1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Tell us about the project you do with the open inverter
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

Figured I should create my own thread here rather than butting in on the actual controller threads.

The purpose of this thread is mainly the inverter side of things, and the electronics side of things, since the braintrust of DIY EV electronics seems to have gravitated here.

I won't re-document the mechanical build itself, (including patching together 2 junk cars into one less-junky car), the bulk of that is over at the DIY EV forum here: https://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/s ... 00587.html

It's the ugly one in the back:

Image

Long story short, it's a blend of 2 cars, sold after the previous owner's passing, that I drove 3000 miles to save from being scrap metal. I paid $200 each for them, and I'm trying to do the build as cheap as possible (ala Damien's $1000 build), and has a bit of a theme of using unwanted or garbage items (not too strictly).

...

I'm planning on using a Forklift ACIM I saved from the scrapyard.

It's a 36/48v, 3ph, 6 pole, rated for 961 RPM.

Rated:
13 kW continuous.
18 kW for 1 hour
37 kW for 15% duty cycle (450 Nm)

I think I'll need it spinning around 4800 RPM to go highway speed.

http://en.evs-inmotion.com/products/tsptsw/ (180/6-200).

I actually haven't even tested it yet (no inverter to test it with).

The big one here:

Image

It weighs 255 lbs (116 kg):

Image

Shop towels for scale:

Image

I think I'm planning on deleting the transmission (which I don't have anyway) and direct driving the prop shaft.

...

I picked up a Gen 2 Prius inverter from a crashed car for $150, but it lacks cabling.

Image

Seems in good condition:

Image

I also picked up a Gen 1 Prius inverter for $24, just in case it'd ever come in handy. Maybe electronics projects in the future:

Image

...

And I picked up the inverter cooling pump, only to discover that they famously fail on Gen 1s and don't throw an error code unless the inverter overheats, which it almost never does. Pump appears shorted. Hrmph.

...

I can use a soldering iron, and understand basic electronics, but everything done here is over my head. I'd like to contribute back to the community by documenting my progress and being a good first test case for the controller Damien's building for the Prius Gen 2s.
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

I guess my first questions would be...

What should I buy?

http://evbmw.com/index.php/evbmw-websho ... ogic-board <-- Is this the correct thing I will need to purchase from Damien's website?

And, has anyone built a BOM for it yet, so I can start ordering parts too?
User avatar
Thatguyoverthere
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 5:04 am
Location: California, USA

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by Thatguyoverthere »

AFAIK, Damien's board there is used for development, i.e., it's not a replacement logic board. On his GitHub you can find the schemarics, bom, pretty much everything you need, but be aware, it is very involved.
https://github.com/kaelinwilson
Leaf Motor/Gen1 Camry Inverter
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

Thatguyoverthere wrote: Sat Nov 09, 2019 6:43 am AFAIK, Damien's board there is used for development, i.e., it's not a replacement logic board.
I'm not sure if I understand this correctly.

Are you saying:

1 - That the board is not going to fulfill that purpose, it's just to help people reverse engineering. Or,

2 - To not expect this to be a finished product with no bugs to work out, as it's still in development, and also don't expect it to have all the bells and whistles?

I presumed #2 is the situation.

For example, I've seen him use his board and the Prius Gen 2 inverer to spin a motor. So, if that's my goal, get it to spin a motor, is the board I linked on his store not the board that does that? If so, what is?
On his GitHub you can find the schemarics, bom, pretty much everything you need, but be aware, it is very involved.
Could you elaborate on the "very involved"?

For example, in what way would someone following directions not be able to complete the task?

I know these are very basic questions, but I think I'm probably a fairly typical (if not slightly advanced from average) DIYer who these are sort of being built for, so, hopefully at the very least I can help dumb it down for others in my situation.
User avatar
Jack Bauer
Posts: 3563
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:24 pm
Location: Ireland
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 87 times
Contact:

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by Jack Bauer »

MattsAwesomeStuff wrote: Sat Nov 09, 2019 1:01 am I guess my first questions would be...

What should I buy?

http://evbmw.com/index.php/evbmw-websho ... ogic-board <-- Is this the correct thing I will need to purchase from Damien's website?

And, has anyone built a BOM for it yet, so I can start ordering parts too?
Yep that's the one you need.
I'm going to need a hacksaw
User avatar
Jack Bauer
Posts: 3563
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:24 pm
Location: Ireland
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 87 times
Contact:

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by Jack Bauer »

I'm going to need a hacksaw
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

Jack Bauer wrote: Sat Nov 09, 2019 7:49 amYep that's the one you need.
Whelp. Damnit. It's sold out before I could get one now.

