Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[GrahamMc]

Paul-
Didn't notice the link to your website in your post. Nice Job, looks great. Fun to watch you testing it out, I think you need a beaker full of bubbling, smoking, green-glowing fluid to round out the whole 'mad-scientist' thing you got going. Should have known you guys were Christians, the love, man, the love. Best wishes and keep up the good work!

[Tango Charlie]

The Open Source Controller thread; singlehandedly padding the EM site member's list.

Welcome jeffD94!

Sabrina, nice website! I like it!

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by jeffd94

Hi Paul

I've been reading this forum for some time now, your efforts have been fantastic. I've been to your wife's website and she has done a grand job.
I have signed up on the database as well.

Thank you, Jeff! She's never made any sort of web site before. She just decided to get a book on it a couple weeks ago, and started working on it.

[Blue Bomber Man]

Should definitely put a link in your Sig paul!

[MPaulHolmes]

OK!

[nubie]

Re: "Merry whatever day" sig.

According to the radio it is national outdoor intercourse day. (May 8th)

So celebrate that however you like. (Is it just a spring fever thing?)

[MPaulHolmes]

There's a nasty dog down the street that thinks that is every day.

[MPaulHolmes]

So, I got a good lead on an enclosure. A guy at the Tacoma Electric Vehicle Association makes them. Sabrina and I did a sort of show and tell at their meeting. I didn't even know there was an electric car group up there. The head of it saw us at the Lacey alternative energy fair (in the pouring rain! man, that was messed up). Another professional solderer up there wants to have a soldering workshop for people to help them in self assembly. Isn't that cool?

I fixed the controller. Now it drives really smooth. I'm averaging 64 current reads, and using that as a part of the throttle control. It has a ramp up time of like 3 seconds or something. The Curtis throttle ramp up is selectable from 3.5 seconds to 15 seconds, so I figure 3 seconds isn't too bad.

I've added the USART code to the software, and now the current is sent in ascii form out of the controller. We could use that information for all sorts of stuff, like sending to an energy usage meter, to accurately predict state of charge.

Fran sort of explained a bit of how he did his BMS this morning. Oh ya! His latest venture was a BMS for a thundersky battery pack and motor controllers for this little bugger (it get's rid of mines). He's from some eastern bloc country, but I forgot which one:




So, maybe we can also do an open source cheap simplish BMS for lithium batteries down the road? Maybe one already exists? I don't know.

Also, I think I have a superior power section (certainly simpler) now. It came to me as an "inspiration", and by inspiration, I mean from an awesome person that is way smarter than me! haha! I might try that new layout for Ben's controller. It even allows for some through hole soldering, MazdaMatt! haha!

[nubie]

Wow!

That is insane, I have read about the human version, a converted bobcat loader, the operator hangs in a cabin off of the back of the motor, and the old human seat location gets a large diesel engine to power the flails.

This seems a little more elegant, I wonder if it can clear ground at the same speed?

BMS? I should hope so! I don't want to retrieve that if it goes dead.

[charlie_fd]

Hi,

Great work everybody! I've read through this topic like reading an adventure novel almost all night and I've decided to post an encouragement note and let you all know that you have yet another supporter from Europe.

I'm an IT engineer with 15 years of experience working with open source software, a passion for cars and currently on my first EV conversion. I hope I can contribute to this project and I feel that at this point this lovely experiment needs better presentation and collaboration tools so it can develop into a true community effort.

I would like to propose a software and documentation repository with version control, a bug tracking system and a wiki (that I'm offering to set-up and host on my company's server for free). I believe Paul will be able to coordinate the development and better use code suggestions from other people easier than reading through suggestions and code sniplets scattered through a forum topic.

Paul, if you believe my proposal is helpful let me know if you want to go ahead and setup the system for your project.

In any case, keep up the good work!

Adrian