Grin V4 User manual

Baserunner Controller User Manual
Rev 1.0
The V4 Baserunner
Motor Controller
User Manual – Rev 1.0
Grin Technologies Ltd
Vancouver, BC, Canada
ph: (604) 56 -0 02
email: [email protected]
web: www.ebikes.ca
Copyright © 2021

Baserunner Controller User Manual
Rev 1.0
Table of Contents
1 Introduction.........................................................................3
2 Connectors...........................................................................4
2.1 Battery Leads...................................................................................................4
2.2 Motor Cable.....................................................................................................4
2.3 Cycle Analyst WP Plug.................................................................................5
2.4 Mains Signals Plug..........................................................................................5
2.5 PAS / Torque Plug...........................................................................................5
2.6 Communication Port.......................................................................................6
3 Wiring Strategies..................................................................6
3.1 Cycle Analyst Based Hookup.........................................................................6
3.2 3rd Party Display Hookup.............................................................................7
3.3 Headless System..............................................................................................
4 Controller Mounting............................................................9
5 Parameter Tuning .............................................................10
5.1 Importing Default Parameters....................................................................11
5.2 Motor Autotune.............................................................................................11
5.3 Battery Limits................................................................................................14
5.4 Motor Phase Current and Power Settings.................................................15
5.5 Tuning the Sensorless Self Start..................................................................16
5.6 Throttle and Regen Voltage Maps..............................................................17
5.7 Field Weakening for Speed Boost................................................................1
5. Virtual Electronics Freewheeling................................................................19
6 dditional Details: ............................................................20
6.1 Throttle Priorities.........................................................................................20
6.2 Reverse Mode................................................................................................20
6.3 Demux Circuitry ..........................................................................................21
6.4 Wheel Speed Sensing....................................................................................21
6.5 Motor Thermal Rollback via Baserunner..................................................22
6.6 Regenerative Braking...................................................................................22
7 Cycle nalyst Settings........................................................23
8 LED Flash Codes...............................................................24
9 Specifications.....................................................................26
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Baserunner Controller User Manual
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1 Introduction
Thank you for purchasing a Baserunner, Grin’s state-of-the-art, co pact, field
oriented otor controller (FOC). We’ve worked hard to ake this a versatile
after- arket device that can pair with a wide range of ebike syste s.
This anual covers the V4 odels of our Baserunner_Z9 and Baserunner_L10
controllers, first released in 2021.
Features of the V4 Baserunner include:
Co pact flat for factor can fit in downtube battery casings
User progra able para eters for custo ized tuning
Wide operating voltage (24V - 52V no inal batteries)
Co patible with both Cycle Analyst display and 3rd party displays
Supports, Throttle, PAS and Torque sensor control
Waterproof design with potted electronics
Proportional and powerful regenerative braking
S ooth and quiet field oriented control
Protects otors fro overheating with ther al rollback
Re ote forwards/reverse input
Field weakening to boost top speed
Sensorless operation with high eRPM otors
Unlike standard trapezoidal or sine wave controllers, the Baserunner is a field
oriented controller that ust be tuned to your otor, battery, and perfor ance
require ents. We will look at this process in Section 4, Parameter Tuning.
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2 Connectors
The V4 Baserunners achieve axi u versatility with ini al wiring. A pair of
+- battery leads supply power, a single over olded cable carries all otor
signals, and three waterproof signal plugs support a range of hookup strategies.
2.1 Battery Leads
The short 5c leads for the battery pack e erge on the
back end of the controller. When supplied with a
downtube battery these leads will be soldered to the
ating cradle connectors, while they ay be
unter inated or fitted with Anderson Powerpoles when
purchased alone.
2.2 Motor Cable
The otor connection has 38c lead to either a HiGo L1019 connector or a
Z910 connector depending on the odel. This length is sufficient to reach a rear
hub otor on ost bikes with the controller ounted on the downtube or seat-
tube. Front hub installations are supplied with a 60c otor extension cable.
Baserunner_L10 Motor Plug Pinout
The Higo L1019 cable has three otor
phase pins capable of 80 a ps peak,
along with 7 s all signal wires for hall
position, speed encoder, and otor
te perature.
Baserunner_Z9 Motor Plug Pinout
The Z910 cable has three otor phase
pins capable of 55 A peak, and just 6
signal wires, 5 for the hall sensors and
the one additional wire can be either
otor speed, otor te perature, or
co bined speed and te perature.
