practice slides and rolling. those will be your greatest skills in the event of an electronic malfunction.
For my other project, it’s imperative that such a malfunction doesn’t happen. If anything fails, it’ll be the ESC. Any good ESC anyone know about? I got the skateboard one because it was cheap, but I need a more reliable one that I can trust to operate.
well, firstly a vesc is only as reliable as the person who sets it up.
but this is basically the list/review you’re looking for right here:
TL;DR: Maker-X DV6/SV6
Eventually, something will give, and the ESC is always the weakest link - too many components that have to work!
Thanks for the list! Never heard of maker-x, but they seem like they make quality stuff. Took a look at this one:
Go-FOC G300 100V 300A ESC - MakerX (makerx-tech.com)
It’s overkill and compact, which is perfect for the job. Imagine it fails anyway…
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I’ve also been looking at
Flipsky 75200 84V High Current With Aluminum PCB Based on VESC For Fig – FLIPSKY
It’s not rated as high, but higher than I need. I just don’t know if I can trust it enough.
not as compact as their other offerings. if your application is HV and uses that much current that’s a great option, but for an esk8 something smaller is much more apropriate (plus leaves more room for batteries)
don’t trust Flipsky ESCs. just don’t.
also this conversation is a derail AF. should probably be in a different thread.
Lmao! Will do.
It’s compact enough for what I’m using it for.
Such is life. One day you’re walking on water, the next day people are wondering if you’re your own father.
@jaykup
Hey, thanks for updating info for the Flipsky ESC. However, there’s something available in the newest beta which needed their firmware.
How do I go back to other firmware? It says there’s nothing for my hardware when I try.
The newest beta adds (app-disable-output -1) command which should solve the momentary delay between braking and the motor accepting App commands again.
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You can load the 75_300_R2 firmware from Vedder’s github, but it’s not recommended as it won’t work as well.
The source files are included in that post so you can always compile the latest version.
If you want to use the latest beta, give this a try. Just compiled this today for the 75_100_V2:
75_100_V2_build_Oct_17_2022.bin (512.0 KB)
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Thanks, that worked perfectly! Wouldn’t have been able to do it without ya. I’d have to spend hours trying figuring out how everything is supposed to be compiled.
Here’s the new code, the old code had a half second pause between switching from handbrake to App control since it had to disable app control all together.
Newest build can simply ignore the loop rather than stop it, and this is much more responsive, there’s no delay between switching from handbrake to regular App control!
; Only Change hz If You Need Faster Responsiveness
(define hz 10)
(define isBraking 0)
(define one 1)
(define zero 0)
; -------------------------------------------------
; Braking Current (CHANGE)
(define brakeVal 30)
; Input Range For Handbrake to engage
; inputTop is the top of the range, inputButtom is the bottom of the range
; Input Value Which AT/BELOW To Engage Handbrake (CHANGE)
; Negative Value Means Handbrake Will NEVER Engage
(define inputTop 0.1)
; Input Value Which AT/ABOVE To Engage Handbrake (CHANGE)
; Negative Value Means Handbrake Will Engage At Any Value Less Than inputTop
(define inputBottom -1)
; RPM At Which You'd Be Too Fast For Handbrake To Engage (CHANGE)
(define RPM 200)
; THIS IS FOR ADC INPUT
; FOR PPM, CHANGE ALL:
; (get-adc 0) to (get-ppm)
(print(get-adc 0))
(print(get-rpm))
(defun brake()
(progn
(if (eq isBraking 1)
(progn
(set-handbrake brakeVal)
)
(progn
(app-disable-output -1)
(set-handbrake brakeVal)
(define isBraking one)
)
)
)
)
(defun unBrake()
(progn
(if (eq isBraking 1)
(progn
(set-handbrake 0)
(app-disable-output 0)
(define isBraking zero)
)
)
)
)
(defun loop()
(progn
(if (and (< (get-adc 0) inputTop) (> (get-adc 0) inputBottom))
(if (or (eq isBraking 1) (< (abs(get-rpm)) RPM))
(brake)
)
(if (eq isBraking 1)
(unBrake)
)
)
(yield (/ 1000000 hz))
(loop)
)
)
(loop)
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Also, just got my load-sensor working, so I’ll try it out on the skateboard with a microcontroller to see how well I can control it with my foot.
