the controller or encoder board to take this into account?

Edit: I'm an idiot, I wasn't actually streaming poscnt correctly. It seems to be increasing and decreasing from 0-511 along with cw/ccw rotation, but it goes from 0-511 in a quarter turn, with a corresponding index pulse. I may have to alter the resolutiom of the AD2S1210 on the encoder board

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

I still can't figure out why the controller is not putting out current when I move the throttle signal. Weird.

Umm ... .. I seem to have reversed the polarity of the battery pack.

The DC converter is powered by a separate small 12V battery, it is correct and powers up the control board correctly.

The DC+ bus was at 0V and the DC- bus was at 56V. Perhaps that had something to do with WHY the controller would not put out any AC to the motor? I would think that the gate signals to the IGBTs would have been the wrong voltage to allow current flow? And THIS is why the run-pi-test didn't appear to do anything?

Paul - did I break the controller? Is there anything polarity sensitive on the DC bus side of the controller? If the ring capacitor failed, I would expect a short circuit and many obvious bad things ... but I didn't even notice a spark ... it was pre-charged through a 5.6 ohm resistor up to 47 or 48V then I closed a breaker manually (I don't have the contactors set up properly for pre-charge from the controller)

No smoke. No heat. No black marks. Just a nin-com-poop that should not play with controllers after working all day ... without some Adult supervision!

I knew that my attention span was getting worse ... I guess I didn't realize just how bad it could get. Routing the battery cable extensions (I bolted the battery cables to the existing Polaris AC controller lugs) took maybe 3 minutes each - remove the bolts, add the battery cable extensions, route the cables nicely through the rest of the rat's nest of cabling, put the bolt back on. And in that short time I managed to reverse B+ and B- !!!!!

Planning to power up and try running the controller and motor tonight, with the old firmware and motor settings, just to see if it does anything. Unless I'm told that there is no point and I broke the whole thing.

With the wrong settings, I don't expect the motor to run well, but I expect the motor to try turning ...

Posted as a reminder to triple-check what you are doing. Perhaps I will make a check-list of important stuff before I begin, and verify it after I finish, before I power it up. I sort of did this informally before. Now I think the priority has been raised quite a bit!

[wootwootman]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

Umm ... .. I seem to have reversed the polarity of the battery pack.

This is one of my biggest fears, that I'll connect something backwards and have a light show. Since you were only using 56V, I think the IGBTs are fine. And as far as your capacitor goes, be sure to discharge it with a resistor before you charge it with the correct polarity. Idk what type you're using, but I have an SBE Power Ring 700D529 and I was told it's non-polarized so there shouldn't be a problem with it.

I think we have different versions of the controller board (21), so I can't speak for yours, but nothing on the schematic jumps out to me as vulnerable to reverse polarity damage.


For my encoder issue, I read through the AD2S1210 datasheet and if I understand correctly, the resolution is currently set to 10-bit but I need it to be 12-bit. This should allow it to emulate a 1024-line encoder instead of a 256-line one (right?). I can achieve this by taking Pin1 from GND and tying it to 5V. I'll try this out and report back, in case anyone runs into a similar issue in the future with the 2013 Leaf Motor EM57 (resolver 34VRX-1004C01S)

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by wootwootman

This is one of my biggest fears, that I'll connect something backwards and have a light show. Since you were only using 56V, I think the IGBTs are fine. And as far as your capacitor goes, be sure to discharge it with a resistor before you charge it with the correct polarity. Idk what type you're using, but I have an SBE Power Ring 700D529 and I was told it's non-polarized so there shouldn't be a problem with it.

Yup - I have the *MONSTER* ring cap. It was discharged with the 5.6 ohm resistor when I realized my mistake. Thanks for the info that it is not polarized ... that's the big cost. The IGBTs are fine. They are definitely NOT polarized.

I think we have different versions of the controller board (21), so I can't speak for yours, but nothing on the schematic jumps out to me as vulnerable to reverse polarity damage.

I was not worried about the control board. It is alternately connected to the high side and the low side through the driver only .. as fast as I can see anyway. And it is powered from a separate supply ...

