Archived: the OG noob question thread! 😀

itsrow · January 30, 2020, 8:03pm

Anyone know if newer bluetooth modules are supported by the VESC software(edit)? Namely Hm19 or any bluetooth5.0 modules?

wafflejock · January 30, 2020, 11:59pm

I believe the VESC just uses a custom protocol over UART for communication (only thing I found searching the repo about bluetooth was a commit to change the rx_timeout in packet.c by Roman presumably to give it enough time to connect before timeout)

github.com

vedderb/bldc/blob/73d52d3ba4607414a91d1dee99f311e89b4d9608/applications/app_uartcomm.c

/*
	Copyright 2016 Benjamin Vedder	benjamin@vedder.se

	This file is part of the VESC firmware.

	The VESC firmware is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

    The VESC firmware is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
    */

#include "app.h"

This file has been truncated. show original

I’m by no means a VESC firmware expert but starting to learn my way around STM32 tools and FreeRTOS (unfortunately VESC uses ChibiOS which I’m even less familiar with). I can’t find anything in the OS layer regarding a bluetooth driver though either, so I believe it is just using UART function calls from the VESC side of things and up to the module firmware to use (or implement, but I think can be copy pasted) the same packet format for communication over the UART.

Old article from Benjamin here too so source is probably a better view of current state of things but can get conceptual understanding of how it worked then at least http://vedder.se/2015/10/communicating-with-the-vesc-using-uart/

Edit could be standard Bluetooth firmware too and maybe the custom protocol just needs to happen at the serial communication layer (or I could be totally wrong all around… so yah take it all with a lump of salt)

itsrow · January 31, 2020, 12:20am

You obviously know more about this subject than I do and since you seem pretty unsure I’ll stick with HM10, thanks though!

MysticalDork · January 31, 2020, 12:27am

Yeah, KD has just about the best price and selection for flashlight parts, LEDs, and the like. Their shipping is predictably slow since they’re overseas, but I usually don’t mind.

Banggood is my other go-to source for random stuff - From electronic modules to endmills, they’ve got quite a range of stuff for the penny-pinching DIYer.

Iandaboss · January 31, 2020, 1:06am

hi all i messaged this thread earlier about figuring out how to set up dicky’s mounts but probably no such guide exists. today when i was testing out my board, the motor mounts keep slipping and the motors hit the ground, scratching them. I was wondering if someone who is familiar with the setup of dicky’s motor mounts can look at these pictures and tell me if i am missing some assembly. I wonder this because dicky sent a bag of screws that i didnt use at all, because I can’t figure out where it goes.

Also, i don’t know how close together to mount the motors. They scratch against each other. Can someone advise? Thank you

MysticalDork · January 31, 2020, 1:10am

The screws shown in the bag are for mounting the motors. Since you already have your motors mounted, you can disregard those screws.

Are both the large clamping bolts and the smaller setscrews properly tightened? The nearer setscrew looks loose.

Slight chafing between the backs of the motor cans is not uncommon with large motors. You can try to shim things apart a little with speed rings, but it shouldn’t be a big deal.

BillGordon · January 31, 2020, 1:11am

Grubs are not torqued, for starters. And Paris profile are the hardest to get locked down.

Iandaboss · January 31, 2020, 1:11am

I loosened them when i got home. But on the road, i think the roads here are really bumpy so the vibrations cause them to come loose

MysticalDork · January 31, 2020, 1:12am

Use a threadlocker. I recommend Loctite 243.

How tight are they? Those are fairly beeft fasteners. You can crank them down pretty hard if you’ve got good Wera allen wrenches.

MysticalDork · January 31, 2020, 1:16am

If proper torque (you can look up the recommended maximum torque for your hardware sizes online) and application of threadlocker doesn’t solve the problem, I would suggest removing the coating from the trucks and inside of the mounts, and using a high-strength retaining compound such as 648 or 680 on the joint in addition to retorquing all the screws.

If THAT doesn’t work, JB weld.

If THAT doesn’t work, throw those trucks away and get ones that aren’t round.

Alpacaslapper · January 31, 2020, 1:32am

On surf rodz 8mm hex, is the hanger length including the axle bolt? Says 159mm is that nut to nut?

Harrisonwms1 · January 31, 2020, 2:36am

Hello, I am looking into 3d printing a riser, should I use tpu or petg? Thanks!

MysticalDork · January 31, 2020, 2:58am

It depends if you want a squishy riser or a solid one. PETG will be more solid, TPU will be more squishy

Iandaboss · January 31, 2020, 5:51am

What is a grub? Is paris trucks hard because its rounded

BillGordon · January 31, 2020, 6:07am

These little guys:

Yes. The only thing holding them in place is clamping force, and/or grub screws/loctite. It can be made secure, but with added steps and added failure points.

Square shape (good) or hex shape (better) truck hangers have the shape of the hanger to resist rotation.

Although Dickyho trucks like yours (I also have a few sets) use clamp force and grub screws for all kinds of trucks, with only the internal sleeve changing for the different truck profiles.

Jordicious · January 31, 2020, 6:24am

So I just got the benchwheel remote hooked up to my unity, set the UART baud rate, everything looks good… But I’m not getting the battery level on the remote. The remote is connecting to the receiver (lights go all blinky) but I got no UART… Anyone have any ideas?

BluPenguin · January 31, 2020, 6:35am

You need to configure the unity via usb to focbox tool, not UI. And set control to UART/nunchuck

Jordicious · January 31, 2020, 6:38am

I did both of those things… Still no battery indicator

BluPenguin · January 31, 2020, 6:41am

Huh, weird. Is the benchwheel compatible with vesc 4.xx? That’s the part I’m not sure about

Jordicious · January 31, 2020, 6:42am

On their site they describe it as being “for vesc, focbox, etc”