Prius Gen2 adapter board development thread

[johu]

Edit: If you hear PWM, the VCU is signaling the inverter from my experience. When I was not getting any inverter output, I also could not hear any PWM.

Maybe no all phases are firing

[hugow93]

Edit: If you hear PWM, the VCU is signaling the inverter from my experience. When I was not getting any inverter output, I also could not hear any PWM.

Maybe no all phases are firing

Yeah, I think that's probably the case. Is there an easy way to verify this?
I'm ordering some replacement ULN2003 ICs now. Given the damage on the existing one, that's my best guess at the cause.

Thanks for the clarification Zookeeper, will get practicing my surface mount soldering!

[ZooKeeper]

When I had the VCU mis-pinned to the inverter, there was no audible PWM nor measurable ULN output.

[imwoody36]

hugo, when I had that problem... it was a cold solder connection at the MCU. is your board one that needed the microprocessor rotated before johu shipped it to you?

...Oh, just saw your message and photo...yes, you have a bad 2003, I got mine from amazon

[johu]

hugo, when I had that problem... it was a cold solder connection at the MCU. is your board one that needed the microprocessor rotated before johu shipped it to you?

No, you and Damien were the only ones blessed with a hand rotated MCU

[Pcstreet]

Hi to you all you are all doing great work. I'm new to this and being a retired mechanic I thinking about using a mgr to replace Beetle engine and box. My question is if I get a gen 2 board from JLCPCB how do I install the stm32 bootloader. I've watched Damien's video on using stlink v2 to do this but which pins on the gen 2 board do I connect to or do I just need to purchase the pre programmed mod-esp8266 from the shop. I would love to purchase the gen 2 board kit but on a very tight budget any help would be much appreciated.

[RetroZero]

I damaged my first board (and I was not alone), bought a STM Nucleo thingy to try and swop stm32 and reprogramme it. Didn't work (blame it mostly on inadequate tools) and lack of experience.
What I am saying is, try to buy the community kit, there's enough to deal with setting it up, so if you add sourcing items yourself and not using Esp wifi, it complicates diagnostics when solicitating the forum. Oh, and TIME. You need loads more if on a tight budget. My humble non electronics engineer opinion.

[Pcstreet]

Thanks for the reply retrozero I'm going to buy the esp Wi-Fi from the shop but in Damien's video he says you need to program the bootloader and foc first to the stm on the board. On his board he as 3 pins clock ,data and ground to connect the stmlink v2 tool. These are marked on the board but I can't see them on the gen2 board so I wondered if you need to do it on the gen2 board.

[RetroZero]

Euh, if it's the adapter board in this thread - for toyota prius gen 2 inverter, the option is through Openinverter Shop. Not EVBMW. It is Johannes that has 'taken over' code développement of this particular board. It comes with all software. Updates and changes between Sine and Foc is done via wifi.

[Pcstreet]

Yes it is this board and thanks for your help

[Pcstreet]

Hi again got my board connected to power and ground got 2 red led one flashing. Put in the Wi-Fi module and red led on. Green led flashes when I change firmware. So my question is does the board need to be wired to a inverter to show parameters as all I see is like spinning wheels at the side thanks Paul

[johu]

No you just need power

[Jack Bauer]

[RetroZero]

The things you do for the internet! Merci . Very instructive.

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

For the dumb ones of us... what's the takeaway from the video?

Like, I'm not even sure what people were skeptical of and what they were saying couldn't or had to be done... let alone in what way this disproves that.

Something about how people think you need 600v to run a Gen2? And, the video shows that you... don't (except for all the times it spikes to 500v?).

My hunch is that the conclusion is "Shut up, a 250v battery pack is fine and the motor can still reach highway speeds", but, is that true?

I think I need a little nudge to get the context better.

[ZooKeeper]

My MGR will happily spin at way faster than highway speeds with sub 200v power, so with that and the video, I would conclude that:
- Higher volts = lower Amps for same POWER
- All the talk of "Back EMF", while accurate, does not impart a NEED for high voltage
- Voltage does equate to RPM, but not the only factor
- Voltage is the PUSH for Amps
- The power (kW) required can be met by a combination of V & A over a wide range

If I have any of that wrong, please do offer a correction

[RetroZero]

Agree with Matt and Zookeeper. Don't need 650v to run a prius efficiently.
However, the higher the voltage, the wider the operating range AND the slower the depletion rate of battery pack.
Find that sweet point between min operating voltage and maximum range from your battery pack. Since homologation costs here are proportional to modifications complexity, I plan to run the most stock standard option. 250v pack (bit more than standard Gen 2), but more in parallel.
My problem is the jumper wire to bypass buck/boost converter, limiting 20kw...(which I think needs to be removed before using the inverter as a charger) might have to install a kilovac to solve that issue. Then I need to prove the bypass will not be a safety issue, however, driving around and proving there is no "black smoke release" is not enough.
Not lamenting BTW, I love these challenges way over the top... Damien's video reassures the fact that even at 200v we can be rolling.... how far? Depends on how big your pack is

[johu]

However, the higher the voltage, the wider the operating range AND the slower the depletion rate of battery pack.

How so? You can pull 100A from a 400V, x Ah pack or 200A from a 200V, 2x Ah battery pack. Depletion rate will be the same.

[Jack Bauer]

I really shouldn't have made that video ....

[Isaac96]

Too late Damien, just head off to Lanzarote with your ad revenue

We do know that the Prius works at just about any voltage.
Higher voltages require less field weakening.
Field weakening is less efficient because of the extra current required (is it? there's something like that).
That does not mean that you need 650v.
400v seems to be an excellent voltage for running all these Toyota/Lexus motors, as seen on DamienTV. 650V is all well and good but not necessary in the slightest.

[bexander]

The video is excellent!

To keep this thread on topic I have started a new one to discuss the video.
Can be found here:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1155

[RetroZero]

However, the higher the voltage, the wider the operating range AND the slower the depletion rate of battery pack.

How so? You can pull 100A from a 400V, x Ah pack or 200A from a 200V, 2x Ah battery pack. Depletion rate will be the same.

Yup, I still got lots to learn : Volts X Amps = Watts
Amp-Hour is whats going to change how far down the road you go. Ithink

[Pcstreet]

Hi again got everything wired up and getting a message in spot values saying udcbelowudcsw wondered what it means and would it stop the motor spinning. I'm trying to run the motor on 12v hv and what should the pinswap say in the latest foc. Any help would be welcome thanks Paul

[Isaac96]

UCDbelowUDCSW means that your voltage is lower than the 'udcsw' parameter. Set udcsw to 0, that should do the trick as long as your udc is calibrated.

[Pcstreet]

Thanks for that should the pinswap be set to 5 for the gen2 inverter running a mgr as in the tuning video by damien and Joho.