10S custom skate ESC: testers wanted!

pf26 said:
Thks Lizard, actually I use the VESC + SK6374 on a recumbent Ebike. So I can attach the display to the bike frame, and probably some kind of modified GPS fixture will do. But I also need to design some shading means to improve readability in the sun. Good job for 3D printing I suppose;

You can also use a motorcycle mount for this, depending on your bar size i bet there's one already made.
61R1249eTZL._SL1000_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Arkon-Smartphone-Motorcycle-Handlebar-Resistant/dp/B00IK6GUE6

There are a ton - the waterproof ones are nice but a bit clunky and $.

HTH - GL!
 
Ah, it's going on a bike, didn't realize that. In the FPV hobby sunshades are quite common, if you google for 'fpv sunshade' or 'fpv cellphone sunshade' you should find something.
 
Guys, I need a little help with my vesc programming. I got the right ubuntu (dual boot) on my laptop and went through the whole tutorial successfully up to the point of connecting the vesc via usb. When I try that (with the right cable) I get unknown error. I don't see and lights on on the vesc either. What else can i try?

Also: should I manage to get in connected, can i just run the motor testing with a 6s battery or do I need something else?
Thanks!
 
furp said:
Guys, I need a little help with my vesc programming. I got the right ubuntu (dual boot) on my laptop and went through the whole tutorial successfully up to the point of connecting the vesc via usb. When I try that (with the right cable) I get unknown error. I don't see and lights on on the vesc either. What else can i try?

Also: should I manage to get in connected, can i just run the motor testing with a 6s battery or do I need something else?
Thanks!

1st thing, make sure power is connected to the VESC. The VESC doesn't power by usb cable alone. The green and blue led lights should come on when connected to a power source. The VESC can be powered with a 9V battery, but for sufficient current for motor testing a 12V sealed lead acid battery should also work. I only say 12V assuming you hand soldered your own VESC to prevent damage to the DRV8302. Once you connect, you will be able to do motor testing.
 
Oh well, should have watched the vid a 5th time! Thanks chuttney! I did not solder the VESC myself, I bought it from jacobbloy and it has everything already on it including the big cap. So can I use any voltage lipo for testing? Or will I need some kind of current limiter as I have read somehwere?
 
@furp: if your VESC is from the Enertion Beta batch, be aware that 8 ceramic capacitors on that board are off-spec (they are 1 uF instead of 10 uF). Ideally you would need to desolder those capacitors and replace them with the correct ones.
 
furp said:
Oh well, should have watched the vid a 5th time! Thanks chuttney! I did not solder the VESC myself, I bought it from jacobbloy and it has everything already on it including the big cap. So can I use any voltage lipo for testing? Or will I need some kind of current limiter as I have read somehwere?

Any voltage between 9V and 60V or between a 3S and 12S lipo battery. The processor of the VESC needs a minimum of 8.somthing volts to run, I forgot what it is when I tested it for minimum voltage. Vedder uses a lab power supply to limit current serves as a precaution. Best to play it safe with the current before cranking up the voltage not to damage the DRV8302.
Before you do any of the above in what I have wrote. Confirm with jacobbloy about any of the parts used in the VESC since Im not sure if you got yours as part of the VESC batch from Onloop. He owns Enertion Boards, but I think you already know that. Pkondratyuk comment applies to this since there was an issue with the VESC beta batch a few pages back.
 
OK thanks for the warnig! Will check with Jacob, but I am afraid I might have one of that batch. Hopefully the parts are labeled so I can just read the specs. Anyway, sending it back will not be an option due to shipping and taxes. Can that ESC still be used? Looking at 40 amps max.
 
Hm, where did you ship from? And was it jacob that you returned them to? I have not heard of anything like that from him. Anyway, I payed 30 euro taxes for this one, so might have to pay for replacement ones once again unless i fake something which seems shifty.
 
@furp: I had two Enertion Beta VESCs also. In principle you can replace the capacitors yourself, if you are good with soldering. I went the easy way and sent my VESC to silviasol, he replaced the caps, and the price was good. Silviasol is his nickname on this board. Message him and see if he can do the same thing for you. Vedder had said having the wrong caps can cause the DRV8302 chip to fail, so I did not want to take the risk. Both controllers are working fine so far (I am using them with a 10S battery, 280KV motor).
 
rodgah said:
Just throwing it out there......how large would a vesc get if it were made with thru-hole components and headers for stm & drv (if thats even possible) ?

