10S custom skate ESC: testers wanted!

Linux is not as scary as it seems, you can have a look around in it before you even need to install anything. I think you will find it pleasant.

To run ubuntu linux from a live USB pendrive (and install it):

0. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+run+ubuntu+live
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/try-ubuntu-before-you-install

1. Download ISO here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

2. follow instructions here to create a bootable USB pendrive http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows

3. Reboot your PC and press your bios specific key for boot options. Choose boot from USB

4. Now you should be able to either run ubuntu live or choose to install it.

5. Follow instructions on Vedder.se to install the tools needed for the VESC.



Note: I take no responsibility if you mess up your computer. And I do not have any previous experience using it. Enjoy!
 
Hey Guys,

I am about to place an order on Adafruit for the nunchuck adapter and they have programmers as well. The VESC's I have already have firmware loaded, but I do plan to make adjustments in the BLDC program to set parameters. Are these done with the USB cable alone, or will I need some sort of interface. Also I may one day want to update firmware, so I am open to buying whatever I need. Can someone give me some suggestions on what I need and even better if you can link me to adafruit for the items. I am a mechanical guy so this is not in my usual realm of comfort, but I am eager to learn.

Marc
 
You need a programmer to update the firmware and it is done in ubuntu. It is easy to do you just need to have ubuntu installed and follow the commands in vedders site. I can send you a jst cable I made that works with the programmer linked below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160731358953

image1df.jpg
 
silviasol said:
You need a programmer to update the firmware and it is done in ubuntu. It is easy to do you just need to have ubuntu installed and follow the commands in vedders site. I can send you a jst cable I made that works with the programmer linked below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160731358953

image1df.jpg
Click to expand...

Great thanks,

I will get that on order. Wow the ordering never stops on this darn board... :)

Marc
 
addicted2climbing said:
agraham said:
As soon as I get it working I'll ask vedder to pull the changes into his github. The changes to support Windows are currently very minor since it's written in QT which is inherently cross platform.
Click to expand...
I would be very interested in this. I am receiving 2 VESC's today in the mail and I only have a windows machine. I was going to try and figure out how to run a dual boot, but would prefer windows since its what I know. Any ETA on this?

Marc
Click to expand...

jacobbloy is graciously sending me a vesc and I soon as I get it I will work out the bugs and post an exe as quick as I can. I imagine it will take a week to get to me, and then it depends if any issues are obvious or not - so if that's too long you might as well do the linux thing.

*EDIT* if you have a vesc in your hands and want to be a guinea pig pm me and I'll send you what I have - don't know if it will work tho.
 
silviasol said:
You need a programmer to update the firmware and it is done in ubuntu. It is easy to do you just need to have ubuntu installed and follow the commands in vedders site. I can send you a jst cable I made that works with the programmer linked below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160731358953

image1df.jpg
Click to expand...

Silviasol I'd need a JST cable too actually first because the standard firmware loaded on the VESCs I'll receive are not set up for the motors I'll use, second because I'm going to use something different than a rc transmitter to input throttle / braking (and also because I got nothing better to do than plug sensors on it), do you have a spare one you would be willing to send me by chance?

By the way I found this one http://www.ebay.fr/itm/STM32F4-DISCOVERY-USB-STM32F407VGT6-STM32-ARM-Cortex-M4-Development-Board-/151289777040?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item233992cb90 and this one here http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Nucleo-STM32F4-DISCOVERY-STM32F411-STM32-ARM-Cortex-M4-Development-Board-Arduino-/161463881485?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item2597ff4f0d , will one of them work as good as the one you listed or do you recommend a precise model?

I live in France so I'd rather search for one located in EU instead of US :wink:
 
Vanarian said:
I live in France so I'd rather search for one located in EU instead of US :wink:
Click to expand...

If you register at st.com and go to ST's catalog page for the discovery board http://www.st.com/web/en/catalog/tools/FM116/SC959/SS1532/LN1848/PF252419 you can click through to the european distributors for the board.
You can also order it direct from ST for $15.

While you're there, if you're building your own VESC and have registered with a corporate email address you can go to the catalog page for the STM32F405RG microprocessor http://www.st.com/web/catalog/mmc/FM141/SC1169/SS1577/LN1035/PF252144# and request a free sample.

FAQ Question
Does STMicroelectronics offer free samples and to all ST.com registered visitors?

FAQ Answer
Yes, STMicroelectronics offers the free samples service to all requesters, that have completed the registration on http://www.st.com
STMicroelectronics offers a choice of over 2000 selected products toaccelerate the design process and to qualify STMicroelectronics’sproducts in existing designs.
Click to expand...
 
Vanarian said:
silviasol said:
You need a programmer to update the firmware and it is done in ubuntu. It is easy to do you just need to have ubuntu installed and follow the commands in vedders site. I can send you a jst cable I made that works with the programmer linked below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160731358953

image1df.jpg
Click to expand...

Silviasol I'd need a JST cable too actually first because the standard firmware loaded on the VESCs I'll receive are not set up for the motors I'll use, second because I'm going to use something different than a rc transmitter to input throttle / braking (and also because I got nothing better to do than plug sensors on it), do you have a spare one you would be willing to send me by chance?