Just using one sensor for now, and will probably try it out in a day or two. The microcontroller will only output PPM, so I’ll also have the chance to make sure my code here is functional for PPM input as well.
Worst case scenario, you know why you guys don’t hear from me again.
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I’m sure you’ve dealt with this by now, but hand tools can get it done if you don’t need high precision. My recommendations are: cobalt steel drill bits, cutting oil, and stepped drill bits if the hole is big.
Thanks for the advice. I had a gearbox also, paired it with the motor, and it cut through nicely. In fact, there was so much torque I’ve broken a few of the adapters!
I did need a clean cut, which is why I stopped using my drill. But, I have the cutting power I need with the motor. It made a rather clean cut with the cheapest drill bit I could find on Amazon. I needed a 16mm+ bits, most of the cheap ones had good reviews. Hard to make a weak bit when it’s that thick.
EDIT: I can now edit posts. Now that I have this power I will go through and edit spam links into all my posts and reveal that I was actually a bot.
These are the way 
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I have a pretty good hole, but it’s off center by <2mm. Whether or not this will impact the final product I’ll have to wait and see. Can’t expect to do much better with 2 adapters hooked onto a motor 
.
If it turns out the be an issue, I’ll probably have to get it cut by a shop that has a real CNC machine. But I don’t think it’ll be a noticeable issue.
Any recommendations for a good foot strap? They all look awful and expensive.
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Mbs F5 are supreme if you want a closed binding. There are a few open bindings that only half lock you in if that’s of interest to you
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Jeez, $100! I could make my own foot strap
I’ve been looking at a $10 pair. I’m not too worried about falling off the skateboard, but I also figured it would work well for tight cornering. I could pick up the front of the skateboard with my foot and adjust where it’s facing for when a corner is too sharp to turn normally.
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Well, first test with the skateboard using the pedal idea, not too awful. The thing really holding me back is the speed curve.
Basically, I’m using a weight sensor and I’m pressing on it with my toe. Usually you’d control your speed with a thumb on a remote, I’m doing it with my toe on the board. Still testing though to see what works more comfortably. I’d of liked to test more today, but my batteries died lmao. Since I’ve only been using them for testing on my desk, I always kept them at nominal voltage.
Right now I’m only using one pedal since it’s convenient and may go up to two if it makes sense to.
However, the issue is this stupid speed curve. I press the weight sensor and the skateboard goes flying without me . I feel like no matter what I set the curves to it’s pretty much the same. I haven’t tested it much granted, it’s a lot of work changing a curve then riding it again. I need to get a bigger enclosure so I can comfortably store everything inside and have convenience ports so I don’t have to keep taking off the cover.
I also had another idea, where I’d have a programmed speed control (where it’ll start slow and go fast) that begins when you put your foot on the pedal. So instead of having to press harder, just being on the board makes it go.
Then if you take your foot off the pedal, it’ll brake normally. I could then have another pedal that you can tap to go faster. Then if you needed to slow down, just take your foot off the original petal.
That last idea is a bit more intricate and would take a lot of trial and error, I’ll leave it till last to try if nothing else goes well.
Also, parking brake works great! Just as I imagined. I didn’t tweak the code much, the only thing to keep in mind for PPM is that PPM input can be in the negatives. So when setting inputTop and inputBottom you just have to keep in mind bigger numbers are actually smaller when they’re negative.
I set the parking brake to 40 amps and was good. I had it at 60, but just got worried that everything would get too hot in the enclosure. I put air holes but I’m testing and not really moving fast for air to flow through. 40 amps was good, but might not be enough if on an incline.