Grin Technologies Phaserunner V2 User manual

The Phaserunner
Motor Controller V2
User Manual – Rev2.0, Connectorized
Grin Technologies Ltd
Vancouver, BC, Canada
ph: [phone]
email: [email protected]
web: http://www.ebikes.ca
Copyright © 2017

Phaserunner Controller User Manual
Rev 2.0
Table of Contents
1 Introduction.............................................................3
2 Connections.............................................................4
2.1 Battery Plug.......................................................................................4
2.2 Motor Plug.........................................................................................4
2.3 Throttle Cable..................................................................................4
2.4 Cycle Analyst Cable..........................................................................
2. Communications...............................................................................
3 Installation and Mounting......................................6
4 Parameter Tuning...................................................6
4.1 Motor Autotune................................................................................7
4.2 Battery Settings.................................................................................9
4.3 Motor Phase Current and Power Settings...................................10
4.4 Tuning the Sensorless Self Start....................................................11
4. Throttle and Regen Voltage Maps................................................12
4.6 Field Weakening for Speed Boost.................................................13
5 Hidden Wires.........................................................14
.1 Reverse Mode..................................................................................14
.2 Remote Power Switch.....................................................................14
.3 Separate Ebrake Input...................................................................14
6 Cycle Analyst ettings...........................................15
7 LED Codes.............................................................15
8 pecifications.........................................................16
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Phaserunner Controller User Manual
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1 Introduction
Thanks for purchasing a Phaserunner, Grin’s state of the art compact fiel
oriente motor controller. We’ve worke har to make this a versatile after-
market evice that can be mate with just about any brushless ebike motor an
battery pack. Some highlights inclu e:
75-80% Smaller than Typical Controllers in this Class
Wi e Operating Voltage (24V to 72V batteries)
Completely Waterproof Potte Design
Proportional an Powerful Regenerative Braking
Smooth an Quiet Fiel Oriente Control
Supports External On / Off Power Switch
Remote Forwar s / Reverse Input
Settable Parameters (Phase an Battery Currents, Voltage Cutoffs etc.)
Fiel Weakening to Boost Top Spee
Sensorless Operation with High eRPM Motors
However, unlike stan ar trapezoi al or sinewave controllers, the Fiel Oriente
Controller (FOC) nee s to be tune to the specific motor that it is paire with. For
that you nee the USB->TTL communication cable an a computer with the
Phaserunner software suite installe . You cannot just connect the phase an
hall wires to a ran om motor an expect it to run.
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2 Connections
The V2 Phaserunner has just 3 cables coming out of it; a 6-pin Cycle Analyst
cable, a 5-pin motor hall sensor cable, an a 3-pin throttle cable. It also has
embe e connectors for battery power, the motor phase power, an a
communications jack.
2.1 Battery Plug
The input battery power comes from an embe e male
XT60 plug. You can plug your battery pack irectly into the
controller if the battery lea s are long enough, or use an
extension cable that goes between your battery connector
an the Phaserunner.
2.2 Motor Plug
The three phase motor output is elivere from a 3-pin
male MT60 connector that is well suite at han ling high
current levels. If your motor has a long cable on it that
reaches the Phaserunner, then you can terminate it with
a mating female MT60. Otherwise, a motor extension
cable will be require to connect the motor to the motor
controller.
2.3 Throttle Cable
The throttle cable is terminate in a 3-pin JST plug an is use for simple
systems with just a throttle control of the ebike, with or without a V2 Cycle
Analyst (CA) isplay. The ebrake line is also tie into this throttle signal, an with
the efault settings the throttle signal voltage can be brought below 0.8V to
activate proportional regenerative braking, allowing for the potential use of
bi irectional throttles for control of both forwar s torque an braking torque.
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2.4 Cycle Analyst Cable
The 6-pin Cycle Analyst cable works with both V2 an V3 CA evices. The CA’s
spee signal (pin 5, yellow wire) will toggle once per electrical commutation
regar less of whether you have hall sensors connecte .
Keep in min if you have a V3 Cycle Analyst (CA3), then you nee to plug the
throttle into your CA3 an not into the controller.
2.5 Communications
Finally, there is a TRS port embe e in the back of the motor controller for
connecting to a computer.
The communication stan ar uses a 5V TTL level serial bus, an Grin pro uces
a 3m long TTL->USB a apter cable so that you can connect with the USB port of
a stan ar computer. This is the same communication cable use with the Cycle
Analyst an Satiator pro ucts. You can also use 3r party USB->Serial cables,
such as FTDI’s part number TTL-232R-5V-AJ.
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3 Installation and Mounting
The Phaserunner is esigne to be narrow in
wi th an has a channel own the back of the
heatsink so that it can be strappe to your bicycle
tubing with a pair of cable ties. When mounte
externally like this, the controller is expose to
abun ant air flow for cooling an the on-off button
remains accessible.