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2.3 Cycle Analyst WP8 Plug
WP8 Pinout
The connector for the Cycle Analyst cable uses
the waterproof 8-pin Z812 Higo standard.
This connector taps into the controller's shunt
resistor for analog current and power sensing,
with signals for speed and te perature fro the
otor and a hookup for throttle control.
2.4 Mains Signals Plug
Mains Pinout
New to the V4 devices is a Cus ade Signal D
1109 Connector that supports conventional ebike
wiring strategies for 3rd party display consoles.
This connector shares any signals with the CA-
WP plug, but rather than using the shunt resistor
for current sensing, it has TX and RX pins that
co unicate digitally to the display.
Generally this connector will pair to a harness that
splits out separate lower pin count display, throttle,
and ebrake plugs at the handlebar.
2.5 PAS Torque Plug
PAS Pinout
The V4 Baserunners include a 6 pin HiGo MiniB
Z609 plug for direct connection of a PAS sensor or
Torque Sensor, even without the use of a Cycle
Analyst device.
Note that the Torque signal links to the controller's
throttle input, and the PAS 2 signal can
alternatively be configured as a FWD/REV input
instead.
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2.6 Communication Port
The TRRS jack e bedded in the controller ay be used for connecting to a
co puter, Android s art phone, or potential Bluetooth dongle (future product).
The co unication standard uses a 0-5V level serial bus. Grin sells a 3 long
TTL->USB adapter cable to connect the unit with the USB port of a standard
co puter. This is the sa e co unication cable used with the Cycle Analyst
and Satiator products. Third party USB->Serial cables, such as FTDI’s part
nu ber TTL-232R-5V-AJ are also co patible.
A USB-OTG adapter then is needed to connect to an Android s artphone via the
phone's s aller Micro USB or USB-C port.
3 Wiring Strategies
The V4 Baserunners can be hooked up to to the controls of an ebike syste in
one of three ways. Either under the control of a V3 Cycle Anlayst, under the
control of a 3rd party display, or headless with no display at all.
3.1 Cycle Analyst Based Hookup
The setup using the latest V3 Cycle Analyst (CA3-WP) provides the ost
versatility with ode presets, custo izable PAS behavior, advanced regen
features, and easy perfor ance adjust ent on the road.
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The CA3-WP device is plugged into the atching connector. All throttles,
ebrakes, and PAS or Torque sensors are plugged in directly to the Cycle Analyst.
The 6 pin PAS plug of the controller is not typically used. However, a short
adapter is provided that should be plugged into the 9 pin Mains cable. This
adapter serves two purposes
•It links together the ebrake and throttle signals of the controller so that
the throttle output of the Cycle Analyst can be used for both throttle and
regenerative braking control.
•It provides a convenient tap point for supplying power to a rear bike light
via a 2-pin Higo plug.
3.2 3rd Party Display Hookup
The Baserunner can be used with Third party displays (King Meter, Bafang,
Eggrider etc.) that co unicate with a range of digital protocols through the use
of the 9 pin Mains cable and a custo ade cable harness and splitter junction.
These displays are usually powered fro a 5-pin Higo plug, while other higo
cables for throttle, ebakes, and front lights would also e erge fro the junction.
This configuration would nor ally include a PAS or Torque sensor that is hooked
up directly to the 6 pin PAS plug on the controller, with the Baserunner controller
specially configured to respond to PAS signals.
At present Grin only provides support for this hookup to OEM custo ers
purchasing co plete syste s with Third party displays using the KM5s protocol,
and does not offer support or the co ponents for this at the retail level.
In this wiring approach, the WP8 Cycle Analyst plug is not needed, but it can be
used as a convenient tap point to power a rear bike light as well.
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3.3 Headless System
Finally, the Baserunner can be run with only a PAS / Torque sensor wired up to
the 6 pin PAS plug, or just a throttle on the Mains plug. In this arrange ent, it is
essential to wire up the on/off power switch on either the WP8 plug or the Mains
connector for the controller to turn on.
There is li ited ability to odulate the PAS power assist level in this ini al
approach as the controller does not have a native input for increasing or
decreasing the PAS power adjust ent without reprogra ing. For a basic PAS
controlled ebike ost people would still want a s all co unicating display
device that provides up/down power adjust ent.
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4 Controller Mounting
The Baserunner’s low profile allows it to just fit inside a odified baseplate of
Reention and Hailong downtube battery casings. Grin supplies these odified
controller housings with their pockets illed out to fit the Baserunner.
For use in other applications, Grin also produces ounts to secure the
Baserunner to a flanged plate, a round tube, and the fender bolt of a Bro pton
bicycle fork.
