Brushless dual 6kw ALIEN Power system - electric longboard

Hey everyone, greetings from Hawaii.

It's nice to see and hear about everyone's setups in this thread. For my first post on the site, I just wanted to share my electric board setup with the Alien Power kit and thank the people who made it possible.
I started working on an electric board a year ago when the boosted board came out. $1300 is quite a bit to spend, so I thought I would try to make my own board, but I didn't have the access to a shop or knowledge of CNC. I had planned to make my own motor mounts and software to run the board, and the software was done way before I even started on the mounts. Originally, I was planning on using Seismic trucks because of the shape of the truck hanger and Orangatang baluts because of the exposed cores.
When I found out about the Alien kit, I ordered one and ended up with what's in the pictures below after about a month's worth of work. I'm still testing the board, and everything seems to be running fine.

Here's what I got:
Never Summer Motive
Hobbywing XERUN 150A ESC
5065 270KV motor
Trakpower 6S 3400 mAh lipo
76mm flywheels
1/2 in risers

I've got an Arduino connected to a Memorex wireless nunchuck to control the ESC with my own code. I got a waterproof case from a friend, so I put the arduino and nunchuck receiver in the case for protection. I don't know if you can see it in the picture below, but I made a DIY antenna to try to improve the connection between the nunchuck controller and receiver. So far, it's working pretty well. I've even been able to loop the nunchuck around the washer on the truck so that I have a way to store the controller when I'm not using the board. I didn't want to screw or bolt anything other than the trucks to the deck, so everything is held with velcro. I got some puretech velcro straps that secure the battery and electronics case pretty nicely, and I changed all my plugs to 45 amp anderson powerpoles. I like the powerpoles better than other plugs because there's no soldering involved - only crimping. The powerpoles are also easy to connect and disconnect.

MkVIsm.jpg

Here's everything put together:



I'm still testing everything, so the wires are showing, and I'm working on finding a way to protect the guts of the board a little better. I just took the board out for a spin today and hit a top speed of 22mph (about 35kmh) according to GPS. It's pretty cool to keep up with cars on the road. I haven't checked the distance yet, but the battery has been lasting longer than I expected. I think it's safe to say I can get at least 4 miles on one charge.

I'm curious about the Deville Interstate wheels if anyone's seen or heard of them. I found a few threads on silverfish that mention the wheels, but they don't really go into detail. The interstate cores seem identical to the flywheel cores, and if they are then I'll try the alien pulley with those wheels as well. The interstates are 80a/83mm, and I found them for a better price than the flywheels. On an aesthetic note, I'm not so into green wheels, so I like that the interstates are white. Obviously, if the flywheels perform better, then I won't care about the colors. If no one knows about the wheels, I'll just be the guinea pig and try them out.

And one more thing - I weighed the board today, and it's ~10.5 pounds (~4.76 kg). Thanks to the Motive being thin and stiff, I was able to keep the weight down and still have a stable board.
 
Nice looking setup toddy616. I'd love to hear a review of a wheel alternative though Flywheels are a pretty good choice for an eboard it's great to have options to change up the feel and the slide. Any chance you can share more details of your nunchuck/arduino config, code and antenna experiments? Be great if you could let us know how reliable you find it long term.
 
Thanks. I went and ordered the deville wheels, but they won't get shipped for a couple weeks.

I've added some pictures of the latest arduino/nunchuck receiver I made so far. I used an arduino nano to save as much space as possible. I was going to use a tinyduino, but for some reason it didn't work when I wired everything up. I'm using a memorex sidekick wireless nunchuck with the arduino, and you can find it for on amazon right now for $5. I picked up a bunch a while back so that I could experiment with them since they're cheap.

I soldered everything to the nano and epoxied the connections for added security. In the earlier versions of my arduino nunchuck receiver, I used an arduino uno without epoxied connections, and the connections broke off once in a while. On the nano, I also connected 2 sets of wires from the receiver to the arduino in case a connection does happen to break. When certain wires broke off on the uno version, the ESC would still maintain the last speed, and I would need to turn off the ESC to stop. I wasn't going too fast, but if I was I might have been in trouble. On the newest version of the board, I managed to fit all the electronics into the drybox and also added a battery arming switch as a failsafe. I'll get around to adding pictures of the newest setup later on. On the arduino nano the yellow thing is a DIY connector to connect to the ESC. I used pin headers, epoxy and shrink wrap.

