Jamie here from Flipsky Team. We’re now developing our FIipsky waterproof remote for electric surfboard. But we encountered a problem in the process of development. Here’s the thing:
A>if the remote with GPS module, it can display more datas like the speed & mileage & remote power & surfboard power etc on the screen; but on the sea, if the weather is bad or there are obstructions, the GPS signal will be interrupted and the screen data display will be inaccurate. And after signal restoring, the datas on the screen will be displayed accurately again.
B>if without GPS module, the signal is stronger and not easy to be interfered when using on the sea, while it can display less datas like remote power & surfboard power but not speed & mileage on the screen.
If need a new waterproof remote for your efoil board, which one would you buy as your first choice?
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I would place an IMU to extrapolate the speed during the time you don’t have a GPS signal and still go with GPS module. Also, please consider displaying all the info from a VESC on the remote.
If you want to place a GPS in the remote for speed purposes then you need to allow users to add in their prop pitch and gear ratio. This will allow the remote to read telemetry off a VESC and calculate the speed from motor RPM, Gear ratio, prop pitch and prop slip. If the GPS loses signal then the calculations take over.
I don’t see the point of having the speed or pretty much any data other than voltages displayed in the remote screen for the simple reason that when you are foiling you don’t want to spend time glancing down at the remote consistently.
Features that make sense:
Remote voltage
Battery Voltage (with a choice of how you want it displayed: %, V, or graph)
Low voltage warning buzzer (goes off when the battery gets below a voltage you set)
Cruise control
GPS
Telemetry logger (logs all the telemetry so that it can be analysed afterwards)
In my opinion, the long throttle is the most important thing for a good remote.
check very well 100% waterproof.
GPS and data is the less important to me if control (potenciometer), 100%waterproof and signal work perfect in your first version.
All of the above and preferably a Pwm/ppm throttle signal from the receiver and not over UART like the vx2 is. Have the telemetry information sent separately through UART (like the vx1?). This will let us use the remote directly with almost all esc’s and not just vesc’s.
design case which would be easy to open it and take care of potential leak ourselft since most efoil are diy
data display : not all information are necessary since i prefer to analyze recorded data after a run and it is nice to let the uart port free of the vesc to plug a metr.at module for instant …
so one very simple or one with all features including a large display that can be easely read while riding
since i guess all data could be only send via a vesc, and most of the time , vesc users have with them already vesctool (pc or phone) and like to change settings, i would go for "simple reliable remote " at a decent price
It’s great Flipsky is developing a remote!! I think data is great to have, and I think the GPS module should be included for speed and distance travelled.
As others have said, definitely consider having VESC data compatibility.
A feature where the battery % left is based off the watt hours consumed would be amazing. So the user would input the battery size. E.g. 2000wh. The VESC logs the wh consumed, so 500wh would be 75% charge 1000wh would be 50% left and so on. This would be so much more accurate and easy to know how much charge is left and the charger level won’t fluctuate when the board is stopped or under load - just like DJI drones, phones and laptops. This would have to be a VESC feature and would be very easy to implement in your remote code.
Of course, live power, amps and other data are all nice to have and should be hidden behind a main simple home screen so everyone benefits!
Thanks Virus. This is exactly what we are tangling with, except 100 % waterproof and strong signal, we still try to improve the features, that’s why the topic was created haha, we want to hear your valuable opinions.