Or was that a glitch that they never got entered into stock?
User avatar
Jack Bauer
Posts: 3563
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:24 pm
Location: Ireland
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 87 times
Contact:

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by Jack Bauer »

In stock:)
I'm going to need a hacksaw
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

Jack Bauer wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:15 amIn stock:)
Purchased!

6500km away, on another continent.

Also today I purchased something from within my own province, a few hours north. It gave me a 3 week estimated delivery time. Let's see which gets here first. Should be neck and neck.
User avatar
Jack Bauer
Posts: 3563
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:24 pm
Location: Ireland
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 87 times
Contact:

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by Jack Bauer »

Will be in the post tomorrow:)
I'm going to need a hacksaw
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

Assistance needed

I'm going through and making an electronics order from Digikey, using the BOM here: https://github.com/damienmaguire/Prius- ... V1_BOM.ods

I do this like, once every 5 years on a project, so, I have basically no idea what I'm doing.

My opinion of the crowd here (openinverter) is that almost everyone is an EE, and even though a few are doing the bulk of the work, even those not doing the work would have no problem doing the work if they wanted to. That means that they can fluidly look at someone else's design and keep up no problem.

I would like to help bridge the gap between those users and the novices who can't engineer these projects, but could manage to build them.

I very much don't want to take the attitude that I'm entitled to any handholding, but, what I imagine is extraordinarily obvious to an EE who understands the basics of the schematic, is /r/TheRestOfTheOwl to a beginner. And probably doesn't need to be, with some added context.

Given that I'm asking for help, I'm also volunteering to do some writeup or added notes for people who aren't EEs so that the next person that has these questions gets a bit more of a walkthrough.

That said, my stupid beginner questions:

1 - They do not have the component in the BOM (BC547B-NPN-TO92-EBC). Here is the BC547B family: https://www.digikey.ca/products/en/disc ... sv=0&pv7=3 . (BOM mentions an update from the BF959 which is an antiquated part? But, all but 1 of these on the list also seem antiquated). EBC is obviously the order of the legs Emm/Base/Col. I have no idea which variant to pick. I presume it's just used as a generic jellybean transistor ala 3904, but, I have no ability to understand the big picture of it's role in the schematic, so it's dumb for me (or, me as a stand-in for an even more novice following instructions) to make guesses.

2 - C-EU050-024X044 (0.01uF and 1uF caps). Ditto as above. Had to dig to get an actual explanation of the library nomenclature. 050-024x044 is a physical form factor that translates to 5mm grid, 2.4mm x 4.4mm for the package. Big deal, I'd make it fit regardless. But no idea what type of cap or spec to pick (I'd presume ceramic?). Just sorting by quantity in stock, ratings are anywhere from 50v to 1000v. I can randomly jab at a cap but I don't want to guess wrong. I've done this before where I picked something and people were like "Whoa whoa whoa, no, that won't work, you gotta use this type, something with these ratings..." and it being black magic to me. Often "Oh, just anything" actually means "I've applied 10 obvious filters in my head already that massively narrow it down, anything that passes that is fine" and that's hard for a novice to replicate since they can't buy a "just anything" and sometimes it matters. Some are $0.05ea some are $5.00 ea.

3 - MCGPR10V227M6.3X11 - (220uF 10v cap, 20% tolerance, presuming an electrolytic?, 6.3mm (round) x 11mm (tall)). Ditto as above. Digikey apparently has none of this brand, which is why it was coming up blank. Chose a Panasonic instead.

4 - R-EU_0207/10 - I figured these were just jellybean 1/4 watts, but had to look it up to be sure. 0207/10 translates to 2mm wide, 7mm long, 10mm between holes (1.5mm per side room to bend your leads down). No wattage is given but, I presume 1/4w because of the component length?

5 - SCHOTTKY-DIODEDO201T15 - Obviously what it says. But, specs? https://www.digikey.ca/products/en/disc ... &FV=-8|280

6 - "Blue Pill" - This obviously means to take a Viagra because you're going to need it to keep up with all the social attention this project is going to get you. Umm, but, seriously, which STM32 am I getting? https://www.digikey.ca/products/en/inte ... 85?k=STM32 Do I need some kind of programmer for it or is that something I can do over USB/wifi?

7 - 6TB and 10TB - Terminal blocks. Type? Spacing? https://www.digikey.ca/products/en/conn ... &FV=-8|371

8 - The schematic shows a wifi module. Is that part of the STM32 or something else?