By the way I found this one http://www.ebay.fr/itm/STM32F4-DISCOVERY-USB-STM32F407VGT6-STM32-ARM-Cortex-M4-Development-Board-/151289777040?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item233992cb90 and this one here http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Nucleo-STM32F4-DISCOVERY-STM32F411-STM32-ARM-Cortex-M4-Development-Board-Arduino-/161463881485?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item2597ff4f0d , will one of them work as good as the one you listed or do you recommend a precise model?

I live in France so I'd rather search for one located in EU instead of US :wink:
Click to expand...

Ben has used these http://vedder.se/2014/12/connecting-a-programmerdebugger-my-custom-stm32-pcbs/

The one in the first link is the same as the one I have which is one that ben used. I had no issues with it as long as you use a short jst cable like I show in the picture.
 
Just wondering will the VESC work the same for E-MTB?

I have a dual flier/alien ESC on my EMTB and I don't like so much. It acts weird from time to time, and gets very hot really fast. I would wana get 2 VESC and test them on my MTB. I do a lot of riding off road so i would defenitly like to see how it holds up.
 
is there anyway to get motor speed information from the ESC? or anyway to deduce motor speed?

also i'm trying to figure out if there's any other information that would be worth while getting from the ESC if possible. the idea is to display it on a controller.

thanks in advance.
 
Would it be easy to add the VESC to the Yuneec E-GO (replacing the original ESC) and customize the speed?
 
torqueboards said:
erwincoumans said:
Would it be easy to add the VESC to the Yuneec E-GO (replacing the original ESC) and customize the speed?
Click to expand...

Might be possible but your controller wouldn't work. Your better off building a new eboard :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

I think as long as the motor has three lead wires comig out from it, you can Use the VESC with it. Better option is to get a new motor with a higher torque per wattage or go with what Torque said.
 
Thanks for the replies and excuses for my beginner questions, haven't properly digged in these wonderful forums yet. So far I have been enjoying my Boosted Board but I want to move slowly to custom, to learn how things work.

torqueboards said:
erwincoumans said:
Would it be easy to add the VESC to the Yuneec E-GO (replacing the original ESC) and customize the speed?
Click to expand...

Might be possible but your controller wouldn't work. Your better off building a new eboard :mrgreen:
Click to expand...
I got some bluetooth-based controller (Sony Move Navigation Controller) with an Arduino+USB Host Shield V2, so the controller part should be sorted. It works with my RC Car as PWM/servo control.
It seems building the rest of the board becomes messy, especially attaching the batteries and such, so I am happy to start modding the E-Go first, rather than dealing with too many different parts.
torqueboards said:
Oh yea speaking of - the e-go has a different connector on it and not the standard 4mm bullet connectors.
Click to expand...
Isn't that just a matter of soldering the cables, or is it more complicated? Is the VESC only sensorless, or can the VESC also use sensors optionally ?

I ordered several brushless motors for testing, including the NTM Prop Drive 50-60 270KV / 2400W, Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 - 6374-149kv and Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 - 6354-260kv.
[strike]How do you attach such brushless motor shaft to the skateboard? The motor shaft is round and smooth, doesn't seem easy to attach anything to that.[/strike]
Never mind about attaching the shaft, I read your article about using a Dremel at http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=56375
"Tip for the motor shaft would be to use a dremmel and create a flat on the motor shaft. You can do this by sanding a part of the motor shaft with the dremmel so it's a flat. The reason why you want to create a flat on the motor shaft is the set screw will sit on top of this flat and it will give it a better position to hold that set screw in that spot rather than the set screw trying to hold the pulley in that position on a circle shaft. I would highly recommend this be done and not to pass this part up. You can do one better and either make the motor shaft and motor pulley a D shape and/or a keyway. If you can make it a D shape or Keyway the motor pulley will never spin around the motor shaft as it will be keyed in a way where it won't spin. The idea is you want the motor shaft to move the pulley and not have it spin around each other because nothing is holding it in."
Click to expand...
Thanks!
Erwin
 
I have been experimenting more with the VESC (thanks to silviasol build) and most works fine, but I have some question about parameter tuning for 'current' control: the motor spins up immediately from 0 to max current at the slightest move of the controller. When using 'duty cycle' it works fine, gradually faster rotating motor from 0 to max.

What is/are the best parameters to tune in the BLDC tool to make 'current control' work less extreme/more gradual?

Also, I hooked up the VESC to a computer PSU, the +12V lead provides up to 125 AMP, up to 1500Watt (http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-AX1500i-Titanium-Efficiency-CP-9020057-NA/dp/B00MFJ4OBA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428940650&sr=8-1&keywords=1500watt+psu for about 400$). This works great, as long as you don't push the limits. If you exceed the limit, the PSU simply shuts off, and you can restart after a few seconds.

Is everyone using batteries to test their ESC/brushless motors on the bench, or are the affordable (<500USD) bench power supplies that supply 12V at over 100AMP?
 
Is the graphical slider in the gui follow the controller ?
torque (current) control goes to max rpm easily because the motor dont require much torque to spin any rpm.
But you say max current for current control and then max rpm for rpm control, I did not experience this.
Did you try with a load on the motor ?
 
It was a typo, I meant VESC current control goes immediately to max-rpm when touching the controller forward/backward. Duty control works great. Both only tested with very small load. I'll do some testing with more load today.

The BLDC-tool graphical slider follows the controller perfectly.
 
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