2-3x as big imo. Bigger problem is it would cost at least 2x as much to make.
 
rodgah said:
Just throwing it out there......how large would a vesc get if it were made with thru-hole components and headers for stm & drv (if thats even possible) ?

I don't think that will work because I remember vedder saying he had to reposition the capacitor that connected to one of the end pins so it is closer to the drv8302. The c23 capacitor. Adding extra connector will cause more resistance to that component.
 
silviasol said:
They are fairly easy to replace you just need a hot air station and a good soldering iron with small tip. Quality solder and flux is best also.

Do you mind linking some solder iron and flux you would recommend?

On another topic I was recently wondering : when 2 VESC are plugged together and you want to update the firmware, do both VESC update when you update the "master" or do you have to do both separately? On same topic I forgot, is update available through Bluetooth ?
 
Vanarian said:
On another topic I was recently wondering : when 2 VESC are plugged together and you want to update the firmware, do both VESC update when you update the "master" or do you have to do both separately? On same topic I forgot, is update available through Bluetooth ?

You can update both when they are connected over CAN-bus. When the CAN Fwd checkbox is checked and the id is set to the id (as configured in the app tab) of the other VESC, you can do firmware updates and configuration as it it would be connected directly. This also works over bluetooth, so you only have to connect the bluetooth module to one of the VESCs. I will make a video where I show that soon.
 
vedder said:
Vanarian said:
On another topic I was recently wondering : when 2 VESC are plugged together and you want to update the firmware, do both VESC update when you update the "master" or do you have to do both separately? On same topic I forgot, is update available through Bluetooth ?

You can update both when they are connected over CAN-bus. When the CAN Fwd checkbox is checked and the id is set to the id (as configured in the app tab) of the other VESC, you can do firmware updates and configuration as it it would be connected directly. This also works over bluetooth, so you only have to connect the bluetooth module to one of the VESCs. I will make a video where I show that soon.

Perfect!!
 
I have a question regarding the torque/current control. I read somewhere, that if the VESC is in current control mode, it will spin the wheels very fast when throttling just a little with wheels in the air because there is obviously only very low torque/current needed to do so.

Is there a way to stop this from happening? Or to make it spin up slower? Don't know about skateboard use, but for RC guys it's common practice to always power up with wheels in the air and giving a little throttle to see if everything works alright prior to running the car. In my case that probably means tires spinning with more than 9000 rpm after 0.5 seconds. Actually, I never dared to rev it up to fullspeed with wheels in the air because it starts to scare me already at around half throttle, so I'd rather not find out how fullspeed will be :)

BTW, the repaired VESC and my 1717 arrived, thanks again for the quick fixing. Somehow your solder joints look better than the ones I did :) Will hopefully test it on the weekend if weather and time permits.

Oh, and another thing: There were some people with fried VESCs after using them together via CAN bus, are there new discoveries about this and what could have been the cause? I'd like to try it in my twin 1717 RC car sometime. Changing settings via one ESC with bluetooth and smartphone is really cool...
 
So I've got 2 VESCs from Jacob. Seem like they have the right Caps. But now one of them won't power on at all, I went through and checked as many points as I could find to see where the failure is(it seems like the U2 regulator might be the cause, the V in and ground are shorted) but I'm unsure it's worth replacing because I don't know if it fails and then goes full open or if it shuts down to keep other components from being damaged.

And now for some reason my other VESC has a solid yellow light and the wiiceiver is blinking but the motor won't spin up and the VESC won't connect to the BLDC tool.

If anyone has any tips to fix either of these VESCs that would be greatly appreciated as these are my only 2 :(
 
Just wanted to show a good use of the VESC.
The DIY car alternator E-Bike!

[youtube]KFxzKuTFZ2M[/youtube]

Thanks Benjamin for all your work, without it I wound't been able to go 60 km/h down that road! The motor runs absolutely awesome!
 
Cruzing Vedder's page because I ran into an "OpenOCD init Failed" issue with my stm32F4 discovery board to look for answer. Came across a comment made by "Alex" what I believe Inboard is planning to use Vedder's controller in their product.

Pic from their Facebook page.
11694821_1617553908515360_1714682494036758083_n.jpg
 
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