It is the power section I am worried about. But I could be wrong.

For my encoder issue, I read through the AD2S1210 datasheet and if I understand correctly, the resolution is currently set to 10-bit but I need it to be 12-bit. This should allow it to emulate a 1024-line encoder instead of a 256-line one (right?). I can achieve this by taking Pin1 from GND and tying it to 5V. I'll try this out and report back, in case anyone runs into a similar issue in the future with the 2013 Leaf Motor EM57 (resolver 34VRX-1004C01S)

10 bit is 0 - 1023 or 1024 pulses per revolution. 12 bit is 0 - 4095 or 4096 pulses per revolution. 256 (or 0 - 255) is 8 bit.

Tieing pins to GND or +5V is how you strap your chips to configure some of the simpler stuff. I use 1K resistors instead of jumpers ... just in case I have issues with current limiting somewhere!

If you add a link to the data sheet I can look at it as well - another set of eyes!

EDIT: Found this link http://www.analog.com/media/en/techn...s/AD2S1210.pdf and I think they messed up with the description of 10 bit. I think you want 10 bit = 1024.

[wootwootman]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

Tieing pins to GND or +5V is how you strap your chips to configure some of the simpler stuff. I use 1K resistors instead of jumpers ... just in case I have issues with current limiting somewhere!

If you add a link to the data sheet I can look at it as well - another set of eyes!

EDIT: Found this link http://www.analog.com/media/en/techn...s/AD2S1210.pdf and I think they messed up with the description of 10 bit. I think you want 10 bit = 1024.

Yup, that's the data sheet I used. Both PIN1 and PIN48 were originally grounded on the encoder board, so I lifted up PIN1 and blue-wired it to +5V. When I hooked it up to the controller board, poscnt started giving me crazy numbers. It sort of does inc/dec, but through weird ranges (pic attached, poscnt on right) in quarter-rotations.

This is obviously a step in the wrong direction, so I decided to revert to a known working setting. I cut the wire, but the encoder is still acting strange. I think it doesn't like a floating pin, so I'll GND it tomorrow. Hopefully that brings it back to where it was before, otherwise I may have made things worse.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

Umm ... .. I seem to have reversed the polarity of the battery pack.

Update:
The controller appears to be OK. My power-up sequence is turn on separate 12V to the controller and wait for the clicks, turn on pre-charge, turn the key on for the Polaris Ranger EV, wait for the built-in SEVCON controller to close the internal contactor, then turn on my external contactor.

Bus voltage is 56.1V, with B- at 0 and B+ at 56.1V THIS TIME!

I logged the config and started logging data once per second. I ran the driven tires backward and verified that the mechanical motor speed was registering.

The I did RUN-PI-TEST. And I waited. The motor started making pulsing sounds after maybe 5 minutes. And it went on .. and on .. and on ...

After 2 HOURS it was done. It may have been only an hour and 45 minutes ... I just checked on it once in a while.

Attached picture is hard to read. The error message is:
P I Overflow fault. It's really not tracking IdRef and IqRef well at all.

So tonight I will spend a few minutes and see if I can get the motor to try turning by faking the throttle signal. I'm gone for the weekend so it will be Monday before I get the firmware upgraded so I can see what is going on with RUN-PI-TEST2

*BUT THE CONTROLLER IS OK*!! Whew!

Maybe I should see the tires rotate before I declare victory?

[wootwootman]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

I logged the config and started logging data once per second. I ran the driven tires backward and verified that the mechanical motor speed was registering.

The I did RUN-PI-TEST. And I waited. The motor started making pulsing sounds after maybe 5 minutes. And it went on .. and on .. and on ...

Hmmm is it possible to stream data while running the test? Might be helpful in diagnosing. Otherwise I'd just hook up all the measurement equipment you've got


I connected Pin1 of the AD2S1210 back to GND and the board is back to acting like it was originally: 4 Index pulses per motor revolution. Thinking about it more, would it be possible to run the ACController code in this configuration? Would it just run at 1/4 speed, or would it require me to change the "encoder-ticks" config setting?

