Hey guys, I have a totally sweet, amazing and awesome idea/project that an engineer and programmer like some of you would find incredible for sure!!!!!!
So basically I have the FVT Skateboard firmware (attached), and it works much better than the stock firmware, but has 2 tweaks that would make it amazing as a great "poor mans" vesc, especially if you already have a FVT. The tweaks/problems I have are as follows:
1) Soft start - its too slow! Off the line it is great, as it allows my 50mm hubs to get me going very smoothly from a standstill, but it takes a good 8-10 seconds to fully ramp up, even when unloaded. This causes problems especially when cornering, as I might reduce to half speed (and not throttle, just coasting) to corner, and then punch it to power out. The stock firmware would power up within a second and pull me out of the corner no worries, but the skate firmware will delay the 4-5 seconds while it "accelerates" to the speed I'm at, and then starts applying more power. While a sensored ESC may not have this problem, the FVT does. As such, would it be possible to make the throttle curve less linear? I was wondering if someone could alter the firmware to give the first 1/4 of the acceleration curve 1-2 seconds to complete, thus allowing the motors to effectively "give me that single kick" speed, and then the next 3/4 have about 1-2 seconds ramp up speed? My theory is that the "very soft start" setting on the stock firmware is good when you are already moving, and the "insanely soft" startup on the skate version is good if you aren't moving at all. So combine the two and get something more useful?
2) Noise - the motors and noticeably more noisy when running the skate version. I read that vedder played with the motor control variations or some such electronics mumbo jumbo that flew over my head and resulted in a much quieter motor. Would it be possible to do that with the FVT firmware at all? or is this more motor specific alterations?
I have not personally had a problem so far with anything else, but others are reporting the brakes (when using a single hub motor) are too weak. I find the brakes as they are to be perfect with my dual 50mm hub setup. If none of the above are possible, would it at least be possible to increase braking power so single motor users can test safely?
Thanks for reading guys, and I can't even open the .hgm file the firmware is in so am not sure how big a task I am asking is, but if anyone can help that would be amazing! Sorry if this is too off-topic, but I figured all the people who might know how to do it are here in this thread... thanks guys!
For others wanting to test the skate firmware, I have attached both the skate and stock versions below. You can simply download, unzip them to a 'location'. Plug in your esc via a USB link and open in the USB link program, then click "update firmware" on the bottom right. Navigate to 'location' folder, open the .hgm file and you are away. Please note the skate firmware is not adjustable, so once it's uploaded go out and test it, but be careful and test the brake power first. If you find you don't like it, simply do the same steps but with the stock version I have also attached, and that will revert you back to what you had on there before. Good Luck!