Foil assist - wired controller

Build, Repair & Mod
1

Hello everyone,
This is my first post on the forum.
Inspired by SmurF’s post (SmurF - my foil assist - one more!), I built a similar foil assist unit:
Flipsky 6374 motor - Flipsky FT85BS controller - 16-cell LiFePo4 20Ah battery (5.25 kg)

FoilAssist
FoilAssist1920×2560 906 KB

Batterie
Batterie1920×1080 202 KB

For the remote, I chose to build a wired controller.
I used a Raspberry Pi Pico to generate the PPM signal.

Manette
Manette1920×1080 178 KB

HallNeodym
HallNeodym1920×1440 147 KB

The controller uses two Hall effect sensors and two neodymium magnets.
A 5mm USB cable is used for the wiring.
I can provide more technical details if you’re interested.

My battery is quite heavy, but by the fourth session, I managed to get up on the foil and complete three long flights :slight_smile:
The controller cable doesn’t get in the way much; it runs from the backpack along my right arm, secured by a nylon strap at the elbow.
The motor cables are much more cumbersome, especially when trying to stand up…

1 Like
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Couldn’t you use ADC mode instead of PPM, to save on the Raspberry pi converter ?
All the VESC based controllers typically support that, so a cable with 3 cores going to your hall effect sensor should be sufficient. I’ve used that in quite a few land based projects, and intend to do that too on a foil assist.

3

There is a bit of inherent safety by using a protocol (uart, ppm etc) instead of a dumb analog signal. If water got in to the sensor or cable then an analog would likely go high which means full power. With uart the full message needs to get though to make the prop spin.

3 Likes
4

Good point, I didn’t think about this