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by wootwootman

Hmmm is it possible to stream data while running the test? Might be helpful in diagnosing. Otherwise I'd just hook up all the measurement equipment you've got

Run-Pi-Test is a command, that runs until you press Enter.

data-stream-period 100 is a command, that runs until you press Enter.

So no joy there.

The latest rev of Paul's firmware is supposed to show results as it tests - I need to get that loaded. I was late getting back from the lake today and needed to help my wife with preparing the raised garden beds, watering the trees, and other evening chores.

I should get some time late Monday afternoon.

I connected Pin1 of the AD2S1210 back to GND and the board is back to acting like it was originally: 4 Index pulses per motor revolution. Thinking about it more, would it be possible to run the ACController code in this configuration? Would it just run at 1/4 speed, or would it require me to change the "encoder-ticks" config setting?

4 index pulses per rev? My apologies ... I thought the index was 1 per rev. Did I miss something? Or is this your chip that is generating the index at 4x what it should?

My controller is not running with the index pulse. My controller ran with only 1 encoder signal connected. With 2 encoder channels, the controller can tell direction.

So .. if you don't connect the index pulse .. and it gives you 1024 pulses per 1/4 turn, encoder-ticks should be set to 4096.

If you connect the index pulse .. and it gives you 1024 pulses per 1/4 turn, leave encoder-ticks at 1024 and you will show mechanical rpm at 4x real rpm .. I think.

[thingstodo]

2018 May 4

Originally Posted by thingstodo

*BUT THE CONTROLLER IS OK*!! Whew!

Maybe I should see the tires rotate before I declare victory?

This is a log of what I did and what results I saw for May 4. i didn't get the video downloaded or edited. But progress was made. Tire rotation has happened. I have 'driven' my Polaris Ranger EV with Paul's AC Controller.

NOW I can say that THE CONTROLLER IS OK ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power up the laptop. Connected to the controller with a serial cable on com7, an external USB converter. 115,200 baud, no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit. Start at VT100 terminal

Power up the controller first. 12V battery through a 5 amps resetable breaker to the DC converter. The relays click for precharge and main contactor

AC Controller version 1.0 is displayed

type in config command

this shows the settings in the log file

turn on the mini breaker on the 56V battery bank. The contactor shows 56V.

turn on the key switch. The DC converter on the Polaris Ranger powers up. 12V power for the Ranger comes up slowly.

Wait for the SEVCON controller to stop blinking green and go solid green. The SEVCON terminals show 46.5V so we have 9.5V drop across the 5.6 ohm resistor. about 1.5 amps.

Close the 80 amp breaker on the battery bank

Check the controller voltage. 56V, B- = 0V. B+ = 56V (I checked the polarity this time!)

Start logging with ZAC_Config.txt - turns on all of the datalogging flags

Change the throttle. IT RUNS! But it is very jerky - change the throttle a bit. Video shows slightly faster but jerkier. The motor response is very poor.

But this is the second spin. The first spin was not caught on video since it sort of surprised me that it moved. I had sort of a crash of the controller - I think the current into the motor was ramped up quite quickly and then it sort of stopped. And it did not respond to throttle after that. So I had to cycle power.

* Update * the throttle signal responds poorly to being disconnected and reconnected by vibrating connectors and pins that are too small. My throttle setup is very duct-tape-ish.

[thingstodo]

2018 May 7

Upgrade firmware to 21 ... it still says AC Controller version 1.0
Changed motor to type 1

run-pi-test2 displays several numbers - what do I change or what am I looking for ... I guess it's been long enough that I forgot most of this!

Then I did
stream-poscnt 1
data-stream-period 100

And i saw a lot of numbers, but most of them stayed the same when I turned the wheels. Maybe I disturbed the encoder signals? I'll have to make them a bit more permanent.

If I use the same numbers I had from the old firmware, will it still move? Did you change a bunch of the calculations or is that pretty much the same?

I was hoping the new firmware would give me some progress. And I'm sure that it will .. after you explain stuff to me again sorry.