If you want to install the controller insi e a vehicle
chassis, then the aluminum heatsink shoul be
bolte irectly to a metal plate via the 4 mounting
holes in or er to help with heat issipation.
Otherwise it will be more prone to overheating
an going into thermal rollback at high currents.
If the controller running at full 96A an is mounte to a bike tube expose to
airflow, it will hit thermal rollback after 1-2 minute an then settle to ~50 amps of
stea y state phase current. When bolte to a large external heatsink, the thermal
rollback at full current will take longer to kick in (4-6 minutes) an will level off at
aroun 70 amps of phase current.
4 Parameter Tuning
If you purchase the Phaserunner as part of a complete kit package with a
motor, battery etc. then most likely the ven or will have alrea y preconfigure the
controller parameters so you can just plug things in an go.
Otherwise, for your first run you will want to have the Phaserunner plugge into
your battery pack an motor, with a computer or laptop nearby that has the
Phaserunner software installe .
The Phaserunner software is available for Linux, Win ows, an MacOS from our
webpage:
http://www.ebikes.ca/pro uct-info/phaserunner.html
Plug in the TTL->USB cable to link your computer to the Phaserunner, with the
Phaserunner turne on. When you launch the Phaserunner software, the status
isplaye on the top bar shoul then say “Controller is connecte ”.
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If you see “not connecte ” instea , then check that the selecte serial port is
correct an that the USB->TTL evice shows up in your evice manager as a
COM port (win ows) or ttyUSB (Linux), or cu.usbserial (MacOS). If your system
oes not recognize the USB serial a apter, then you may nee to ownloa an
install the latest virtual COM port rivers from FTDI:
http://www.ft ichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
4.1 Motor Autotune
With the software connecte , the
next step is to run the Phaserunner
“Autotune” routine. This will cause
the motor to spin, an it is essential
that your bike is proppe up so that
the motor can freely rotate both
forwar s an backwar s. With a rear
hub motor be sure that the cranks can turn completely an won’t colli e with a
kickstan , for example, in case the initial testing spins the motor in reverse.
The start of the autotune process asks for your best guess of the motor’s kV in
RPM/V, as well as the number of pole pairs in the motor. The firmware uses
these initial parameters for etermining the test current frequency an you shoul
input values that are close to the expecte ones. For example, if you have a
motor with a label that says 220 rpm 24V, then a reasonable guess for the kV is
220/24 = 9.1 RPM/V.
The effective pole pairs is a count of how many electrical cycles correspon s to
one mechanical revolution of the motor, an the Phaserunner nee s this
information to correlate it’s electrical output frequency with the wheel spee . In a
irect rive (DD) motor, it is the number of magnet pairs in the rotor, while in a
geare motor you nee to multiply the magnet pairs by the gear ratio.
The table below shows the effective pole pairs for many common motor series.
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Table 1: Effective Pole Pairs of Common DD and Geared Hub Motors
Motor Family # Poles
Crystalyte 400, Wilderness Energy 8
BionX PL350 11
Crystalyte 5300, 5400 12
TDCM GH 16
Crysatlyte NSM, SAW 20
Crysatlyte H, Crown, Nine Continent, MXUS
and Other 205mm DD Motors
23
Magic Pie 3, Other 273mm DD Motors 26
Bafang BPM, Bafang CST 40
Outrider O2 43
Bafang G01, MXUS XF07 44
Bafang G02 50
eZee, BMC, MAC, Puma 80
For other motors, please contact the manufacturer, open the motor to count the
magnets (an gear ratio), or count the number of hall transitions that take place
when you turn the wheel one revolution by han .
Once the kV an #Poles values are put in, then a launch of the “Static Test” will
pro uce 3 short buzzing soun s in or er to etermine the in uctance an
resistance of the motor win ings, an the resulting values will be shown on the
screen.
Next up, you will launch the spinning motor test, which will cause the motor to
rotate at about half spee for 15 secon s. During this spinning test, the controller
will etermine the exact kV win ing constant for the hub an also the pinout an
timing a vance of the hall sensors if they are present. If the motor spins
backwar s uring this test, then check the box “flip motor irection on next run”
an repeat the spinning motor test in the other irection.
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During this spinning test, the Phaserunner will be self starting the motor in
sensorless mo e. If the motor fails to spin an just starts an stutters a few
times, then you will nee to a just the sensorless starting parameters as
escribe in section 4.4 until the motor is able to self start OK.
Finally, the last screen gives you an option to restore all other Phaserunner
settings to their efault values. We recommen oing this unless you have
alrea y ma e custom changes to the other settings which you want to preserve.
