S2000 Rotrex + Electric Motor

[SteveB]

Hi everyone. My design is mostly finished and built. It has a FreeRcHobby motor driving a C30 Rotrex, VESC speed controller, InterCooler and a 32S LTO battery. I've done quite a bit of bench testing and it looks like I may be able to get +100HP for my S2000 (240 to 340). I have a youtube channel - Steve Brantley "Supercharger In a Box."
I'm struggling some now with the VESC speed controller talking to an Arduino over a CAN bus. It works, but for some reason drops out and quits responding to commands at times. Very frustrating.

This is a 100% street car, so got to carefully manage temps, etc. I also want it to feel like a NA car driving, so motor control is challenging.

Any advice is very welcome!

Thanks
Steve

 

[maticulus]

Hi everyone. My design is mostly finished and built. It has a FreeRcHobby motor driving a C30 Rotrex, VESC speed controller, InterCooler and a 32S LTO battery. I've done quite a bit of bench testing and it looks like I may be able to get +100HP for my S2000 (240 to 340). I have a youtube channel - Steve Brantley "Supercharger In a Box."
I'm struggling some now with the VESC speed controller talking to an Arduino over a CAN bus. It works, but for some reason drops out and quits responding to commands at times. Very frustrating.

This is a 100% street car, so got to carefully manage temps, etc. I also want it to feel like a NA car driving, so motor control is challenging.

Any advice is very welcome!

Thanks
Steve

Outstanding accomplishment, I don't know what to tell you about the VESC other than to replace it with something else. I have a 16S VESC and still have not figured out why it would cutout short of max power during bench testing. There is one more setting change to try in an effort to solve the issue but from what I've read so far in the area of management problems in general, I've already solved the problem by going with a traditional ESC minus all of the "Extra" and will try to sell the VESC to get some of my cash back as it is too unreliable to continue with for this application.

I'm onboard with the minimal modifications to a stock car and coming from many traditional turbo builds also want to keep it very simple, although CANBUS integration is interesting, my plan is to use a micro controller programmed to send a load signal to the ESC, based on voltage input from the appropriate sources; throttle position, pedal position, rpm and a stand alone 2 bar MAP.

I'm using hybrid batteries from GM vehicles at the 16s level which I believe are a great resource.

I considered the rising rate fuel pressure regulator early on but understand my stock system is capable of supporting about 12 psi with programming. Instead I'll be adding a water methanol injection kit for the benefit of added fuel and outstanding knock suppression plus cooler intake charge. It's really good stuff. It has a way of smoothing out the pulses in the combustion process that can literally be felt in the seat as a sensation of reduced vibrations.

 

[brettus8]

I've set up my system to kick in at a throttle position where the engine makes it's max NA power (this is way less than 100% open). I found that doing so any earlier just wastes electrical energy and runs you out of juice too soon. Hope that helps.
Also: just watched your you tube video .... my setup is similar but a lot less complex. Everything works well and it makes good power on a street car. Might be worth you checking out my thread : https://www.electrifiedboost.com/threads/rx8-renesis-rotary-esc.220/

 

[SteveB]

Thanks for the input fellas. The VESC is my first experience with speed controllers. I have spent an enormous amount of time getting it behaving correctly. I think I figured out the latest issue. It was apparently shutting down due to inactivity, but the Status Light on the front panel was staying lit saying it was not shut down?? I extended the shut down time and the problem went away - typical VESC: try shit until it seems to work. I'm crossing my fingers.