received the electronics parts this week so today I built my BRemote. All worked well until the last step. My computer does not detect any serial port when I connect it to upload the calibration and final firmware. It detect the receiver. And I tested it before the last assembly step and then it was detected. Guess one of the USB cables might have come loose when I pushed in the battery?
What is the simplest way to take apart a fully finished remote? A Dremel to cut the handle? Or is there any thing I can do without taking it apart?
Letās resort to cutting as the last step - we can check a few things before.
The remote is still on and showing something on the display?
Can you cross-check the adapter cable you have made, maybe there is a broken wire in there?
If you plug the remote into the PC - even though itās not recognized, does it react in any way? Reboot, vibrate, etc.?
If nothing helps, I would try to only cut around the end cap with the connector, so you can carefully pull it out towards the back of the remote. Then, with a screwdriver of better plastic stick if some sort work your way through the foam towards the PCB and see if one of the wires is loose.
For RMA where I need to disassemble the remote I usually cut lengthwise two slits each side of the remotes handle, then you can take the halves off to either side. The foam is very sturdy so you may be able to slide a new handle over the whole thing after the repair. Add some epoxy first to all the parts where some of the foam went away. And cut left and right, not top and bottom where the battery sits, or you may also score it while cutting
The cable worked to flash the firmware twice before I assembled everything so quite strange if it just broke after I assembled the remote. Also just checked it with the continuity mode on my voltmeter. All is correct there.
It happens nothing with the remote when I connect it to my PC. Also tried my Mac. Same result.
We will supply you new foam if you need, free of charge! Just contact Jasmin from openfoil. (Note he is on vacation ATM, but will respond asap)
For small quantities you can fill with any 2k epoxy too, the foam is just important in the front of the remote with the moving parts.
The foam is PU Foam, Talamex 45729200, but itās hard to get in small quantities.
Cut of the end-cap as you suggested. And I saw the problem directly. Not a loose cable but a tired guyā¦ Had soldered 3 and 4 wrong. Black was on 3 and green on 4. So soldered those to correct pins (green on 3 and black on 4) and it worked! Flashed the calibration firmware. Calibrated. Flashed the final firmware and could turn off the remote
So now I just need to figure out how to get that watertight again. Have some silicon that I think I will use for that. Or any good suggestion from you? Is it easy to but PU foam in small quantities so I can use those two hole again? Or would PU glue be a better idea or worse idea?
Happy to hear!
As written before if you want the foam we can provide to you free of charge.
But for small touch-ups like this I recommend 2 component epoxy.
5-min epxoy is probably quickest. Though much harder to remove. I have used the silicon on the Maytech remote when I took it apart a couple of months ago. It is easy to remove if I would need to open once moreā¦ but any way that is for tomorrow. Gonna sleep on it.
Went for the Epoxy. But got stuck in getting the last step to work, to be able to control the motor.
The Remote connects to the RX but I only see ā and -c and nothing happens when I pull the trigger. I have tried to swap Rx and Tx cables but did not help. And I am quiet sure I connected them correctly first time.
I suspect only one of the GND is enough cause both pads seems connected on the circuitboard. Do I need 3.3 V connected? I have not since the Maytech receiver did not require it and thus it is not present in the cable I already have to my small box for the receiver.
Do you have suggestions for any good ways to troubleshoot this further? Could not find any troubleshooting section on the website nor GitHub.
If I connect a computer to the USB on the receiver can I see if the VESC and Receiver communicate with each other?
If you see ā and -C the connection is good
Did you run the PPM input calibration wizard? There you should see the input move when you control the throttle. Make sure to be at gear/level 9 when you do the calibration
Ooh no, that I forgot. Ran in now but the values looks strange. I get a minimum around 1.02 ms and a max around 1.53 ms. But when I connect my oscilloscope it reads timings from about 1.49 ms up to 1.95ms. So it seems the receiver is doing ok but my VESC does something odd.
But with the Maytech receiver connecetd I get values from around 1.0 to 1.9 ms.
On the topic of PU foaming Iāve had a couple of mishaps. I ordered 3 kits from openfoil, each with a batch of PU. On the first assembly I obviously was a bit slow in mixing the syringes as it started foaming in the cup, and then it was too late to inject it. And later on I probably had too poor mix because I was stressing to not get premature foaming, which resulted in underfoaming inside and water intrusion and E6 failure. So only one success foaming total, which is largely my fault, but still something that can happen to others if not doing it 100%. I truly hate anything that cures quick! So now Iām out of PU with one remote left, and in Norway it is just the spray can building type.
Another issue: I bought one kit with 3D parts and two with cards only. The cards only kits contained some ābitsā but not the tiny screws for the levers. These screws has to be the correct size since tolerances are so small, and I cannot find these either in this fā¦ing small country It woud be a great idea if openfoil threw in a couple extra of these screws in the order, since the cost would be minimal, or make it possible to make a āsideorderā on for instance screws and PU foam.
Hey, also for you the foam will be replaced free of charge.
The screws should also be part of the only PCB kit, so there may have been a mistake on your order.
Please contact Jasmin from openfoil about this problem, he will replace all the parts missing as well as the foam!
I received my electronics only kit last week and I got actually three screws. But was surprised to get them and the battery and the SP13 connector. None of those were listed as being part of the kit on the openfoil shop.
Finally got it working. I changed the start and center value to the min which lead to the problems I had. Only changing center and end. And also make sure it runs only PPM as well.
One more question about the input PPM. The input signal is a bit jerky. A few samples seems to be much higher. In your video it looks so smooth. Just differences in the production or do you know what is causing this? It does not give any jerky motor control thanks to the median filter.
And finally how come I cannot see the voltage, just two --? Any ideas? And how I can debug that?
Hmm this is way too much jitterā¦
Together with the fact that the timing is off this is awkward, you said you have an oscilloscope? Can you measure the signal while the VESC is connected? Does it jitter too or look malformed?
Regarding UART: The error messages are kind of ok, the communication is quite messy. Do you get a display of voltage and temperature on the Rx with VESC UART connected?
So now Iām out of PU with one remote left, and in Norway it is just the spray can building type.
It woud be a great idea if openfoil threw in a couple extra of these screws in the order, since the cost would be minimal, or make it possible to make a āsideorderā on for instance screws and PU foam.