Based on the shear effort of getting a Votol to work optimally, I had the idea of "re-braining" the Votol controllers with a small 4.12 VESC. There are a few issues in making this happen but the biggest issue is that Votol is not really a FOC controller. The early VESCs, like the 4.12 used only 2 shunts and worked with a simplified FOC scheme (alpha beta). With the exception of the newest Votol controllers, they use only one shunt and perhaps another voltage based sampler on one of the other two phases.
The Idea was based mainly on the fact that many people, including myself, believe that Votol makes good hardware. However, as I noted above, the holes start to form in looking at the old Votol hardware. For one, TO-220 MOSFETs are not great, even if they are Magnachip. The legs just cannot get the current through. The thin part of the leg, which is how all the older EM-100, 150, 200, and 260 are built, can only handle 50 amps. So, the EM-100 for example only has 3 FETs for each half of each phase. That is only 150 amps. The EM-150 has 4 FETs, that is only 200 amps. So, the max current of these drives comes down more to the mechanical properties of the TO-220 package than the FETs themselves. The lack of true FOC control is perhaps the reason why they controllers require so many parameters and tweaking.
The 4.12 version of VESC was their open source development solution. When Benjamin Vedder pulled the design for his own solution, Trampa, all the designs have been 3 shunt based, true FOC controllers. They also almost all use some form of surface mount FETs (granted most are Chinese) that have numerous legs and extremely high current capabilities with low RDSon currents. Aside from the heatsinks being a bit small (easily corrected with some mechanical heat sinking addition), I would say the layout and design is better (simple layout, short current paths, ect).
So, which one is better at powering your E-Bike or small go kart? Well, the Votol EM-100 offers 100 battery amps with a peak of 330 Phase amps (however, many are 300 amps) and the VESC 75200 does not provide battery amps but can also produce 300 battery amps. So, which one is better? I will test them both to see what the difference is. I know one thing, setting up the VESC will be significantly easier.
If you have done some testing yourself, please share some details. I have some 10 different controllers I have tested with a variety of motors. I try to stay in the budget space as I have lots of projects, not just a couple of meticulous creations. I don't have any of the new Votol controllers like the EM-100GTR that looks superior to the older EM-100s but I do not believe they are any easier to setup.
The Idea was based mainly on the fact that many people, including myself, believe that Votol makes good hardware. However, as I noted above, the holes start to form in looking at the old Votol hardware. For one, TO-220 MOSFETs are not great, even if they are Magnachip. The legs just cannot get the current through. The thin part of the leg, which is how all the older EM-100, 150, 200, and 260 are built, can only handle 50 amps. So, the EM-100 for example only has 3 FETs for each half of each phase. That is only 150 amps. The EM-150 has 4 FETs, that is only 200 amps. So, the max current of these drives comes down more to the mechanical properties of the TO-220 package than the FETs themselves. The lack of true FOC control is perhaps the reason why they controllers require so many parameters and tweaking.
The 4.12 version of VESC was their open source development solution. When Benjamin Vedder pulled the design for his own solution, Trampa, all the designs have been 3 shunt based, true FOC controllers. They also almost all use some form of surface mount FETs (granted most are Chinese) that have numerous legs and extremely high current capabilities with low RDSon currents. Aside from the heatsinks being a bit small (easily corrected with some mechanical heat sinking addition), I would say the layout and design is better (simple layout, short current paths, ect).
So, which one is better at powering your E-Bike or small go kart? Well, the Votol EM-100 offers 100 battery amps with a peak of 330 Phase amps (however, many are 300 amps) and the VESC 75200 does not provide battery amps but can also produce 300 battery amps. So, which one is better? I will test them both to see what the difference is. I know one thing, setting up the VESC will be significantly easier.
If you have done some testing yourself, please share some details. I have some 10 different controllers I have tested with a variety of motors. I try to stay in the budget space as I have lots of projects, not just a couple of meticulous creations. I don't have any of the new Votol controllers like the EM-100GTR that looks superior to the older EM-100s but I do not believe they are any easier to setup.
