Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[MPaulHolmes]

Ya, That's right! I have a blue star next to my name! I'm a member now! Yahoo! An awesome guy, Andy, secretly payed for it! But it's not a secret now! haha! Now I get really really cool stuff coming in the mail too.

I know how to measure the same point on the dang PWM wave each time now! ya! It's working in the simulator (not the simunow, but the simulator). I should get this dang blasted software working good, and see how it works on my controller that's almost done, and then ship the dang blasted software over to Ben! Soon, those days of jittery startup will be a thing that only our great grandparents will remember.

EDIT: I just want to re-iterate that it works! ya! The software works, and it had better lead to some really good results, or I'm going to get real mad! haha!

[MazdaMatt]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

I hadn't thought of that!

That's what We, the Peanut Gallery, are for

Now you can't just say things like "I got it working" and not tell us how... What method did you use to align the current sensor read to the PWM rising edge + delay?

[MPaulHolmes]

I changed from Fast PWM mode to Phase correct PWM mode, which will have a maximum frequency of 8 KHz at 8 MHz, but... The 16.000 MHz crystals are on their way from China via air mail right as we speak (type). That will allow for a current sample rate of 16 KHz at 16 MHz clock frequency.

I was using the wrong ISR before. Now, I'm using the one that gets called at the start of each new rising edge (16000 rising edges per second), do a tiny itsy bitsy delay (which puts me away from the rising edge), which the ugly, yeller, monkeyturd compiler was optimizing away!!! until I made my delay variable

"volatile int m"

instead of

"int m", which now allows me to turn up the optimizing all the way and is giving me faster code, so I can fit all the stuff I need to inside that interrupt, with plenty of time to spare before the next rising edge.

Phew!

[Roger Heuckeroth]

Originally Posted by MazdaMatt

That's why you gotta build it right

You can leave the diodes in there AND use synch rec mosfets

If the Mosfets go they will likely die shorted. The diodes won't help that condition.

[Roger Heuckeroth]

Excellent work Paul!

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Roger Heuckeroth

If the Mosfets go they will likely die shorted.

I can personally attest to the fact that this controller will die full on.

The good news.... I'm fine.

The bad news? Paul, I fried your controller. Please send the repair kit.


I just got home from a 40 minute walk from where the car died to my house. I have to grab my truck tow bar and go pick the car up. After that, I will do an autopsy.

PS: The car CAN go faster than 65 mph!

[MetroMPG]

Oh no, Mister Bill!

[esoneson]

Sorry you had to walk so far Ben. Now put on your CSI hat, take plenty of pictures and report back to master Paul once he regains consciousness.

Paul.......Paul......are you all right Paul? Say something..........

[bennelson]

What are the big black cylinders in the power section? Are those capacitors?

The one all the way on the end closest to the B- power connection is blown out.

I think my precharge resistor circuit may have fried out. Isn't that the issue with NOT having a precharge resistor setup? It puts power into the capacitors too fast?

I'll take a few photos. First, I have to figure out how to take the plexiglass case off. It's hard to photograph through the "magic smoke" that got let out.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by bennelson

What are the big black cylinders in the power section? Are those capacitors?

Those are the uranium pre-processors.

You should be fine as long as you weren't breathing in around the time it blew up.