retrocycler
10 mW
Hi,
Sorry for the length of this post. I’m trying to be super clear about terms/signals/voltages, which are new to me and confusing.
I'm building up a bike with GMAC 10T and a PhaseRunner (PR) all hooked into a Cycle Analyst v.3 (CA). My bike isn't on the road yet, I'm still just setting it up, with bike in a stand with rear wheel/motor turning freely for testing.
I have my regen. braking set up with brake lever switches and a thumb throttle (the same one used for acceleration). So when the brake lever switch is tripped, the CA will interpret the thumb throttle voltage "in reverse,” sending an increasingly low throttle voltage signal (the CA output voltage) to the PhaseRunner as the throttle is pressed. I set the CA to send 0.85 V to initiate regen. braking, and this voltage will drop to 0.0 V at "full throttle" (CA output voltage). So when receiving such throttle signal voltages, the PR will draw power from the hub instead of giving it power. This then produces the regen. braking.
So yesterday, I had the PR hooked into my laptop with the data cable, running the PR software setup suite. The software shows what voltages are coming into the PR from the CA, and further allows/asks for all sorts of settings, and the regen. braking settings have me stumped. The PR software asks for a "brake start voltage" which is the voltage at which regen. braking is initiated - that one is no problem: it should match the CA regen. braking initial output voltage. But the PR sofware also asks for a "brake max voltage", which must be some minimum voltage signal (above 0 V), which produces maximum regenerative braking. This “brake max voltage” would be a minimum CA output voltage, and that is not a setting available on the CA - it seems the CA will always output 0.0 V minimum in any case.
In other words, at the CA, where I set the voltages to be sent to the PR (i.e. CA output voltages), I can set only one parameter for regen. braking: the CA output voltage for which regen. braking should begin (in my case, set to 0.85 V). But the CA has no setting for minimum output voltage (which would correspond to the “brake max voltage” expected by the PR). So then when a brake lever is squeezed a little bit, the CA sends out a 0.85 V signal. At the PR, using the PR software, I set a matching "brake start voltage" value for when braking begins. Then, if I want more regen. braking, I depress the throttle progressively more. As the throttle is pressed more, the CA will send out a decreasing voltage, all the way down to 0.0 V. ...and there's the rub, because the PR apparently does not like a throttle voltage of less than 0.3 V.
I have tried using the PR utility software to set the “brake max voltage” value to 0.0 V. Nevertheless, in every case that I test the controls, initiating regen. braking with the brake lever switch, then depressing the throttle lever, when the CA output voltage drops below 0.3 V (i.e. throttle significantly, but not all the way depressed), the PR software gives a "Fault(11) voltage out of range" error. This does not appear to disable the PR (i.e. shut it down), because I am able to continue operating it, releasing the brake lever, spinning the wheel forwards with the throttle, and again initiating regen. braking with the brake levers. But it makes me wonder what will happen to the regen. braking at that point when the fault happens - does it stop the regen. braking? When the PR sees a throttle signal of 0.3 V or less, does it just “let go” the regen. braking? (I cannot yet test this in the bike stand, as I still have the wheel turning freely) Also I just don't like the idea of running the system with faults/errors happening.
Presumably, if I could program the CA to not put out a voltage less than 0.31, there would be no problem. But this does not appear to be an option. Has anyone experience with this particular problem?
Sorry for the length of this post. I’m trying to be super clear about terms/signals/voltages, which are new to me and confusing.
I'm building up a bike with GMAC 10T and a PhaseRunner (PR) all hooked into a Cycle Analyst v.3 (CA). My bike isn't on the road yet, I'm still just setting it up, with bike in a stand with rear wheel/motor turning freely for testing.
I have my regen. braking set up with brake lever switches and a thumb throttle (the same one used for acceleration). So when the brake lever switch is tripped, the CA will interpret the thumb throttle voltage "in reverse,” sending an increasingly low throttle voltage signal (the CA output voltage) to the PhaseRunner as the throttle is pressed. I set the CA to send 0.85 V to initiate regen. braking, and this voltage will drop to 0.0 V at "full throttle" (CA output voltage). So when receiving such throttle signal voltages, the PR will draw power from the hub instead of giving it power. This then produces the regen. braking.
So yesterday, I had the PR hooked into my laptop with the data cable, running the PR software setup suite. The software shows what voltages are coming into the PR from the CA, and further allows/asks for all sorts of settings, and the regen. braking settings have me stumped. The PR software asks for a "brake start voltage" which is the voltage at which regen. braking is initiated - that one is no problem: it should match the CA regen. braking initial output voltage. But the PR sofware also asks for a "brake max voltage", which must be some minimum voltage signal (above 0 V), which produces maximum regenerative braking. This “brake max voltage” would be a minimum CA output voltage, and that is not a setting available on the CA - it seems the CA will always output 0.0 V minimum in any case.
In other words, at the CA, where I set the voltages to be sent to the PR (i.e. CA output voltages), I can set only one parameter for regen. braking: the CA output voltage for which regen. braking should begin (in my case, set to 0.85 V). But the CA has no setting for minimum output voltage (which would correspond to the “brake max voltage” expected by the PR). So then when a brake lever is squeezed a little bit, the CA sends out a 0.85 V signal. At the PR, using the PR software, I set a matching "brake start voltage" value for when braking begins. Then, if I want more regen. braking, I depress the throttle progressively more. As the throttle is pressed more, the CA will send out a decreasing voltage, all the way down to 0.0 V. ...and there's the rub, because the PR apparently does not like a throttle voltage of less than 0.3 V.
I have tried using the PR utility software to set the “brake max voltage” value to 0.0 V. Nevertheless, in every case that I test the controls, initiating regen. braking with the brake lever switch, then depressing the throttle lever, when the CA output voltage drops below 0.3 V (i.e. throttle significantly, but not all the way depressed), the PR software gives a "Fault(11) voltage out of range" error. This does not appear to disable the PR (i.e. shut it down), because I am able to continue operating it, releasing the brake lever, spinning the wheel forwards with the throttle, and again initiating regen. braking with the brake levers. But it makes me wonder what will happen to the regen. braking at that point when the fault happens - does it stop the regen. braking? When the PR sees a throttle signal of 0.3 V or less, does it just “let go” the regen. braking? (I cannot yet test this in the bike stand, as I still have the wheel turning freely) Also I just don't like the idea of running the system with faults/errors happening.
Presumably, if I could program the CA to not put out a voltage less than 0.31, there would be no problem. But this does not appear to be an option. Has anyone experience with this particular problem?