4.2 Battery Settings
With the controller mappe to your motor an spinning fine, you shoul next set
the battery voltage an current settings to appropriate values for your pack. We
recommen making the max regen voltage the same as the full charge voltage of
your battery, with the regen start voltage about 0.5V less. For the low voltage
rollback, you can set this to be just above the BMS cutoff point of your battery,
but if you have a Cycle Analyst we recommen leaving this at the efault 19V
an use the CA’s low voltage cutoff feature instea . That way you can change it
on the fly.
You shoul set the maximum battery current to a value that is equal to or less
than what the battery is rate to eliver. Higher battery currents will result in more
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power, but can also stress the battery cells resulting in shorter cycle life, an can
also cause your BMS circuit to trip an shut own the pack.
If you are setting up a system with regenerative braking, then you may also nee
to limit the maximum regen battery current that will flow into your pack if you
have a BMS circuit that shuts off if it etects excessive charge current.
4.3 Motor Phase Current and Po er Settings
In a ition to regulating the current flowing in an out of the battery pack, the
Phaserunner can also in epen ently control the maximum phase currents that
flow to an from the motor. It is the motor phase current that both generates
torque an also causes the motor win ings to heat up, an at low motor spee s
this phase current can be several times higher than the battery current which you
see on a Cycle Analyst.
The Max Power Limit sets an upper value on the total watts that will be allowe
to flow into the hub motor. This has a similar effect to a battery current limit, but is
epen ent on voltage. With a 2000 watt motor power limit, you will be limite to
27 amps of battery current with a 72V pack, while you woul see over 40 amps
with a 48V battery.
The Max Regen Phase Current irectly sets the peak braking torque of the motor
at full regen. If you want strong braking effect, then set this to the full 80 or 90A,
while if the maximum braking force is too intense for your liking then re uce it.
The following graph illustrates the interplay between motor phase current, battery
current, an motor output power for a typical setup. When ri ing full throttle, at
low spee s you will be phase current limite , at me ium spee s you will be
battery current limite , an at high spee s limite by the voltage of your battery
pack.
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4.4 Tuning the Sensorless Self Start
If you are running in sensorless mo e, then you will likely nee to tweak the
sensorless self start behaviour. When a brushless motor is run without hall
sensors an starte from a stan still, the motor controller attempts to blin ly
ramp up the motor RPM to a minimum spee before it can latch onto the rotation
(close loop).
It oes this by first injecting a static current into the phase win ings to orient the
motor in a known position, an then it rotates this fiel faster an faster until
reaching the Autostart Max RPM point.
As a starting point, you shoul use an autostart injection current similar to your
maximum phase current, an Autostart Max RPM about 5-10% of the running
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motor RPM, an a Spinup time anywhere from 0.3 to 1.5 secon s epen ing on
how easily the motor can propel the bike up to spee . On bikes that you pe al
assist to help start, then a short 0.2-0.3 secon ramp will often work best, while a
much longer ramp is require if you nee to get going with zero pe al input.
If the autostart ramp is too aggressive or the Autostart Max RPM is too low, then
on hitting the throttle you will feel the motor repeate ly trying to start again an
again. You may also generate faults such as instantaneous phase over-current
error. If you are getting phase over-current faults uring the sensorless start,
then you will usually nee to increase the current regulator ban wi th an /or the
PLL ban wi th parameters.
4.5 Throttle and Regen Voltage Maps
Unlike most ebike controllers where the throttle signal controls the effective
voltage an hence unloa e RPM of the motor, with a Phaserunner the throttle is
irectly controlling the motor torque. If you pick the motor off the groun an give
it just a tiny amount of throttle, it will still spin up to full RPM as there is no loa
on the motor. Meanwhile if you are ri ing the vehicle an apply partial throttle,
you will get a stea y torque from the motor which stays constant even as the
vehicle spee s up or slows own. This is ifferent from stan ar ebike
controllers, where the throttle more irectly controls motor spee .
By efault, the Phaserunner will be
configure so that active throttle starts
at 1.2V, an full throttle is reache at
3.5V, which is broa ly compatible with
Hall Effect ebike throttles. The
Phaserunner has an analog ebrake
line which is tie to the throttle line,
an the regen voltage is mappe so
that regenerative braking starts at
0.8V an then reaches maximum
intensity at 0.0V.
With the brake an throttle lines tie
together this way, the Phaserunner
can support variable regen through
bi irectional throttles or a V3 Cycle
Analyst, with just a single wire for
forwar s an braking torque.
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4.6 Field Weakening for Speed Boost
One useful feature of the Phaserunner as a fiel oriente controller is the ability
to boost the top spee of your motor beyon what is normally possible from your
battery voltage. This is one through the injection of fiel weakening current that
is perpen icular to the torque pro ucing current.
The exact spee increase for a given fiel weakening current will epen on the
characteristics of your particular motor, an increasing the spee this way is less
efficient than using a higher voltage pack or a faster motor win ing. But for a
spee boost of 15-20%, the a itional losses are quite reasonable consi ering
the gains.
