psychotiller said:
Got it in the mail today! All hooked up in the "In Deck" box. Works perfectly. Cant wait to go for a ride.
Beauty. What nunchuck are you using?
I've been remiss in posting some instructions, so I'll do it here. I can split off a separate thread if needed, and eventually I'll make an independent page (maybe @ diyelectricskateboards.com):
Auto-cruise: a slow speed, about like a first kick. It's initially set at 5% throttle, but every hand-made board will have a different appropriate setting, so here's how to set it:
1) flip the board over, power everything up
2) bump the throttle, be sure the ESC(s) see the controller
3) press and hold C; let it get up to speed. (don't let go of C)
3a) if it DOESN'T move, hold C + the stick up for a bit until the wheels move slowish.
3b) if they move too fast, hold C+ the stick down until they get to the speed you want
-- this will be the "auto cruise" speed. It's meant to be about walking speed, nice and gentle
4) when you get the speed you want, either by up or down, hold C + the stick to one side; the wheels should keep moving at this speed. Hold for 5 seconds; after 3s the wiiceiver will lock in the new "auto cruise" speed.
5) check it -- drop C, let the wheels stop, then hold C and confirm that they go as fast as you want (pretty slow)
6) flip the board over, step up and kick off, then hold C. Ideally the board would get to about where you kicked off, and stay there. If it's too fast or slow, repeat 3a / 3b -- note that if you go below the "auto" setting and let go of the stick it'll try to accelerate back to it, so hold down till you get what you like, then hold over (all the way left/right) until it stays put, then count to 5.
You can re-set that "auto cruise" speed whenever you like. Hopefully it's weird enough to do that you won't accidentally reset it while tearing around town.
There's also a built-in calibration. The wiiceiver has a tiny built-in "neutral" spot, but you can set it exactly if you hold C while the wiiceiver is starting up. Takes about 5 seconds, just hold C with no throttle. I personally don't use the feature, as in testing I bounce between several nunchucks which seem to vary by a little, but the option is there if you're curious. It can ONLY get set right on startup.
Now that you have a calibrated auto-cruse: kick off and hold C, you should coast nice and slowly. Holding C now you're in cruise control, and auto-cruise will just set the minimum speed for cruise; useful for getting started without accidentally blasting off.
Holding C, bump the throttle up. Literally hit it more than half way and let go. Do this a few times, cruise will speed up. Bump it down (while holding C) and it'll slow down. If you let go of C you'll be in neutral, board will coast or whatever your ESCs do in neutral. You can hold C + up to accelerate, on my setup that's a little aggressive so I don't do it a lot, I mostly bump the stick.
Without C, the joystick is just a stick -- press all the way up and you'll get full throttle. I have NOT landed on my butt yet, but someone in this forum has. The board has run off without me, this works just the same as if you yank the trigger on an RC controller. There is a little built-in smoothing, but be gentle while getting used to the joystick.
Pull down (with no C) for "reverse" or brakes, however your ESC is set up.
The wiicevier does some light throttle smoothing -- it takes about a second to actually move the ESC from neutral to 100% throttle, if you slam the stick all the way up. With cruise on the throttle response (up/down) is intentionally gentle. Z button will remove most of the smoothing -- throttle will be much more responsive, and cruise will accelerate / decelerate more quickly.
Personally: I kick + hold C to start, then live on cruise control. Holding the stick up on cruise will accelerate at about my comfort level. When I need to slow down, I drop C and coast, or drop C + brakes. I rarely use the raw stick, but I find that I'm using it slightly more around people on sidewalks just for the faster response. I never use Z in my current setup (8S). At 4S I used it more.
There is also built-in activity detection, in case your remote batteries die or you drop it or something. If you are sufficiently enjoying yourself you won't activate it. If the board drops to idle while you're using the nunchuck, it's probably the activity thing -- let it back to neutral and it'll come back. Carve a bit or wiggle and you won't trigger it. The later code (which is on all the wiiceivers) is pretty good about this, but if you see it happening that could be the cause.
Please share your experiences. You've seen the header on the wiiceiver, it's wide open / hackable / tunable, if you have ideas for making it awesomer, please do so (and let us know).
No debris, Super smooth, sooo much fun. I'm going to take the gopro there tomorrow and do it again.
