I like how you did the case! I would however not design it so it can be done with 4mm all the way. I made a video of my first set of vesc6 cases and it had 9 tool changes i think but that was including drilling and tapping M3 and M4 in the same operation. It’s way more efficient to remove material with a bigger endmill/rougher
The 3 fixing spots to the enclosure is the way to go. The Escape is only fixed with two M3 over at the fets so there is a lot of strain on the board if the case isn’t filled with silicone around some sweetspots.
If you need milling of the enclosure I’ll do it for material cost+shipping for a good cause I’m not an expert at this so tolerances won’t be aerospace like but should be decent for a case.
@okp thanks, I have’t forget about you- I’ll send you the torture units as soon as they are made; maybe also the new antispark
So many tips in one post, thanks! much appreciated. While choosing the bom I think is wise to beware of China market stock. By this logic the NTMFS5C series is a champion, basically any chinese resaller has them both fake and original. I was thinking about going with the -612 (dual) offering a combined rdson of 0.75 mohm, less gate charge of a directfet and an average price of 0.6eu each (China market) for the originals.
I like the double cooling of the toshiba though so I will look into that, as well as the shunt ic.
I was meaning that smallest radious is 4mm so it is possible, not mandatory, to do 0 tool changes . Your offer is very generous; I would feel bad though about outsourcing the big batch for real production after your favor-- and unfortunately outsourcing is almost mandatory to keep costs low and logistics simple. How about if on top of materials+shipping I send you 10 unpopulated pcbs? Thanks for the #cncporn btw.
@fedestanco No worries about outsourcing for a bigger batch. This is more of a hobby anyways and I just wanted to help out on a good project for the prototype I just got a set of escapes so Pcb are really not needed but if you really want to it would be cool to try to solder up my first smd project for my kids toy car
Hi @fedestanco,
Is there any room for another connector ? I’d love to have access to more STM32 spare IO.
I stuck into coding my custom VESC FW integrating mode because no spare IO for interacting with it.
Using Rx/Tx (as coded in the official FW) isn’t a way to go as everybody wants BLE now.
Also, to reduce cost of the case, why don’t you machine only the bottom and then machine POM walls ?
Less material, less machining, less cost.
Why would I need an additional PCB with CAN transceiver while I only need one or two additional digital input ?
There are a lot of unused IO on the VESC’s STM32, so KISS, no ?
I wrote a firmware that embeds simple mode, compatible with any app (not only ppm).
I collected a LOT of feedbacks from different users (from electric skates, scooters or bike users) about this lack of mode switching just by pushing a button (and not using a smartphone with all known connectivity issues)
In the current firmware, the only way to use digital input is to use :
Rx/Tx if not in “whatever + UART” app (= impossible to use bluetooth or other UART third-party devices)
PPM input in ADC mode
Those digital inputs are already used for cruise control or reverse purpose.
The only trick I could do today is to re-program unused ADC3 as a DI on HW6.4.
This is why having a couple of other DI could a a really good improvement for enhancing the use of VESC in so many applications.
Yes, there is quite some real estate on the bottom side, where the logo is. The purpose of this free space is to solder an FCC certified nrf module, so that even US people can use this feature.
Thanks to @linsus’ hint I re-routed -again- the 3rd shunt amplifier. BTW I still don’t understand well why a PWM signal is more susceptible to EMI than the current sense traces. I thought it was the opposite.
I also made a first draft of the BOM, trying to max out the components specs.
Octopart says that the best 680uf 63v cap is EEUFR1J681L (21mohm, 10 000h life, 2.8A ripple). But @Blasto claims focbox caps are 20mohm; maybe a typo?
Doesn’t really matter if the IC is certified or not, you have to certify the Product as an individual unit, thats why trampa doesnt include it in thier US version, simply to complicated and expensive.
I like where this is heading as the 3d renderings look great. What I would like to see though is some thing like the focbox unity for the vesc 6. You do that and there would be a line of people waiting. I feel like once you have some of your esc out with some real world testing maybe start looking at doing something for a dual drive all in one system because so many people here have the dual setup. I wish I could lend my knowledge but I do not have much knowledge in the electrical field, If this was the analytical field then I would be able to help.
I dont remember correctly now but I think if RF module is pre-verified by FCC you don’t need to verify whole product as long that module is fixed to your hardware and follows requirements or something like that…
Sounds very unlikly to me. FCC is way more strict then the EMC directives we have in the EU. And here you have to do sevral certifications, EN55xx is just for anything electrical. Addin a radio on it adds sevral other certifications if a commercialy available Product. I love the idea that the manufacturer could promise that, but feels bit farfetched.
Thanks for the link. 1-2k is doable. But you must have a very solid and tested design before submitting the request, and it could take a while.
My backup plan to skip stupid legal stuff was to manufacture, instead of the “cover pcb”, a 2mm plexiglass cover (which BTW looks much cooler since you can see the interiors) and have the module siliconed to it. This way you don’t have to obtain a new certification since you didn’t technically create an “rf pcb” but just a support for the module.
The connection to the vesc below this plexiglass can be made by a simple I/O cable.
I’m not an expert at this so tolerances won’t be aerospace like but should be decent for a case.
. Your offer is very generous; I would feel bad though about outsourcing the big batch for real production after your favor-- and unfortunately outsourcing is almost mandatory to keep costs low and logistics simple. How about if on top of materials+shipping I send you 10 unpopulated pcbs? Thanks for the 
This is why having a couple of other DI could a a really good improvement for enhancing the use of VESC in so many applications. 