Regen shows positive current near zero speed (VESC)

Hey guys,

I’m seeing something a bit confusing with regen on my VESC setup.

When the motor is spinning, negative current works as expected (regen).
But when the speed drops close to zero, I sometimes see the motor current go positive, even though I’m still commanding negative current.

I don’t feel any forward torque, it just shows up in the logs.

Is this normal behavior at low speed?
What could be causing this?

The term “regen braking” is a bit misleading.

To brake to a full stop. The vesc has to apply a bit of current. Which is called “active braking”.

It’s nothing to worry about.

You can change the settings to use more active braking, to keep your board locked into position on a hill for example.

2 Likes

Yes. :arrow_up:

BLDC motors’ regenerative ability falls off a cliff as you approach a stop, because it’s the speed of the magnet relative to the conductor that generates the voltage. So voltage needs to be applied from the battery instead, consuming energy instead of harvesting it, right around zero speed.

2 Likes

How to make these changes in the vesc tool?