Castle Creations ICE 200

[mechanix]

I know this isn't an ebike, but the people that post in this forum seem to be the most knowledgeable when it comes to rc controllers. I'm considering using an ICE 200 to power a hub motor in a stokemonkey configuration to move a 350lb kart in rough/muddy terrain (a garden plot). If there was a 1:4 reduction before the wheels, which will be approximately 12" in diameter with good tracgtion. Would it have a problem getting started from a dead stop? The controller will be seeing roughly 14V, and I'm not sure what hub motor I'll be using as of yet. Would I be better off with a sensored setup? The reason I wanted to go with sensorless was because I don't want it to be subject to hall sensor failure.

Cheers!

Joel

 

[Ypedal]

I think it's best to use a hall sensored controller and just put some effort in wire protection and routing.. reliable instant start and halls will not be a problem if you install it right..

14v ?... why

 

[dnmun]

if you start at 14 V where do you end up? even if it was wired directly to the 12V rails instead of through the voltage regulator there is the risk that the voltage sag could cause a failure of the mosfet drivers to switch which could destroy the controller itself.

 

[mechanix]

Thanks for the replies, I said 14v because it will be powered by a 12V SLA battery. The battery will be quite large, probably atleast 100AH so I'm guessing the voltage won't sag lower than 10V? If the sensorless controller won't work, is there a way to make something like an infineon work at these voltages? I guess if it's really necessary I could use two SLA batteries in series, since the solar panels that are charging the batteries are 24v Panels (nominal).

Joel

 

[nieles]

do a forum search, iirc jeremy harris did a 12v infinion controller. i think it was for his boat

Edit:

found the thread:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16651&p=248818&hilit=copper#p248818

 

[Hillhater]

For a garden cart, why dont you simply use a brushed motor & controller ?

 

[mechanix]

I would like to use a simple brushed setup, but the brushless motors appeal to me because they already have the hall sensors in them, which I will need for position sensing. It's going to have to know where it's going and how far is has to go.

I think I'm going to go with the sensored setup, and just make sure the halls are properly protected with epoxy to keep the moisture out. Thanks for the help!

Joel

 

[dnmun]

to use these brushless controllers you will need at least a 36V pack. it shuts off at Low Voltage Cutoff, LVC, of 30.5V. you will need 3 12V lead acid or SLA.

 

[Hillhater]

I would like to use a simple brushed setup, but the brushless motors appeal to me because they already have the hall sensors in them, which I will need for position sensing.

That is confusing, considering your original statement ! :?

...The reason I wanted to go with sensorless was because I don't want it to be subject to hall sensor failure.

...It's going to have to know where it's going and how far is has to go.

..i dont think motor sensors will be very reliable for that in " in rough/muddy terrain" !
...any wheel slip and its lost.
Better to have simple motion sensing on an un driven wheel...or some GPS system

 

[etard]

I'm not seeing the controller nor the motor surviving this scenerio. If you have 2 batteries, why not wire them in series and give your electrical components a fighting chance?

 

[dnmun]

i repeat, you can't run the controller on 12V. you can't use sensorless because the wheel has to turn first for the switching signal in the controller to work, so you would have to push the wheel barrow to get started.

there is another thread somewhere of someone building a powered wheel barrow.

you could try to find a brushed 12V DC motor and add some 100-1 reduction gearing and just use a simple contactor to activate the motor. a starter motor for a car or something similar, and use a starter solenoid to activate it.

 

[mechanix]

Thanks for all the replies!

Hillhater, I was planning on using a sensorless controller on a motor with sensors. The controller wouldn't utilize the feedback from the sensors, only the microcontroller (arduino mega2560) would be seeing the signal from the halls.

I thought that maybe the extra gear reduction would allow a sensorless controller to be utilized, giving it enough of a mechanical advantage to get the tractor up and going with it's "starting algorithm". Now that I know this isn't the case, I'll have to see if I can get a sensored system up and going. I decided to bump the system up to 24v (two sla batteries in series). This isn't the most efficient way to use the power because there were many smaller components that are going to be on 24 hours a day, and a 24v to 12v dc/dc converter will now be needed which isn't very efficient.

 

[dnmun]

if it is not efficient then turn them off. not sure why you need to do this with a brushless hub motor for a bike. why not just get a 12V DC motor and just use it. nothing elegant needed. starter motor, starter solenoid.

why are you worried about hall sensor failure to begin with? if you don't short them out, they will work forever.

 

[mechanix]

Sorry, I guess I didn't fully explain the scope of this project. In hindsight, it would have been smarter of me to start a build thread.

This drivetrain is for a fully automated, solar-powered chicken tractor for my senior design project in mechanical engineering at Oregon State University. The project is centered around an arduino mega2560 microcontroller. The distance travelled per day needs to be fairly precisely controlled, as does the direction of travel. I plan on using halls for distance feedback, and an image sensor for direction feedback (it needs to traverse down a straight garden plot, approximately 100ft long). There are also wheels that raise and lower automatically, photosensors to sense when the sun has set, and cameras used to take pictures of the chickens that are then wirelessly transmitted to a website to be viewed online. It's actually a pretty ridiculous project, but it's what my sponsor wanted. Atleast it should be fun to build!

Again, thanks for all the help guys!