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Using A VESC based ESC with another software

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Farah
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Using A VESC based ESC with another software

Hello

I am working on a project related to the design optimization of marine propellers. The objective is to design an interface for the data acquiqition and the control of the propeller's motor. I will be using these motor and ESC: Flipsky Brushless Motor Sensorless Amphibious Fully Waterproof motor 65161 120KV | 100KV 6000W for Efoil | Ejet boards | Ebike, and the ESC: Flipsky FSESC 75200 75V High Current 200A ESC Base On Vesc With Aluminum Case Water Cooling Enclosure For E-Foil Fighting Robot Surfboard AGV Robot.

I have two questions regarding this ESC: first, can I use a potentiometer connected on the ADC input of the ESC to control the motor's speed? Second, am I able to read from this ESC (current, voltage and RPM measurements) and write on it (give the PWM signal for example) with a software like Labview without using the VESC tool?

I would like to be able to use the ESC with a Labview interface that I will design without using the VESC tool, so I need to know more about the inputs and outputs of the ESC and how to access all the data if possible.

Thank you in advance

vadicus
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Joined: 2018-08-17 07:26
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Yes to all questions. VESC tool is great for debugging and configuring, you don't really need for day to day operation of a controller+motor once it's all conffigured. 

You can use UART, CAN, ADC, PWM, etc. to control the motor using any software you like as long as you follow the communication protocol or expected analog or digital signal inputs.

 

 

NextGen FOC High voltage 144v/34s, 30kw (https://vesc-project.com/node/1477)

Farah
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Thank you for your reply, but if I don't use VESC tool, how can I know exactly how to read from ESC and how to send commands? is there any code that can be used to know how each variable is defined and what commands are used ? Thank you

vadicus
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Joined: 2018-08-17 07:26
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Lots of ways to do it. The most obvious one is to use some sort of embedded platform like Atmega, or NRF5x. with a display and some controls you need. Can be a POT or hall throttle, or you can command power output via UART.

As an example, in this project https://vesc-project.com/node/1814 I used an NRF52 based watch with a capacitive touch display to do most things VESC tool can do.

You can also check this project to get you started:  

https://github.com/SolidGeek/VescUart

 

 

NextGen FOC High voltage 144v/34s, 30kw (https://vesc-project.com/node/1477)

Farah
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Last seen: 3 years 9 months ago
Joined: 2021-03-12 15:10
Posts: 3

Thank you again, these links were really helpful. I have a last question, can we change the motor's rotation direction with this type of esc using arduino programming? Thank you