What is the best 2.4GHZ controller for VESC?

Video demonstration

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With everyone talking about connection drops, does that actually happen when the nyko receiver is connected directly to the UART ? I thought Iā€™ve heard most people say it almost never drops once you do that ? Also what actually happens during a drop, what happens if connection drops while you are riding around, you have to stop with your foot ? Could something bad happen like the machine keeps accelerating or something like that?

Yeah something bad like that can happen.

This looks great @jacobbloy. One thing I notice is that as you increased your speed while using cruise control, there was a nice smooth transition from one speed to another. On my current build using VESC, when I to increase or decrease speed while using cruise control, [tap up (to speed up) or down (to slow down)] the result is a ā€œjerkyā€ transition that almost knocks me off the board. Iā€™ve been playing with settings in BLDC to see if I can fix it but perhaps the custom nunchuk PCB is the solution.

Very cool remote!..

Thatā€™s interesting @treenutter I use a wiiceiver and all the acceleration and deceleration on cruise is smoooth as.

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@lowGuido itā€™s the only thing I donā€™t like about the nunchuck implementation for VESC. Thereā€™s a workaround; itā€™s just to release the cruise button, accelerate (or decelerate), and then press+hold the cruise button again. But it would be better if that wasnā€™t needed. Thereā€™s likely a fix that I havenā€™t discovered yetā€¦

Wow. That sucks. One of the big sellers for me on the VESC was the built in nunchuck support. I havenā€™t got my VESC yet so Im yet to judge. But if its as you say thatā€™s pretty lame. You could use a wiiceiver signal split into the VESC. But then thereā€™s the additional cost of the wiiceiver. .

So do drops happen when you solder the nunchuck receiver to the VESC or is that only when you use with the wiiceiver ? Also in what case might it get stuck as accelerating ? I would think if it disconnects it would just stop ( unless cruise control is on ) since its not receiving any signal ? So is the only danger if cruise control is on ?

I use a wiiceiver so i cannot assure you 100% with VESC. But i can assure you that with wiiceiver, with my nyko kama soldering stops all the dropouts. I can also tell you that before i soldered it and i was using the slide on connection that I have slammed a number of times from droppout related incidents. Including but not limited to: Acceleration stuck on. Acceleration stops suddenly while climbing a hill. Brakes donā€™t work at all, and then they work full. (This one is the worst)

In any case soldering is always better.

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Hey @lowGuido when you get your VESC and solder the wires to the port, could you take pic and share it? Iā€™ve never soldered thin wires like this to a port, so Iā€™m wondering about the amount of solder to use and the direction to guide the wires.

@lowGuido keep in mind that Iā€™m a total novice, so there is probably a setting that Iā€™m missing somewhere. Does anyone else w VESC and nunchuck experience have thoughts about jerky acceleration when using cruise control? @jacobbloy ?

I was going to remove the JST connector and through hole solder the wires. like this:

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You could do that but why not just use the solder spots at the backside of the VESC and solder it horizontally?

I just use a JST-connector and simply solder those wires which came with the connector to the wires coming from the receiver.

I only use a jst plug, and have no connection problems!

seeing as I donā€™t have my VESC yet, its difficult for me to make a final decision on how i will do it, because Im not super familiar with the layout. iā€™ll definitely use a JST plug to start with while testing and configuring. if I donā€™t have any issues with it then I may well leave it. I have had problems in the past where the servo connector from my ESC has fallen off while skating. I like to keep things as solid as possibleā€¦ plugs and connectors to me just seem like one more possible point of failure. I have always tried to minimize plugs wherever I can

I think that the nyko Kama and regular wii nunchucks the vesc is trying to understand the code sent to it, where the code on the pcbs isnā€™t really made for electric skateboards. It like when my 1 yr old talks to me the words are broken up and I have to smooth it out to understand it.

The wiiceiver and vesc do a great job at this but I would say Vedder wrote custom code and designed the pcb for this reason!

@treenutter jst press in connectors, just need a fine flat head screw driver and ā€œjamā€ the wire in the connector.

4 pin: http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/04KR-6H-P/455-2689-ND/2797475

6 pin: http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/06KR-6H-P/455-2687-ND/2797480?fullsite=true

7 pin: http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/07KR-6H-P/455-2686-ND/2797469

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Hmm i wonder if those press in connectors would handle the vibration without them starting to break the exposed wire after a while.

@lowGuido @jacobbloy I got in a few hours of riding this weekend and Iā€™ve realized something; my comments about VESC and jerky cruise control were due to my own user error.

One of the challenges\joys of DIY is that there arenā€™t typically ā€œuser manualsā€ for different devices and tools. We have to figure out how a designer intends for us to use something.

So when using cruise control with VESC and a nunchuck, hereā€™s how it works:

Hold down Cruise Button: This will lock the current speed. On descents, the motor will work to reduce the speed if needed. This is totally awesome. Very controllable downhill!

To Accelerate: (While holding Cruise Button) gently move the throttle upward a small amount. The cruise throttle is cumulative; you are ā€œaddingā€ to the existing speed when you use the throttle. Only a small addition of throttle is needed to increase speed. If you give it too much throttle while in cruise, and you have sufficient torque, youā€™ll feel a ā€œknockā€ while you rapidly increase speed (not recommended!)

To Decelerate (While holding down the Cruise Button): Release the Cruise Button momentarily, and then depress and hold it down again. You have now achieved smooth deceleration! If you need to reduce speed further, do it again or depress for a longer period of time.

DO NOT PULL DOWN OR TAP DOWN ON THE THROTTLE WHILE HOLDING DOWN THE CRUISE BUTTON. This activates the brake and youā€™ll feel strong braking instead of smooth deceleration. You may fall off if youā€™re not expecting this!

Iā€™ll also note that cruise works amazingly well when climbing hills. You can climb at a consistent speed and VESC regulates the amount of power needed to achieve the climb at your desired speed. All hail the mighty VESC!

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