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

[Astro]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

I beg to differ ... in order to 'herd cats' ... or get programmers pointed in the same direction to solve a problem ... it is necessary, for me at least, to CONVINCE each cat that THIS direction is where they WANT to go .. and that it was THEIR idea.
I've tried that method with teenagers and it does NOT work for me, at least!

I have to deal with someone like that regularly. What i do is state my case, give all the reasons to do it my way then drop the subject totally. About a week later they come back and want to start the debate again yet now they are arguing to do it the way i originally suggested and claim i wanted to do it the opposite way. When i first had dealing with this person i started questioning my own memory until some independent observers confirmed that the person had reversed their position.
So now it is a running joke for everyone who watches it happen. I just state my case and wait for them to adopt it as their own.
This gets the job done but does mean the person has the impression that i am always wrong and that they are always right.
Maybe i should become a cat herder instead.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by freebeard

FWIW, you used the word 'open', that sets expectations in the larger world. People are going to read things into the use of the word. "Many eyes make all bugs shallow."
...

A bit more info from another direction ... when Team WIKISPEED went through this discussion, the 'easy way out' was to use the same license as Open Source Ecology. Marcin Jakubowski is a pretty bright and motivated individual, who is trying to create open source hardware and software ... well, just read about it here Open Source Ecology. That said, OSE appears to be in the midst of an update to their licensing ...

OSE License for Distributive Economics - Open Source Ecology

For what it's worth, I had no expectations of a specific license. I just wanted to be able to tweak it when it was done, and to be able to fix it if it broke

[MPaulHolmes]

I don't care if someone makes millions of dollars. I don't even mind if they claim it's theirs. I just don't want to be sued for working on it. haha. If everyone promises not to sue me, then I'm good. I'm not sure what license that is. I began to read the horrors of the open hardware and gave up. The branching got out of control. In fact, if it means me not having to wade through all that crap, I don't even care if someone sues me for working on my own stuff. I have no money, so there's nothing to take. LOL.

[freebeard]

I'm just trying to make an AC controller that people can adapt and change the code how they see fit for their own needs. I don't see the software as too bad...I didn't know what a maker space was.

This is me, making a conscientious effort to bring you up to speed. You can control how your ideas are disseminated, by simply affixing the appropriate logo to the work:

Originally Posted by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

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The major advantage of open sourcing you hardware is you can benefit from others collaboration. Here's the founder of Local Motors given 20 minutes to explain how he's changing the way cars are made: Design-Build-Sell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=U...&v=GjuIM8xzYL4

A University will likely have better toys than an high school, but libraries are apparently where they will take off next. A big part of it would be the local people you'll meet.

Astro -- I was pulling your leg. The way reversing the ratchet works is it becomes push-to-set, so you can use the lever freely, but if you pull all the way up and push, the brake stays on. Sand rails use a cutting brake, which makes the two sides independent; think what drifters could do with that. And it's a proper lever between the seats, not a foot pedal.

[MPaulHolmes]

Then I pick none of those. I don't need credit for anything. I call it the "I aint yer pappy, so do whatever you want, except suing me" license.

[thingstodo]

Paul, how many control boards did you end up buying, and can you order more if you want to? Or would it make sense to add to the next order instead - assuming that there is enough interest?

More boring background stuff ..

I think I mentioned ... a long time ago ... that I have several decommissioned and 'were working when pulled' industrial AC controllers that are in need of brain transplants. The controllers were out of our support contracts (day job) when the motors they were powering were upsized ... and I rescued them from the dumpster (only one restriction - I am not allowed to sell anything I get as salvage).

Back to the controllers - the 3 phase AC input diodes are still OK, the bus capacitors may be drying out ... I'll have to check .. and the IGBTs (in one case, IGCTs) are in place and ready to go. Big darned air-cooled heat sinks, terminals that will handle cables the correct gauge for the IGBTs, etc. But I don't have 600 VAC three phase or 208V three phase to feed them.

They have a few things in common:
- they all expect 3 phase AC, rectify it, and filter it to a DC bus
- they all use a pre-charge circuit on the rectified DC-with-AC, before the capacitors, then pull in a relay that bypasses the precharge
- they all use isolated DC/DC converters to power up their electronics, but the DC/DC converters are fixed and need either 650 VDC or 210 VDC to power up the rest of the electronics
- they all have some form of open loop vector control algorithm that depends heavily on measurements (hall effect current sensors, voltage sensors) that I can get no info on (no part numbers/sanded off) so I'm not even sure what voltage to feed them .. so the built-in vector control algorithm is not that useful to me

I was hoping that eventually (I never dreamed that it could start quite this early!) these things would get new brains and be useful as battery chargers, or boost converters, or AC controllers, or recently the possibility of a DC controller, or even as an inverter to power up my house from a battery pack. It sounds like your *AWESOME* controller board could do *ALL* of those things with some creative programming and some time.

Of course, I'd then have to DO something instead of just typing about it ... but it COULD happen .. (!)

AND, unfortunately, this will take me YEARS .. but I would have LOTS OF FUN and the projects may be interesting enough to post about ...

[4x4EV]

Can you smell what the igbt's are cooking!!!

[4x4EV]

hope my name is on a board ;-)

[MPaulHolmes]

Whoa! The igbts just gave the mosfet the people's elbow! haha

thingstodo: I ordered 5, and tried to change it to 10, and they said "NO! We refuse! The process has already begun, you capitalist pig american!" And I was all, "I will whoop you like a red-headed step child", and she said "I'm sorry. I've just had a hard day. But you still can't increase the number of boards, since the process has already begun."

Not all of that happened, but it was a loose retelling, with minor improvements to make it more interesting.

[Astro]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

Whoa! The igbts just gave the mosfet the people's elbow! haha

thingstodo: I ordered 5, and tried to change it to 10, and they said "NO! We refuse! The process has already begun, you capitalist pig american!" And I was all, "I will whoop you like a red-headed step child", and she said "I'm sorry. I've just had a hard day. But you still can't increase the number of boards, since the process has already begun."

Not all of that happened, but it was a loose retelling, with minor improvements to make it more interesting.

So would putting in a second order for 5 boards incur any penalties or setup costs again?