Initially, I was planning to use the stock receiver without modifying it. I'm not sure if it's due to the code or the actual reception of the receiver, but the connection between the nunchuck and receiver would cutout for about 100 milliseconds then reconnect at times. Not often, but I always had to remember that it was a possibility when riding at higher speeds. I changed the code and also made an antenna to try to cover both of the potential problems. I changed one of the values in the code, and the signal doesn't cut out anymore. Since the DIY antenna is epoxied, I just left it. The range is about 20-30 ft. I looked up antenna instructions and just used the simplest design for the antenna in the pictures below. I used 18 gauge copper magnet wire and made a 7 coil antenna using a bamboo skewer. The nunchuck receiver has a PCB antenna, so I soldered the DIY antenna to the end of the PCB antenna and epoxied it.

If anyone wants to see the arduino code, I can email the .ino file since I can't upload it here. I found some sites that provided code for the interface between the nunchuck and arduino, and the majority of what I made was for the arduino interfacing with the ESC. The ESC is basically treated like a servo. I configured the code to run like cruise control - you hold the top button on the nunchuck to start moving then flick the joystick up or down to change the speed in steps. The bottom button is the brake but is configured differently. It works like a real brake pedal - when you hold the bottom button, you use the joystick too. The farther you push the stick down, the higher the braking force.

I'll still be testing and playing with the board, so I'll add updates when I can.

Here's a top view of the arduino assembly:

PIC_6235.JPG

Here's a view of underneath. I used velcro to keep the arduino in place in the drybox.

View attachment 2

Here's the arduino turned on:

PIC_6237.JPG

 
Just wanna give everyone an update on my setup.

I changed the board and got all the electronics packed into the dry box. I wanted the most ground clearance I could get in the middle for when I go over speed bumps or similar objects. I had been using the ESC without the fan throughout the entire longboard build after finding out that the ESC heatsink can manage the heat generated pretty well. I had to remove the top cover of the ESC so that it could fit in the drybox and used zipties to keep the ESC together. I also velcroed the ESC and arduino down inside the drybox. I don't have any vent holes in the drybox yet but dremeled some cutouts for the wires, so there's really minimal venting. I took the board out for testing today and was concerned about the ESC overheating but didn't have any problems.

Here's a side view to give you an idea of the ground clearance:
DSC001342.JPG


After fixing a couple bugs in the code, I've got stable code running on the arduino. I didn't have any problems with the connection between the nunchuck and arduino, and I didn't have any of the problems I had earlier on. I took the board out for a test run today mainly to test the battery life. I went about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) on the 3400 mAh battery with a little charge left to spare. I have my ESC set for low voltage cutoff at 3.6V per cell, or 21.6V for the pack. When I started, the pack voltage was 25.0, and when I finished the voltage was at 22.2, so I didn't get to the threshold I had set. I had read that 3.7V per cell is a better cutoff voltage to extend the life of the battery but figured 3.6 wouldn't hurt it that much, and would also give me a little more distance if I needed it. I rode around residential areas with a combination of flats and moderate hills. According to GPS, I hit a top speed of 25 mph on this run. I stopped at certain points to check the heat of the motor and ESC and ended up stopping at the 1.5 and 4 mile marks. The heat was fine, and this was on an 80F-85F day (a little under 30C). The motor and ESC got hot, but I could touch and hold both without the heat being painful. Other than the two stops, I was pretty much continuously riding, and the ESC and motor handled the heat well. It's pretty awesome to have a brake on the board.

Here's the underneath of the latest board:

View attachment 2

And here's the electronics:

DSC001242.JPG
 
Sounds pretty good. I find the only time I get serious heating is during prolonged braking (long steep descents). It might be prudent to add a temp probe to your arduino and set an alarm because you might be hitting short peak of quite extreme heat that could cause damage to your ESC... and you do have the Arduino in there already.