9 - Anything else that's being connected to the terminal blocks that I should make sure I have in stock either for testing or for implementation?

Is this a single-sided board? After hearing Damien say "Always go 4-layer, it makes it easier", I figured it would be more complicated. I could've etched the board myself I suppose.

... I'm half-tempted to order parts for the DC controller too, and etch that board myself, just because I can.

Thanks in advance anyone who can help out.
arber333
Posts: 3241
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:37 pm
Location: Slovenia
Has thanked: 74 times
Been thanked: 223 times
Contact:

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by arber333 »

I am ME not EE so theres that... I recommend patience and through pin board design for your first inverter board project.

1. More like N2222a GP signal transistor, though gain is different
2. Capacitor, EU type
3. Elcap, most of the same value will work
4. Resistors ....
5. Low resistance rectifier diode
6. ? The cheapest STM32 module
7. ?
8. WiFi gizmo is included in rev.2 or rev.3 Johannes kit. You can also add it later. Life is just easier with it :).
9. For starters it is best to play with DIP kit than SMD. Lots of corrections can be made. And Johannes design includes extensive filtering so for normal application, eg, not a Tesla drive you can get away from EMI.
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

arber333 wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:02 pm 1. More like N2222a GP signal transistor, though gain is different
2. Capacitor, EU type
5. Low resistance rectifier diode
6. ? The cheapest STM32 module
I understand generally what the components are. My questions were more, specifically what do I buy? I (and certainly not a novice) don't have the obvious context of what parameters to narrow it down to.

The cheapest STM32s are just the chip, not the board. I have to pick between the Cortext M0 to M7. Speeds from 24Mhz to 480Mhz. Single or Dual core.

Or I can pick a dev board, some with onboard ESP8266s. https://www.digikey.ca/products/en/deve ... 86?k=STM32

And, would I need programmers with that, or, can it be programmed as-is?

...

I realize they're beginner questions. But I think I (and many) have the ability to build this, just not to design it or make decisions about it.
doobedoobedo
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 12:39 am
Location: UK

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by doobedoobedo »

This was my last blue pill purchase https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1811770 ... 4c4d7BI2Hz you might not want all 10... You'll probably want a programmer too, search for "ST link"

The blue pill is based on a design which is no longer manufactured by it's creator. I doubt you'll find it on digikey or any of the major electroncs distributors. Ebay or a plethora of Chinese sites are your best bet.
arber333
Posts: 3241
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:37 pm
Location: Slovenia
Has thanked: 74 times
Been thanked: 223 times
Contact:

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by arber333 »

Here is the thread where we display how to flash Olimex board
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6

STlink you can get everywhere... say here... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quality-ST-L ... SwZA9c76a2

Here is the video on how to program the Blue pill with the same STlink.
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

doobedoobedo wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:13 pmThe blue pill is based on a design which is no longer manufactured by it's creator. I doubt you'll find it on digikey or any of the major electroncs distributors. Ebay or a plethora of Chinese sites are your best bet.
Oh, I see, it's an actual named thing. I presumed people here were just calling the one that Johannes sells by that name as local shorthand.

Maybe a dumb question, but, of all the microcontrollers out there to use, all the arduinos/etc, why has the community (or whoever) decided to go with an obsolete(?) and out-of-manufacture component for the main brains? Is it something that was picked in the past and now everyone just has extras on hand, or, is the design pre-engineered so all the DIY EV inverter projects here piggyback on that work done in the past, or, something else?
Arber333 wrote:STlink you can get everywhere...
Ahh, that's cheap, I'll pick one up then.
Here is the video on how to program the Blue pill with the same STlink.
That's exactly the kind of non-technical tutorial that's useful to me. Thanks.

...

And while on that note, the wifi module... I've ordered 3 ESP8266s over the years, and each time before I get around to using them (for a first microcontroller project), someone is in dire need of one and can't wait for shipping, so I give mine away. Have still never used one. I know there's a bunch of variants, which should I order?
doobedoobedo
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 12:39 am
Location: UK

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by doobedoobedo »

MattsAwesomeStuff wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2019 8:50 pm Maybe a dumb question, but, of all the microcontrollers out there to use, all the arduinos/etc, why has the community (or whoever) decided to go with an obsolete(?) and out-of-manufacture component for the main brains? Is it something that was picked in the past and now everyone just has extras on hand, or, is the design pre-engineered so all the DIY EV inverter projects here piggyback on that work done in the past, or, something else?
The Design is from the Leaflabs Maple mini which is open source (https://github.com/leaflabs/maplemini). They've got quite a following, reasonably fast arm based chips with a useful mix of peripherals, little brothers to the chip Johannes chose for his design, which is why it's kind of a drop in replacement.

