Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[isaac_alaska]

i think we have one video of me pulling the load, and yeah that's me in the awesome pants hahaha. i'll try and post more videos once we get all our stuff together

[isaac_alaska]

i found this! it's pretty sweet. i also found videos of the sled pull and the acceleration runs. i'll edit them in to this post in a few minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poVdx...F8EB4C&lf=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YQG5...44B253&lf=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-CD0...44B253&lf=plcp

In the last video, notice how i can spin the track out really easily, while the yellow machine can barely get itself rolling with the trailer rolling free behind it

[mrbigh]

The video looks awesome in HD !!!!

[dave koller]

As most of you know (from my whining) I have dial up - But I downloaded the videos --- cool !!

Turn up the volume and listen to the comments heh heh......

Again nice job!!!!

[isaac_alaska]

we will be uploading a compiled video of different things that went on at the event. included is a (somewhat horrible quality) video of the first judge's response when he got done riding it. it should be up in a few days

[MPaulHolmes]

OK, so I didn't get it done quite yet, but the next prototype is literally about 30 minutes from completion. It will have programmable max current, so we can safely figure out the max current.

[bennelson]

I got to play with a laser cutter today!

I'll post some photos of what I was working on soon!

[isaac_alaska]

Hey paul, if i was gonna set up the tachometer input for overspeed protection, which input pin should i use, and do i need to set up anything else for it? filter caps or anything like that? i still have to figure out how to write the new code to the controller board, but i think we can figure that out as soon as i get the machine back in a week.

[MPaulHolmes]

Oh it could be pretty much any pin you want to use. I think Damien's used pin b4 or b5, but I forgot. It would take like 10 seconds to find and replace the pin in the code, so it's no big deal.

[bennelson]

I finally got to use a laser cutter yesterday! I had never used one before, and no other members of our Makerspace were around at the time, so I could only play with stock settings, which were set for etching, not cutting.

I plan to use the laser cutter to cut plexiglass to make a clear case for my 500-amp Open Revolt controller in the Electro-Metro. That way, I can show off the guts of the electronics while at the same time keeping the weather out. A clear case will also make it easy to see the power and troubleshooting LEDs. Should I ever let the magic smoke out again, it will look very cool having a cloud of black smoke contained in a clear box.

Besides cutting, the laser can also mark and etch materials.

I have the Open Revolt logo as a vector file and loaded it into the system. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to optimize the image for the laser, and I tried etching it as a small version on several different materials.

When I have the finished plastic case made, I will etch the logo right into the top of the case (actually, mirrored, etched from the back-side to keep the top clean and smooth.)

Here's some photos of my first tests.

Logo etched on black construction paper. Looks just like mechanical pencil!



Test etch on scrap plexiglass.


I also have a green plexiglass clipboard. What the heck, I'll etch that as well!


Anyways, I was just really excited to get a chance to use a laser. I'll make sure to take some photos and post other info when I get to actually make the case.

I'll have to figure out how to embed some LEDs and edge-light the logo as well!

See other photos I took of laser tests at: MobileMe Gallery