I run my LiPos down to 3.3V - I've read plenty to say its unwise and plenty to say it's fine. Seems there is a lot of superstition amongst the science and I have no idea who is most right anymore so I'll keep running to 3.3V until it catches fire or I start dropping cells.
 
That's an awesome setup. I like how small that board is. Can you weigh the setup? I'd like to know how much it weighs.
 
yelnatsch517 said:
That's an awesome setup. I like how small that board is. Can you weigh the setup? I'd like to know how much it weighs.
Click to expand...

I just weighed the board today, and the weight went down just a bit from before - 10.4 lb (4.71 kg).
 
lone_deranger said:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-DEVIL..._Skateboarding_Skating_ET&hash=item27d4931bd4
80A may run a bit hard... but fast. A bargain for estensibly Flywheels at £19.99 and free postage!
No affiliation :wink:
Click to expand...

i wonder if the urethane is any good...
Deville seems like a legit company, but with very little reviews out there...
http://www.silverfishlongboarding.com/forum/longboarding-resources-q/220626-deville-green-rooms.html
http://store.skatedeville.com/c/wheels

there is a bunch of flywheel clones out there on ebay also,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BIGFOOT-Longboard-Wheels-90MM-GREEN-ABEC-9-BEARINGS-/370838968312?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5657b997f8
http://www.silverfishlongboarding.com/forum/longboard-skateboarding-wheels-bearings/123039-bigfoot-wheels-mountain-cruisers-2.html

most cheap ebay wheels have bad rep from what i read.
 
sk8norcal said:
i wonder if the urethane is any good...
Deville seems like a legit company, but with very little reviews out there...
...most cheap ebay wheels have bad rep from what i read.
Click to expand...
Only one set available at this price, it's a shop clearance.
 
wow- I've just had an amazing weekend at the Silverstone race track where my University came top of the UK Formula Student teams (a car I machine all the parts for) and I've had an awesome time riding the wheel off my new deck- I loooooove it!! i was mobbed everywhere i went- I even had the Mclarens Chief Engineer for their KERS system ,videoing me and taking my card!! wow..
here's some vid of the track and my tours!!- hope you enjoy..
There were some super fast electric cars there this year-in fact i think an Electric one won it outright!!
[youtube]2rearuukPC0[/youtube]
[youtube]sE2EDsPdXuY[/youtube]
 
I even had the Mclarens Chief Engineer for their KERS system ,videoing me and taking my card
Click to expand...

The way McLaren is going they are probably desperate for you and Bruno to design the new KERS ;) Boards looking nice!
 
A wider, thinner hump under the board would seem preferrable for ground clearance. Or putting the humps near the wheels and leaving the center of the board open.

I'm using 2S batteries wired together. Improves the ground clearance a lot. They're only about 5/8ths inch thick.

Still working on ideas for quick-connect/removable battery packs.


Richard
 
torqueboards said:
Nice RF, That's a good idea. I definitely can't drop off on curbs because of the tall batteries. Easier charging would be great too!
Click to expand...

I've been contemplating including a whole charger (Imax B6AC). I use two 3S 5Ah batteries in series to keep the profile down and now charge them in series too with a 2x3S to 6S balance lead.
 
beetbocks said:
I have also after several request from forum members to design a new truck bracket for the caliber trucks (which will fit my motor bracket),as many of my customers prefer these to the holey ( see i do listen :D ) as the truck is 180mm wide also it should be able to accommodate the larger Flywheels
Click to expand...

When will Caliber truck brackets be available for sale?
 
simonjook said:
I've been contemplating including a whole charger (Imax B6AC). I use two 3S 5Ah batteries in series to keep the profile down and now charge them in series too with a 2x3S to 6S balance lead.
Click to expand...

I'm looking for a good, inexpensive, isolated single-cell charger for Lipos. No balancing necessary and put as many together as you need.
 
image.jpgimage.jpgI use 4x2s packs with a balance changer adapter, that I have connected to a voltage reader with alarm when I'm riding,
 
http://m.ebay.com.au/search?kw=JST%2FXH+7.4v+Lipo+battery+serial+balance+adapter&isNewKw=1&so=12&pgn=1&epp=24&fads=1&mfs=GOCLK&acimp=0
 
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