VESC Field Oriented Controller for T500

Third Party Products Hardware
1

Hi all,

i’m currently testing a hi performances FOC controller with the T500. ( with pretty good result at this time … )

To get the exact rpm of the thruster ( hard to measure underwater … ) , i need to know the number of poles of the T500 motor.

Anybody knows ?

Thanks in advance ! :grinning:

2

@luc-rossi That’s awesome! Would love to hear more. The T500 has 14 magnetic poles, just like the T200.

-Rusty

3

Thanks Rusty !

It’s about a very exciting ROV project were i need precise control at low speed…

I’m using an ESC based on VESC project.
In addition to fine control at slow speed, there’s many benefits :

  • the current control loop allow limitation of torque, preventing damages to motor or ESC if stuck
  • you know in real time speed, current, power, …
  • ppm, serial and CAN interfaces
  • and many more ! :grinning:

I’ll probably post something at the end of my tests …

2 Likes
4

Hi Luc.

This sound very, very interesting. I have done some testing with these solutions also. But when we run it at full speed it only delivers 80 % of the force at the same current as the Bacis ESC, do you have any experience with that?

Which VESC are you using?

Best Sigurd

5

Hi Sigurd,
i’m using VESC 6 EDU with latest software.

Since our interest is in low speed and high efficiency, i didn’t tested the thruster at full speed. Anyway, i’ll be very surprised that it perform worse than the basic ESC !

I think it’s just a tuning problem. There’s MANY parameters in VESC tools that you can tune to optimise ( or affect ! ) thruster performances !

6

HI Luc.

Sounds reasonable, do you have a tuning profile for the T500 you can share? I am using it for an ROV which needs to clean, which means that I’m using a lot for power.

I have not tried with the newer firmware, I will do that tomorrow.

Sigurd.

7

Hi Sigurd,

I have not the hand on the VESC at this time, but i can share one of the setup i tested in august. ( probably not optimum for full speed )

Let me know if it’s better …
t500_test4_vtool4.xml.hex (10,2 Ko)

( i added the .hex extension to be able to upload it, but it’s an xml file )

8

Hi Luc,

Thanks, that seems to work well. But I can not go any higher than 89% input. I have tried to adjust the different parameters as current and duty cycle, but I can not find the limiting factor at the moment.

If you would like to share some more information, please reach out to sk@subcpartner.com.

Sigurd

9

Hi Sigurd,

I should play again with VESC in January, i’ll see if i can optimize the settings …

10

Hi Luc,

I would also love to get in contact with you. We are also trying to read real time data such as rpm, current, power consumption from our motors using a vesc based motor controller. We currently have the Pi+Navigator setup in our electronics enclosure on our ROV. Your knowledge on this topic would be greatly appreciated, please reach out to my email konstantin@remorarobotics.no.

11

Hi Konstantin,

what kind of informations are you looking for ?