The graph below shows the measure motor RPM (black line) as a function of
the fiel weakening amps for a large irect rive hub motor. The yellow line is the
no-loa current raw, which reflects the amount of extra power lost ue to the
fiel weakening. At 20 amps of fiel weakening, the motor spee increase from
310 rpm to 380 rpm, while the no loa current raw is still just un er 3 amps.
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5 Hidden Wires
There are several a itional wires insi e the throttle cable that will be reveale if
you pull back the heatshrink, inclu ing forwar s/reverse control, a remote switch
input, an an analog brake signal.
5.1 Reverse Mode
The brown forwar s / reverse wire is useful in certain trike an qua situations
when you want to back up un er power. To use this, you will nee to hook up a
switch that shorts the signal wire to a groun wire. In the Phaserunner software
you can in epen ently limit the reverse spee so that the vehicle oes not shoot
backwar s at full throttle.
5.2 Remote Po er S itch
The two button wires allow you to hook up a remote switch if you want the ability
to turn the system on an off without having to turn off battery power. These two
wires contain the full battery voltage so be careful not to short them against any
signal lines.
5.3 Separate Ebrake Input
Finally, you will notice that the throttle signal cable has both blue (analog brake)
an green (throttle) wires crimpe together on the same pin. If you want to have
separate signals to control your braking torque an your motoring torque (say
two throttles, or an ebrake lever that has a proportional voltage signal on it), then
you can separate the green an blue wires from this pin an sen in epen ent
signals to each of them.
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6 Cycle Analyst Settings
The Phaserunner controller uses a 1.00 mOhm precision shunt resistor for
current sensing, so to have an accurate rea out of your current you only nee to
make sure that the CA’s RShunt is set o 1.000 mOhm, which is conveniently the
efault value.
Because the Phaserunner uses a torque throttle rather than a voltage throttle, the
optimize throttle output settings on a V3 CA evice may iffer from what you
might use with a conventional ebike controller. The ramp up an ramp own
rates now control the rate at which motor torque is increase or ecrease , an
can be higher values for similar smoothing effects.
LED Codes
The embe e LED on the si e of the controller provi es a useful status
in icator if there are any fault situations etecte . Some faults will clear
automatically when the con ition is gone (such as throttle voltage outsi e of
range), while others will require turning the controller off an on first.
Table 2: Phaserunner LED Flash Codes
1-1 Controller Over Voltage
1-2 Phase Over Current
1-3 Current Sensor Calibration
1-4 Current Sensor Over Current
1-5 Controller Over Temperature
1-6 Motor Hall Sensor Fault
1-7 Controller Under Voltage
1-8 POST Static Gate Test Outside Range
2-1 Network Communications Timeout
2-2 nstantaneous Phase Overcurrent
2-4 Throttle Voltage Outside of Range
2-5 nstantaneous Controller Over Voltage
2-6 nternal Error
2-7 POST Dynamic Gate Test Outside Range
2-8 nstantaneous Controller Under Voltage
3-1 Parameter CRC Error
3-2 Current Scaling Error
3-3 Voltage Scaling Error
3-7 Hall Stall
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8 Specifications
8.1 Electrical
Peak Battery Current Programmable up to 96A* Suggeste 40A Max
Peak Phase Current Programmable up to 96A*
Peak Regen Phase Current Programmable up to 96A*
Continuous Phase Current 45-50 Amps*, 70 Amps with A itional Heatsink
Phase Current Rollback Temp 90°C Internal Temp (casing ~70°C)
Mosfets 100V, 2.5 mOhm
Max Battery Voltage 90V (21s Lithium, 24s LiFePO4)
Min Battery Voltage 19V (6s Lithium, 7s LiFePO4)
eRPM Limit Not recommen e above 60,000 ePRM, though it
will continue to function beyon this.
Max Current from CA DP Plug 1.5 Amps (Auto Shut own at Higher Currents)
RShunt for Cycle Analyst 1.000 mΩ
* Thermal rollback will typically kick in after 1-2 minutes of peak phase current, an
current will then automatically re uce to maintain controller rollback temperature.
8.2 Mechanical
Dimensions LxWxH 99 x 33 x 40 mm
Heatsink Bolt Holes M4x0.8, 5mm Deep, 26.6mm x 80.5mm Spacing
Weight 0.24 – 0.5kg (Depen ing on Cable Length)
DC Battery Connector Amass XT60
Motor Phase Connector Amass MT60
Signal Connectors Female JST-SM Series
Communication Plug 1/8” TRS Jack
Waterproofing 100% Potte Electronics, Connectors Not So Much
8.3 Connector Pinout
** Ebrake / Thro le wires can be separa ed if desired
*** Caution ith old small screen Cycle Analysts, additional diode is required
in Throt line to prevent full po er hen plugged in.
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