Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[MPaulHolmes]

You always give me interesting things to think about. Even if the micro-controller had to be flashed, it is programmed in less than a second, so the controller could be shut down for like 1 second while it is getting reprogrammed. The high pedal lockout could be an issue though. There's also a different type of memory that I haven't used on the chip (eeprom) that could maybe be used somehow.

[MPaulHolmes]

holy cow, you could tune it on the fly! Current limit is just a variable. There are several inputs (analog to digital converters)that I'm not using, so just use one of those inputs to read the new current limit on the fly, or the ramp up time on the fly, or something that I can't think of on the fly.

[Christ]

You said that you have alot of space available on the chip, right?

Get a binary switch, and write two diff programs to two cells on the same chip... like if you have a 512 chip, write 2x256 to it. This will allow you to flash one sector of the memory while still running on another sector, then switch them over at your next stop sign by flipping the binary switch, so you can flash/update the first sector, etc.

Another way to do this is with sister stacks. You get a daughter board and put 2 or 4 or 8 sockets on it, each one using a chip that holds one ROM. Use a standard multi-position switch to power each chip individually.. the sister stack will always only have one chip powered, and the only memory that will be used is the powered chip.

It's a Honda thing.. lots of guys used to use dual-map ECUs on a binary switch, one tuned for street and one tuned for racing.

EEPROM - Electronically Erase-able/Programmable Read Only Memory.

I assume that means you can't actually flash it w/o disrupting the controller. UNLESS - If you shadowed the EEPROM memory, so that the controller would read the memory from a static EEPROM on startup, but xfer it to a RAM setup, you could do two things - Edit the RAM setup OTF, probably in hex or something similar, without flashing the whole program, and you'd be able to flash the EEPROM and reload it to RAM w/o disrupting the operation of the controller.

This is what things like the Banks Six Shooter and BullyDog eeprom piggy-back devices do - they edit the signal in the ECU on the fly by taking input/output information into account, then giving the RAM (operating memory) what it "needs" to see to achieve the goal at hand.

In shorter form - the ECU boots up, copies memory from EEPROM to RAM, runs from RAM.

You can edit RAM on the fly, since this is what sensors do anyway. You can edit/flash EEPROM and re-load RAM on the fly without disruption.

Although your acceleration ramp might be an issue, since you'll be effectively resetting the system when you reload the EEPROM into RAM. Then again, the ramp only applies to WOT, right? So let off the pedal when you hit the button, count 1 or 3 seconds off, then "gas" it again.

[Christ]

PS - some of the above post is speculative based on what I've done with car ECU's and Xbox modding... it might not apply the same way in your case, so use the information contained within at your own discretion - I just wanted to share in case it was worth something to you.

Besides, Oprah said she'd eat me if I didn't speak up.

[MPaulHolmes]

OK Christ, that was awesome. I take it that you have seen The Fast and the Furious? Are you like that one kid that got shot in the drive -by by the asian gang(I love that movie)? Do you ever start tweaking the elevators so people feel like they are in freefall and then have them stop just before hitting the bottom?

[MPaulHolmes]

It was very much worth something to me! And did you see the new cover of Oprah's magazine?
Oprah is "substantial"

[Christ]

Kid's name is Jesse - He gets shot by Johnny Tran and his cousin "Leo" I think.

Yeah, I'm kinda like that kid... I never graduated high school, and I have insomnia b/c my brain won't shut up... and sleep aid prescriptions don't help. That's why I'm still up this late, still posting.

I think about everything until it doesn't make sense any more.. it often irritates people, but I'm used to people being irritated at me for the way I think. Often times, once they leave me alone, I can concentrate enough to actually articulate a single thought and focus on it until it's clear... I'm not really sure how to explain it.

I understand things that I don't have personal experience with, mainly because I can see relationships to things that I do have experience with... even if no one else is able to make the connection. <(-- That's why I stopped citing information a long time ago.

I think incessantly, but I have trouble focusing on one thought. I often find that face-to-face interaction with people prevents me from focusing on certain types of thoughts, while other thoughts are easier to focus on.

Oh - I don't have "dreams" either. When I finally get to sleep, I reach R.E.M., but I don't dream. At least not the random images and thoughts dream that most people see...

If I have a "Dream" that involves images and sounds, like average people's dreams, they wake me up. Usually, it's a "nightmare" (or what i've been told is similar to other people's nightmares), but they don't bother me, other than waking me up. I don't forget them either.

A doctor that did my last Apnea test described what he saw of my dream process as "digital stereo signal in an analog form." Figure that one out.

Fortunately, there are 1000000 doctors out there that would gladly figure out what's "wrong" with me... unfortunately, none of them will do it free. And I'm not worried about it enough to pay millions of dollars for their tests and such.

I just tell people I used to bounce my own head off the stone fireplace as a child, and they usually leave it at that.

(PS - Yes, I did.)

(PPS - Of course Oprah is Obese... does she really need a magazine article to tell her that? Damn press, I wanted to see if a human could really pop!)

[MPaulHolmes]

I hope no doctor "fixes you" because you are far to interesting how you are! At least you will be ready when your baby tries to wake you up... My son Josiah likes to go to bed at about 2am, and my job starts at 7am. grr!

[Christ]

LOL Currently Unemployed... hoping to take care of that and be able to take time off so she can finish school after the child is born w/o too many problems.

She leaves school May, kid's coming June, she goes back to school August, finishes October. I have to be available from August till October to watch the kid at least Monday - Thursday morning-afternoon... so either 2nd shift & never see the wife, or work weekends somewhere and live out our savings.

On the plus side, I think I can talk my dad into selling me 1.5 acres of his land to put a trailer or something on. That will work to my benefit, b/c my "payment" to my dad will only be $155/month and there is no water/sewer/trash bill. Just electric and TV and I-net.

Have to wait for Wife to get out of school for that though, b/c it's already over an hour to her school... it would be 4 from my dad's house. But all the family we care to be around anymore (long story) lives up that way... so we're going back up there to get away from everyone's self-inflicted drama.

In case you're wondering why I'm so intent on being home while she's at school - I'm not into babysitters. I had them all my young life b/c my dad worked swing shifts for Home Depot... after my grandma died, I might as well have been a street kid, b/c I was never home unless I knew my father would be there or calling to check on me.

I hated babysitters then, and I'm still not keen on leaving my child with someone whose only vested interest in my child is a paycheck. It's irresponsible, IMO.

And on that note - it feels like it might be bed time... so I'm gonna lay down for a couple hours.

[MPaulHolmes]

Well, it's easier (for me) to use a 3 wire throttle, but since the PB-6 throttle is standard (and is 2 wires), the controller will use a 2 wire throttle. That's sort of annoying, because I have to add 2 more electronic components, a resistor and an LM317 voltage regulator (which costs a whole 35 cents!) that will be used to make a constant current source, so that when the throttle's resistance varies, you get a voltage that ranges from 0 to 5 volts. The down side is, now it would have to be a 5k pot that's used, and with a 3 wire pot, you could use just about any range you want, 10k, 5k, 1k, etc... Oh well. I ordered 4 LM317's on ebay for $1.99 (with free shipping!) from Thailand I think, so it should be here just in time for next christmas.

I also added high pedal disable. I programmed it "In System"! I didn't unplug the chip from the circuit! Hurray! I'm not sure how the high pedal disable usually works, but in my case, let's say the pedal is pushed down when you turn the key on. The controller still turns on, but it just waits for the pedal to be all the way released before allowing the throttle to be used, so it doesn't hang and make you turn the car off again.