Help Building a Controller for Crystalyte

[DHS]

Hi everyone,

Each year my high school competes in the Shell Eco Marathon, this year in Detroit, MI. We have always competed in the Hydrogen fuel cell division but this year due to some damage to the fuel cell stack and a lack of funding we've made the last minute decision to switch to the battery electric division. The only catch to running in this category is that teams must build their own motor controller.

Our car uses a crystalyte phoenix cruiser hub motor with the ct3640 controller. building the motor controller didn't seem like a huge challenge until we found out that this is a 3 phase brushless motor. I guess you could say we're in way over our heads. The competition is in a few months and this is the final hurdle.

We're nor even sure where to attempt to begin with this. We need to build essentially the most simple and basic controller for this motor. all of the features on the ct3640 will not be included, the only thing it needs to do is control the speed.

If anyone can provide any help or support in any way it would mean the world to us. Just pointing us in the right direction to get us started would be so appreciated. Our team has come so far and we don't plan on giving up now, we're just a little overwhelmed with this last minute challenge.

Thank you so much!

 

[cycborg]

The rule seems a little odd to me - controller design is not a trivial matter, to say the least. You probably don’t have time (to say nothing of skill, knowledge, etc.) to work up something from scratch, so building an existing design is probably the way to go. But even this will require significant hobbyist-level electronics skills. There are some controller designs on here that you could use - you’d need to have PCBs made, order components, and solder everything together.

A simple example is Jeremy Harris’ design from a few years back. Thread starts here. As best I can tell, the most recently updated schematics are here and PCB layouts are here.

A more sophisticated design is Lebowski’s, which has the benefit of detailed, step-by-step instructions.

I’m no expert here - I’ve done a lot of reading in these threads but don’t (yet!) have practical experience, but hopefully this is a good starting point for you. This will be challenging for you but it’s interesting stuff and you’ll learn a lot as you dive in. Good luck!

 

[amberwolf]

Do you have to *design* the controller, or can you just build one from existing parts?

If the latter, you could order from various places for most of a kit, like Kenny from Crystalyte, etc. who provides PCBs with most of hte small parts (MCU, etc) already installed, then you build the rest on it by adding FETs, caps, wires, etc.

Or see if Lebowski has PCBs for his original version, along with the MCU chip.


If you have to design it from scratch, well, the TI Instaspin MCU stuff is your best bet for easy start on it, plus the several above mentioned controller design threads for designing and building the power stage.

 

[Lebowski]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=57877&p=863162#p863162

if you need to put the name of your school on the PCB, all the files are there...

 

[DHS]

Thanks for the suggestions guys,

The rules state that the teams must build their own controller, as far as I know they don't expect us to design one. Lebowski has a ton of information and really takes you step by step but I feel like it may be too complicated for high schoolers to build in only 2 months. The one Jeremy Harris built looks a little more doable for us. I'd also be interested in getting a kit from kenny at Crystalyte if anyone has his contact info, this is the first I've heard of this option.

Between all of us at school we have the skill to assemble the board but I think we lack the conceptual knowledge of the electronics. I apologize for my amateur questions, I'm really new to this stuff. I just need to know before we start working how to ensure that whichever we choose is compatible with our motor. So I guess my next question is what would you guys do in the situation? which option would you go with? I feel like contacting crystalyte and getting a PCB with all the smaller components already installed seems like the way to go, let me know if you think otherwise.

Thanks again!

 

[DAND214]

Probably a more affordable is Keywin at http://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-600W-br...ultDomain_0&hash=item45ee67f612#ht_1207wt_929

Many get there controllers from him as kits. here is his email ecrazyman@gmail.com
I have built a few from him. He can do the settings or you can, all you need, he can supply.
send him a letter of what you are doing and what you are using, he can set you up. from almost bare board and parts to a full built.
I do think his price would be better than Kenny.

Dan

 

[Lebowski]

What is your location,maybe there's an ES-er in the area ?

One thing to look for in a controller, especially for the eco marathon, is efficiency. With this respect, the simple ones are not that good. Another thing you maybe want is to put energy back in the battery when you brake for corners. Is it only about competing or you want to have a shot at winning ?

 

[DHS]

I'm going to try and contact Keywin. That'd be great if we could get this in some sort of kit and just assemble it. Our budget for the year did not have enough funds to buy a new fuel cell but I believe we have plenty to build this controller. We're not necessarily looking to go the cheap way but more the simple way, though I guess those sometimes go hand in hand.

We're located in Southern Fairfield County (CT). In previous years We've always tired to build the most efficient vehicle possible but at this point I think our main goal is getting a working vehicle to the competition. Win or lose its a great experience to be there.

Also, does anyone have contact info for Kenny from crystalyte? It wouldn't hurt to get in touch with him and see what he would be able to do.

 

[DHS]

Update,

Found Kenny's email contact. He told me he's unable to sell a controller unless its complete and functional, no kits to assemble or partially put together PCB's. I also emailed Keywin but no response yet.

You guys have been really helpful in pointing us in the right direction. Does anyone have any other suggestions/people to contact? where would you go in the situation? I'm getting a little nervous seeing as we only have about 2-3 months but I'm still confident we can do this.