Regenerative braking project with Smart Pie

[JM]

Hello all

I'm a new user to the forum. I'm working on a project for my bike and I'm wondering whether the latest SmartPie by GoldenMotor could be a good fit for it.

I would like to have some control on the regenerative braking power that is being applied by the system. In this case, does the brake lever act as an ON/OFF switch or does it apply a gradual signal for different regenerative braking to be applied?

Also what is the maximum regenerative braking power that would be possible to apply?

[Bikemad]

Hi andto the forum.

Unfortunately, the regen is not variable during use as the brake switch is either on or off, and the regen still operates as either On or Off even if a potentiometer is used to operate it. 

The maximum regen level can be preset anywhere between 20 and 80 Amps (in 1 Amp increments) by changing the EBS Peak Phase Current (A) parameter in the programming software, but once set, it will remain at this set level until the controller is reprogrammed again.



The actual power generated by the regen braking depends upon the wheel speed (and also the battery voltage) but I seem to recall that the regen braking force is much stronger with a 24V battery than it is with a 48V pack.

Alan
 

[JM]

Thank you for your clear response Alan!
I guess there is no work-around for this issue unless the Golden Motor guys decide to implement it...

I saw that Grinfineon controller's do have such a functionality: do you think it would make sense to connect such a controller to a SmartPie in order to work with proportional regeneration? It would be a pity to miss the integrated controller in the SmartPie but as far as the motor goes the SmartPie seems to be the one better fitting in my project and I am considering some sort of a mixed solution along this line: what do you think?

[Bikemad]

As long as you have room to mount an external controller it should not be a problem.
I like the idea of being able to control the amount of regen via a bidirectional throttle, but I have not seen a suitable ebike throttle unit available for this purpose.

My Vectrix scooter has this system and it is so easy to use. Simply twist towards you to accelerate normally and release to cut the power, and then twist away from you to control the amount of regen.

I guess there is no work-around for this issue unless the Golden Motor guys decide to implement it...

I originally suggested these features (and more) to GM over nine years ago, but they were never implemented.

It wasn't until I acquired my first Vectrix scooter (almost five years ago) that I realised that someone had already developed a dual action throttle very similar to the one I had proposed, it even incorporates the auto-reverse function too.





I think that all ebikes should incorporate this particular function, as it is so simple, natural and instinctive to use.

Alan
 

[JM]

Thank you so much Alan!
Space should not be a problem for the time being

A dual throttle is what I had in mind. If I can't find any available off-the-shelf I might go for a home-made version with a hall sensor and magnet

Thank you for the note on Vectrix! Something similar to that is what I have in mind