Has anyone here looked into using a force sensor or flex sensor to control the motor (foil assist)?
I have basic knowledge in electronics and arduino, thinking of replacing maytech rc with a sensor read by an arduino which sends output via a wireless 2.4gh connection to another arduino which uses the data to directly control the esc for our foil drives. so no bulky remote control in hand just hand or one finger movement in a glove. any takers??
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Sounds to me like everytime you grab onto something with your hand you also activate throttle?
But a nice starting point could be a BREmote PCB, you just need to unsolder the Hall Sensor and attach the force sensor
I think having some kind of pressure sensor to bite down on or push with tongue would be really cool. All the guys here that foil drive stick the remotes in there mouth and push the throttle with there tongue and have a leash attached to their arm to spit out the remote once up on the wave. They use a couple pieces of deck pad to bite onto the remote.
I’m gonna try it.
How difficult would it be to replace the hall sensor with a force resisting sensor as far as code goes to interpret the difference.
I tried some pressure sensors like these. To press them instead of the usual trigger.
Resolution was nowhere near a hall sensor.
I was actually gonna try these. For me on the BREmote I set the gear to 6 and give full throttle to get on the wave. I personally don’t need it to be as linear as a hall sensor, just an on/off almost.
Did you interface it with the BREmote board? If not any suggestions?
If you have selected a specific one with a link to a datasheet or product page I will draw you a quick schematic how to connect
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This is what I was thinking. I’m looking for something a little better quality, but they seem to all be pretty much the same. I’d love for any suggestions.
These look a bit higher quality.
They seem to have a quite non-linear behavior for low forces, so you probably need to play around with resistances.
You will need 1 resistance from 3.3V to one pin of the sensor. That is our measurement pin. The other pin of the sensor goes to GND. So sensor Output is between R1 and Sensor (M)
First take a multimeter and with different resistors (probably either 1k, 10k or maybe 220 Ohms) measure the output voltage at different pressures
3V3 ----- R1 --(M)-- Sensor ----- GND
Connect like this: 3V3 from the right, GND from anywhere, then depending if you want to replace the left (links) or right (rechts) Sensor, unsolder 1 component and attach your wire to the upper pad
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Awesome, Thank You as always! I can’t wait to get a few different sensors in and start playing with it. I was Thinking about printing something in TPU to make the biting easier, but that’ll be a ways out.
Yes, I tried them on the Bremote electronics. But as mentioned, the use and behaviour was not matching my preferences. I connected as Ludwig described, and he also did some SW changes for me, but still it was not nice to use.
My remote was this one, I pressed the sensor with the tip of my index finger.
Maybe for Foildrive it is ok. But If you do not need the linear behaviour, why dont you use just a switch and a long ramp up time?
A switch and a long ramp up time is probably a better idea for me. The first time I ordered BREmote boards I accidentally ordered the standard TX boards, so I have enough to try both.
Also, my electronics are all on a waist belt, so I really don’t need a remote at all. I could directly wire it to the RX board. I could actually just put an arduino in there with some real simple code.
I have not used an assist yet but my instinct is to build a small wireless push button ON/OFF and set the ramp curve to match my battery/prop etc
Ok. Third idea, I’m gonna make a hall sensor trigger that just goes in the mouth. So you bite on the housing and then just use your tongue to push the trigger. So, it could be used directly wired to my box or connected to the BREmote as a remote trigger.
Gonna try all 3.
I would go with a simple trigger switch on the board nose that starts the ramp up of the esc. But on the receiver/vesc side I would add an IMU providing acceleration/position info so you can switch off the motor as soon as a crash is detected (or a specific target speed reached).
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I think for people with the electronics attached to the board this would be a good solution, but because I wear mine on a waist belt this wouldn’t work as well as a bite switch/throttle.
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What about a wrist mounted Tx? You could have a little sprung spool with a string wrapped around it with a ring tied to the end. You could pull on the ring with a finger or thumb on the same hand as the wrist you wore it on. When you were up and didn’t need power you could just release the ring and let it retract. That way you could still use a hall effect to do the sensing of the spool spinning.
@Jesserosco, I assume you are prone and paddling while you are trying to control this thing?
Does anyone do some sort of current or RPM sensing on faux drives to turn off the motor once it is out of the water?
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Yes I am proning, but I don’t have to paddle. I just use the assist. The only annoying thing is having a remote in my hand. I feel like anything attached to my hand or arm could be triggered inadvertently.
I have gotten use to the remote, but it would be so much nicer to have both hands free. I don’t use the assist that much, mostly tow boogie when it’s not windy enough to wing.
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Another thing you could try would be an air pressure sensor like this one, which will sense 0-6psi. Put that board in the remote, or your electronics belt pack, run a thin tube with a ball on the end, squeeze the ball, get a signal at the board. You could have it hanging out the neck of your wetsuit and pop it in your mouth, or you could have it hang out the arm and squeeze it with your hand. I bet it would be way more controllable than those resitive force sensors, and there would be no wiring outside of your waterproof box. Also seems more comfortable to bite down on.
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I am thinking of ordering this new #takeoff_foil assist system. Talking with a sales guy he told me the already test a glove remote for perfect use in conjunction with wing foiling… So maybe you contact them I think they already have a prototype that works otherwise he could not tell me about it;-)
Takeoff Foil Assist by mantafoil (@takeoff_foil) • Instagram-Fotos und -Videos
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