I used FOC with a 6S battery and a SK3 213kv motor. It works flawlessly! When i switched to 12S and the SK3 149kv i did not get it running… I dont know why. Maybe because i have VESC HW4.10 which does not have the better capacitor at C18.
Currently my VESC is broken. I will have it repaired these days and have soldered the new capacitor at C18. Then i will try it again.
Noob question: You will do a motor detection with no load. When configurating FOC i should also do it without any load (wheels)?
Yes the Raptor comes in BLDC mode.
I don’t get the FOC hype. Okay the real hype is over after so many people fried there VESCs, but where are the advantages beside the sound?
I heard the Fets get hotter and for that reason its a no-go for me.
@whitepony I’ve been using FOC for a while now, about 100+ miles with it and I love it. My setup is here in my build thread. I added a cap to c18 and that seemed to make things run more smoothly. I have VESC HW version 4.7 so the mod improved performance.I had to tinker with the brake settings and startup to optimize it. I love FOC mode and wouldn’t go back. I like the quiet operation and somehow it feels more even during acceleration. Using PPM mode for control also worked much better for me than using the native Nunchuck app.
@whitepony@Haimindo yup I’ve had FOC enabled on both my single and dual boards with no problems. The only time I’ve had a problem with FOC was when one of my motor phase wires came loose on my dual build which caused it to brake after a full throttle. I prefer it over BLDC because of the stealth since I’m always riding around the city. With Carvon hubs its nearly silent and I get much better battery life on FOC. Here’s a rundown of my setups:
Carvon V2 Single Hub + 12s1p LiFePO4 + Ollinboard VESC + Torqueboard 2.4ghz Mini Remote
FOC Enabled
Motor Max: 60.00 A
Motor Min: -60.00 A
Bat Max: 40.00 A
Batt Min: -12.00 A
Absolute Max: 130.00 A
Max ERPM: 60000.00
Min input voltage: 8.00 V
Max input voltage: 57.00 V
Battery cut off start: 35.20 V
Battery cut off end: 33.20 V
Startup Boost: 0.040
Soft RPM limit:
ERPM limit start: 0.00
ERPM limit end: 60000.00
Carvon V2 Dual Hub + 10s Enertion Space Cell + Ollinboard VESC’s + Torqueboard 2.4ghz Mini Remote
FOC Enabled
Motor Max: 60.00 A
Motor Min: -60.00 A
Bat Max: 15.00 A
Batt Min: -12.00 A
Absolute Max: 130.00 A
Max ERPM: 60000.00
Min input voltage: 8.00 V
Max input voltage: 57.00 V
Battery cut off start: 35.20 V
Battery cut off end: 33.20 V
Startup Boost: 0.040
Soft RPM limit
ERPM limit start: 0.00
ERPM limit end: 60000.00
from what I understand, the foc implementation has higher efficiency and the sound is a big deal for me. first of all it adds to the feeling of riding a regular longboard, but most of all it might just be the reason why a policemen does NOT turn his head
nice to see you with a high KV SK6374 - gives me hope that a low KV SK6374 (168KV) with 10S might work too. the first carvons used SK6374 Motors if i remember correctly @RunPlayBack (which kv)?
I also had the impression, that nunchuck & FOC didnt work out at all, but before I could test it with a PPM device, I fried my vesc. Im receiving a german 4.11 C18 modded vesc hopefully this week - basically the same thing I fried on my trampa after 10minutes. ist really itching to try foc, would be the ultimate holiday boarding experience with the superflexy vanguard and a dead silent motor.
I think that the Nunchuck app for vesc has variable results in terms of throttle resolution. I can’t tell if it’s because some nyko kama’s are duds, or if the app itself can’t receive the full range of throttle inputs from the device. In either case, I found it much harder to control throttle with the nunchuck; it seemed like it only sent inputs at a few intervals; 0%-50%-100% throttle.
Once I switched to gt2b everything was steez.
Haha me too! Now that I have a good jeweler’s loupe I can see how crooked the cap is, but it still works!
To answer you initial question: I am driving FOC on all boards now, with 4.7, 4.10 and 4.12 VESCs since January. But none of the boards is on 12s (4 on 10s, 2 small cruiser on 7s) and when I switched I didn’t switch back and forth again between FOC and BLDC, I just stayed with FOC. Never had any issue at all, I’m riding every day, even in rainy conditions.
Most of the fatal failures I observed when people were using FOC with 12s or have switched between FOC and BLDC, sometimes multiple times…
I’m not sure what the reasons for those failures are, but I could imagine that for switching the modes you need to do a “factory reset” on all values in between (installing FW again and/or doing a “read default config”) to make sure to start with a clean environment. But again, that’s just a guess.
With 12s I think the risk in general is higher to have voltage peaks beyond the VESCs capabilities. The latest change Ben made to FW 2.18 might also reduce the risk a little bit. Still, FOC is in development and not yet safe for everybody. That’s why I recommend not to use it unless you understand all the values within the FOC tab and are able to manage them manually as well.
I read the battery wire length is more important on FOC. I’m on 12s FOC and it’s been fine. Vesc is always cool. I left al the default settings other than what I plugged in after the test. Ran the bldc test first but almost never ran bldc
I am using a various motors at the moment: CarvOns V1 and V2 (SK3-6374/149kv), Johns hubmotors with 80kv and 90kv, our own esk8-6355/200kv and esk8-6374/200kv sensored, chinese no-name (Bubblegum Board, in Kid’s mode) 5065/245kv, Alien 5065/270kv sensored (now replaced by our own 6255).
Remotes: Badwolf gt2b mod, Mini-Remote 2.4GHz, Kama Nunchuk, 1x Wii-Nunchuk with wiiceiver, Generic (bechwheel) 2.4Ghz Remote.
Cable length were an issue in the beginning, but staying below 30cm I never had a problem anymore.
@elkick where do the measurements for the 30cm begin and end? Is it at the start of the battery cable that leads out of the battery pack, or at the connector?
And where does the measurement end? Is it at the cap PCB of the VESC, or the connection on the main PCB?
It’s measured typically between cells and capPCB. But this is just my own observation and is also related to the cable quality, thickness and how they are mounted (putting +/- close together when routing them across the board might be a good idea). I tested it several times, and every time I went beyond a certain length I had issues.
So I don’t know if others were experiencing the same. Normally I am using 12AWG HK silicon wire. And the BMS wiring might not add to the whole calculation, since it’s only at the - cable.
If the wires are too long or building the inductance somehow and messing the FOC up…adding caps is a solution right?
Thicker wires with the the red and black as close as possible as was said is a good start.
