Voloci Project

fechter · Feb 2, 2007

Here's some pics from my buddy Mike's Voloci. It had corrupted code in the microprocessor, so I had to reload the updated code for him. While I was at it, I checked out the controller and boosted the current limit.

The Voloci uses moped wheels and tires. No bent rims or broken spokes with this baby. Dual disk brakes and dual suspension. Originally made with a Nimh battery, this one was adapted for SLA batteries. 36v, 18Ahr.

Top speed is around 30mph with decent hill climbing ability. Mike plans to change the gearing and bump the voltage up to 48v for better hill climbing.

Ahh... too bad they quit making them. I was a nice looking ride.

xyster · Feb 2, 2007

Yes, but don't let your wife see this!

joystix2 · Feb 2, 2007

Wow! My beloved ex-Voloci back from the dead. I really miss that bike. You are correct that its a nice looking ride. I still think to this day it was the nicest and best built E-bike of its size ever made. My problem was that when I bought it, brushless was still new and no one knew how to mod them. Plus Voloci kept their electronics a secret and never released how to bump up anything. In my opinion it was too expensive and too nice to hack up and try mods to it. If the controller blew that would have been the end of it. Another problem was the range. Not enough and when I did throw 36v12ah SLA's in parallel on the back rack for more range it was way to top heavy. Thanks for posting pics. It was nice to see it again.

Ric

tno · Feb 2, 2007

can the controller be modified for 72v?

any idea how to get an axle and housing for the motor?

I was going to put this into a Currie Kollmorgen housing and mount it on my bike but it's longer and wider than the Currie motor.

tno · Feb 2, 2007

does that have moped plates?
does your friend ride the Voloci on SF streets?

does he get stopped by police?

joystix2 · Feb 2, 2007

When I had it I never had it registered, rode it almost daily to work (14 miles round trip) in the summer months. I rode mainly in the bike lanes and never got stopped by the law. I was stopped many times by people in their vehicles who pulled over to get info on the Voloci. It really depends where you live.

Ric

tno · Feb 2, 2007

I keep getting tailed by police when I ride my vego, merida, & ebike. One time, a patrol car was going the other way and made a u-turn and paced me for a block before he made another u-turn and left. Another time, a patrol car went around the block and came back to pace me before he sped off. I'm usually going around 16mph. I'm afraid I'll get pulled over if I ride a no pedal bike like the Voloci. I'm surprised wcrider never got pulled over on his x5.

fechter · Feb 2, 2007

Yes, the streets of San Francisco. He doesn't have moped plates yet, but he's going to get them. He lives close enough to work to commute with it. Perhaps the cops that are tailing you are just interested in the bike and not out to bust you. A lot of cops ride bikes.

The controller could take 48v (60v peak) with a minor mod. It would be fairly easy to replace the entire controller with a Crystallyte 72v. You would need a dc-dc converter also.

With the controller tweaked to 60 amps, he reported the insulation on the phase wires was starting to melt after a long hillclimb.

We're going to try and find a larger rear sprocket to lower the gearing, then jack up the voltage. Same top speed, but better climbing. This should help the range quite a bit too. He replaced both brake calipers and it made a huge improvement in braking. You can lock the wheel with two fingers.

I have no idea where you could get a rotor and housing. The housing on the bike is part of the frame. I think you would have to make one.
Possibly a bigger Kollmorgen rotor might be the right size.

What's the inside diameter of the stator?

tno · Feb 2, 2007

here's a picture of the Kollmorgen Voloci motor next to it's Currie sibling.

the outside stator diameter is 4 7/8 inches, inside diameter is 2 3/4 inches.

I think the Voloci motor will give excellent performance at higher voltages based on Knoxie's results with the smaller Currie Kollmorgen at higher voltage.

fechter · Feb 3, 2007

I see you have a rotor. You just need a shaft and and a housing.
You might be able to adapt a housing from a car alternator or AC motor if you could find one the right size. The shaft might be more challenging, something a machinist could make fairly easily.

tno · Feb 3, 2007

I think I'll just save the motor as a spare for the voloci. It would have been interesting to see what it could do mounted on a currie bike.

have fun with the 48v mod.

Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh · Feb 9, 2007

If they're not being made anymore, where did you pull the updated code from?

fechter · Feb 9, 2007

I got a copy of the newest SLA program from Bert at NYCE Wheels. I have a copy of it now. The original program had a bug that would allow it to be corrupted if the power was interrupted quickly.
The new program stays in ROM, so it can't get hosed.

I had to get an AVRISPII programmer and do a bit of hacking to adapt it. The Voloci loader program wasn't compatible with the newer AVRISP programmer, so I had to do some file conversions to make it work.

I was actually thinking it would be easier to just replace the controller with a Xlyte controller mounted outboard. I'm sure that would work, and you could go up to 72v that way. You'd also need a dc-dc converter and a BMS of some sort to replace the ones in the original controller.

I took the controller apart to see what the parts ratings are. I think it could take 48v if the logic power was kept at 36v. Stock current limit is 40 amps.

Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh · Feb 9, 2007

It's when you say 'newest' is what throws me :?

Just curious if this is the last version that got released shortly b4 the company went t/u or if there's some true-believer/former company engineer that's keeping the flame alive.

Did you need the AVR specifically because the contoller is Atmel based or is the programmer generic enuff for your purposes?

tno · Feb 9, 2007

does the Voloci controller have a BMS?
is it possible to feed 36v into the wire connected to the key switch to power the controller electronics (like what you did with the vego).

I'm assuming the controller is heat sinked to the frame so it should run cooler than an external controller and it is sealed against moisture with an o-ring.

fechter · Feb 9, 2007

It doesn't have a real BMS, but the battery meter and low voltage cutout are on the board. For SLA batteries, this is all you need.

It is heasinked to the frame, so it has plenty of mass. A good controller won't give off much heat anyway.

It looks like you could run the keyswitch wire to a 36v tap on a 48v pack exactly like I did with the Vego. This way the battery meter and low voltage cutout would still work. The current draw on the keyswitch wire is pretty minimal, so balancing should not be a problem. On the one in the pics, the wire is a light pink color and it goes to the key.

safe · Feb 9, 2007

fechter said:
Here's some pics from my buddy Mike's Voloci....

Thumbs up on the Voloci. That's a really awesome bike and not far from where I want to take my own designs. (my next bikes will use a frame shaped more like that)

joystix2 · Dec 4, 2019

I use to own one of these way back when. I loved it but they were just too hard to work on or modify unless you were a computer programmer. I'd be interested in one

fechter · Dec 4, 2019

joystix2 said:
I use to own one of these way back when. I loved it but they were just too hard to work on or modify unless you were a computer programmer. I'd be interested in one

Long time, no hear from!

It would be fairly easy to wire one for an external controller and controllers are much more advanced these days (and cheaper). There's a nice space under the seat or on the seat stays. Getting rid of the lead-acid and going to lithium would make a huge improvement too.

I wonder what ever happened to Xyster?

Voloci Project

Administrator

Attachments

10 MW

Attachments

100 W

10 W

Attachments

10 W

100 W

10 W

Administrator

10 W

Attachments

Administrator

10 W

1 MW

Administrator

Attachments

1 MW

10 W

Administrator

1 GW

100 W

Administrator