They're manufactured in extremely high numbers in China, by multiple manufacturers which makes them really cheap ($16 for 10 delivered!), and definitely not obsolete. They can be programmed as arduinos if people want to go that route although not all the peripherals are supported by arduino, notably CAN :(.
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

The computers arrived on Friday. Shocking. Partial faith in the postal system restored. Maybe Damien's board will show up soon too.

Wanting to order parts, but, still have some of the above questions as to what to order:

1 - What transistor should I order to replace this obsolete one?
2 - I presume ceramic?
5 - What kind of Schottky?
7 - Spacing on the terminal blocks?

Also..

I don't see a part anywhere for how any of this connects to the actual Prius controller. Does anyone know what that is, or, how I could find out what it is?

Doing my best, thanks in advance.
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

Three things arrived in the mail today:

Image

The Prius V2 board, the Blue Pill, and the ST-Link to program it. All purchased about the same time, one from overseas and the other two a day's drive away. Y'know, you try to support local, I paid like, 400% what they would cost from overseas, and the local shops took so long to get off their ass and ship the product they had no local advantage.

So, next up is to program the Blue Pill using the ST-Link, and hurry up and figure out what the missing pieces of my BOM are.
ozwolf
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:33 am

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by ozwolf »

Thank you to MattsAwesomeStuff for doing this build log.

I look forward to your success with this project.

ozwolf
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

More dumb beginner questions.

Current roadblocks:

1 - Can't figure out what parts to buy to populate the Prius board. I just lack the context of the circuit to know what to order from some of the items in the BOM, as listed above. Also, what connectors I would need to interface with the controller. Doesn't appear that any of this is documented anywhere, which I'm happy to do and contribute to, if I can figure out how.

2 - I've downloaded the ST Link software, connected the Blue Pill to the programmer. But, Damien's Github doesn't have anything (hex file?) I'm supposed to upload. Nor do I really know what I'm doing with it or where the software is for it. I wandered a bit aimlessly through the OpenInverter wiki and couldn't find what to do or instructions to follow.

...

Big picture... I've got a motor. I've got a controller. I've got Damien's Prius board, the blue pill, the programmer. I know most of the components to flesh out the Prius board. I'm not sure how to finish up some of those steps, and then after that I'm not sure at all how to begin putting that together and I don't know where that documentation might be.

I'm aware that some wires on the controller connect to the Prius board, but I don't know which, what, where, etc. So, aside from the few specific questions I'm also generally aimless in a "Where do I go from here?" procedural sense.

As always, help appreciated and I'll try to make sure that the next person after me will have all the documentation they need to not have to ask all these question.
kiwifiat
Posts: 99
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:39 pm
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Been thanked: 10 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by kiwifiat »

MattsAwesomeStuff wrote: Tue Nov 19, 2019 8:21 am The computers arrived on Friday. Shocking. Partial faith in the postal system restored. Maybe Damien's board will show up soon too.

Wanting to order parts, but, still have some of the above questions as to what to order:

1 - What transistor should I order to replace this obsolete one?
2 - I presume ceramic?
5 - What kind of Schottky?
7 - Spacing on the terminal blocks?
1) Digikey.ca have current stock of19,496 TO92 BC547 transistors, Part # BC547B-APMSCT-ND. Why do you say they are obsolete? No more obsolete than the STM32F103C8T6 used on a Blue Pill.
2) Don't have the BOM, but a look at a photo of the built up board posted by Damien will enable you to identify the type.
3) It is an electrolytic 220 µF, 10 V, MCGPR Series, ± 20%, Radial Leaded, 6.3 mm, easy to find an equivalent on Digikey.
5) Ask Damien or take a look at the role it plays, it is a reverse polarity protection diode, ask yourself what voltage and current ratings does it need?, pick one that meets the requirements and form factor.
7) Measure the spacing on the Damiens board, or install Designspark and take a look at the pcb directly, the design spark files are available on github and Designspark is free.
MattsAwesomeStuff
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Has thanked: 278 times
Been thanked: 165 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

kiwifiat wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:18 am1) Digikey.ca have current stock of19,496 TO92 BC547 transistors, Part # BC547B-APMSCT-ND. Why do you say they are obsolete? No more obsolete than the STM32F103C8T6 used on a Blue Pill.
Err, my mistake. The BOM lists that the BF959 is obsolete, and this is the replacement for it.

The one you linked didn't even come up in the search I linked earlier. Else I would have just picked this one: https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/e ... -ND/976369 ... the only one they appear to have in stock, and I would have picked wrong, because it's a 500mW instead of 625mW.
2) Don't have the BOM, but a look at a photo of the built up board posted by Damien will enable you to identify the type.
To a person new to electronics, they wouldn't know.

And even to me, I'd say they look like ceramics, but I have no idea. Maybe it's something that looks like, but isn't a ceramic, and this is obvious to someone who understand the circuit. For example, tantalums often look like ceramics (these don't to me, but...). You can't know what you don't know.

Also, even ceramics... doesn't tell me what voltage to pick. 50v? 500v? 1000v?
5) Ask Damien or take a look at the role it plays, it is a reverse polarity protection diode, ask yourself what voltage and current ratings does it need?, pick one that meets the requirements and form factor.
This is exactly the kind of intimidating thing that I'm talking about with a lot of open source projects. You have to have comparable skill to the people contributing to the project (i.e. they saved you the time of designing it yourself, but you were capable of it if you wanted to).

I can sort of kludge my way through this, but many beginners will know even less about electronics than I do. So "just analyze the design" is almost a complete barrier to people adopting the open-source project. Which then gets discouraging to the contributors.

I've made this mistake before, I look at the voltages it looks like it'll need, pick a component, and then someone will say "Oh no, that won't work, in this design you're going to have inductive spikes several multiples of the expected peak voltage, and at a speed that you'll need a safety factor of 3x over that." So I go from thinking I knew what I was doing, to, realizing that I almost picked a component rated for only 10% of what is actually required in context. I know enough to be leery about overconfidence, without knowing the actual answers most of the time.

It can be hard sometimes for knowledgeable people to remember what it's like to not have that knowledge and put themselves in the footsteps of a beginner. I think that's why so many great open source projects never get adopted for the people they're somewhat designed for, because they're beginner-unfriendly.

And yes, I could have pestered Damien, but, he has done enough work designing the circuit and the boards, so I hoped to lean on the community and delegate some of that nuisance work (in the same way that I hope I can provide value to the community by doing an even lower level of nuisance work that's within my ability).

In short... I still don't know what component to pick.

500v and ~500a? Roughly the max specs of the inverter? [Edited to add - Obviously not, those would be insanely large and expensive. 12V? Is this powered off of the starter battery? Call it 25v to be safe? 50v? And just enough current for the board to run so... ... I have no idea how much current the board will take]
7) Measure the spacing on the Damiens board, or install Designspark and take a look at the pcb directly, the design spark files are available on github and Designspark is free.
That's a good point. Now that I have the board I can take the measurements. But, to be beginner-friendly or to let people plan ahead... I'd add that to the notes. (So, I'll do that when I help with a bit of a writeup).

Looks like 5mm spacing to me.

Thanks for the help. I know I'm asking beginner questions. Thanks for everyone's patience.
Igor
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2019 5:55 am
Location: Wellington, NZ
Has thanked: 6 times

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by Igor »

Keep asking the beginner questions! Others are watching and learning. ;)
rikohm
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:08 pm
Location: Piteå, Sweden

Re: 1970 Opel GT - Forklift ACIM - Project Log & Inverter Build

Post by rikohm »

MattsAwesomeStuff wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 2:55 am More dumb beginner questions.

Current roadblocks:

1 - Can't figure out what parts to buy to populate the Prius board. I just lack the context of the circuit to know what to order from some of the items in the BOM, as listed above. Also, what connectors I would need to interface with the controller. Doesn't appear that any of this is documented anywhere, which I'm happy to do and contribute to, if I can figure out how.

2 - I've downloaded the ST Link software, connected the Blue Pill to the programmer. But, Damien's Github doesn't have anything (hex file?) I'm supposed to upload. Nor do I really know what I'm doing with it or where the software is for it. I wandered a bit aimlessly through the OpenInverter wiki and couldn't find what to do or instructions to follow.

...

Big picture... I've got a motor. I've got a controller. I've got Damien's Prius board, the blue pill, the programmer. I know most of the components to flesh out the Prius board. I'm not sure how to finish up some of those steps, and then after that I'm not sure at all how to begin putting that together and I don't know where that documentation might be.

I'm aware that some wires on the controller connect to the Prius board, but I don't know which, what, where, etc. So, aside from the few specific questions I'm also generally aimless in a "Where do I go from here?" procedural sense.

As always, help appreciated and I'll try to make sure that the next person after me will have all the documentation they need to not have to ask all these question.
2 - As far as I can tell it's implemented in Johannes releases..
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=382
Post Reply