For opti al perfor ance, the
controller should be installed such
that the etal ounting plate is
exposed to airflow to keep the
controller cool. This will noticeably
i prove the axi u power at
ther al rollback co pared to a
controller that is in still air.
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Tube Mount
Fork Mount
Flange Mount

Baserunner Controller User Manual
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5 Parameter Tuning
If you purchased the Baserunner as part of a co plete conversion kit that
includes a battery, otor, and so on, the controller should already be configured
and no tuning of the para eters should be necessary. This section can be
skipped entirely.
If you bought the Baserunner separately, or are changing your set-up, you should
configure the controller to your otor and battery pack once it is installed and
connected up on your bike. You will need a co puter, a TTL-USB progra ing
cable and the V1.5 or later Phaserunner Software Suite. The V1.4 and earlier
software releases will give an “unrecognized device” error essage.
This software is available for Linux, Windows, MacOS and Android fro our
webpage:
http://www.ebikes.ca/product-info/phaserunner.ht l
Please Note: hen configuring your Baserunner via the software suite,
it is essential that your bike is propped up so that the powered wheel
can rotate freely, both forwards and backwards. ith a rear hub motor,
also ensure that the cranks can rotate freely.
With the Baserunner powered on, plug in the TTL->USB cable fro your
co puter to the Baserunner. When you launch the Phaserunner software, it
should open to the “Basic Setup” tab and indicate “V4 Baserunner connected”
on the top
If you see “Controller is not connected,” check that the selected serial port is
correct and that the USB->TTL device shows up in your device anager as a
COM port (Windows), ttyUSB (Linux), or cu.usbserial (MacOS).
If your syste does not recognize the USB serial adapter, or has frequent co
ti eouts, then you ay need to download and install the latest virtual COM port
drivers directly fro FTDI:
http://www.ftdichip.co /Drivers/VCP.ht
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5.1 Importing Default Parameters
The Phaserunner Software Suite co es equipped with default settings for any
co on otors. With your Baserunner connected, click on “I port Defaults” and
select your otor’s anufacturer and odel nu ber fro the new window.
Clicking on “Apply” will return you to the “Basic Setup” tab with all the otor’s
para eter-fields populated to their correct values.
Install these new settings to the
Baserunner via the “Save
Para eters” button. Apply so e
throttle and your otor should run
s oothly. If so, you can now skip
over the “Motor Autotune” section,
and proceed to “Battery Li its.”
If your otor is not listed on the “I port Defaults” window, try choosing
“Download Latest Defaults fro Grin” and follow the pro pts. If default settings
for your otor are still not available, proceed to the “Motor Autotune” section that
follows.
5.2 Motor Autotune
Basic Setup tab
The Autotune routine can
auto atically detect otor
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para eters like the otor speed constant (kV), resistance of one otor phase to
neutral (Rs), and the inductance of otor phase to neutral at the no inal
co utation frequency of the otor (Ls).
The start of the Autotune process asks for your best guess of the otor’s kV in
rp /V, as well as the nu ber of pole pairs in the otor. The fir ware uses these
initial para eters for deter ining the test current frequency. If you have the
infor ation at hand, you can input values that are close to the expected ones.
The Autotune routine will usually work fine even if your initial guess for the kV
value is off. Most ebike hub otors fall within 7-12 rp /V and an initial guess of
10 will usually do the trick.
The effective pole pairs is a count of how any electrical cycles corresponds to
one echanical revolution of the otor and should be set correctly. The
Baserunner needs this infor ation to correlate it’s electrical output frequency
with the wheel speed. In a direct drive (DD) otor, it is the nu ber of agnet
pairs in the rotor, while in a geared otor you need to ultiply the agnet pairs
by its gear ratio. The following table lists the effective pole pairs for any
co on otor series.
Table 1: Effecti e 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
Grin All Axle, Crysatlyte H, Nine Continent,
MXUS and Other 205mm DD Motors
23
Magic Pie 3, Other 273mm DD Motors, RH212 26
Bafang BPM, Bafang CST 40
Bafang G01, MXUS XF07 44
Bafang G02, G60, G62 50
Shengyi SX1/SX2 72
eZee, BMC, MAC, Puma, GMAC 80
Bafang G310, G311 88
Bafang G370 112
For otors not listed, either: open the otor to count the agnets pairs (and
gear ratio), or count the nu ber of hall cycles that take place when you anually
turn the wheel one revolution. You can onitor the nu ber of hall transitions via
the “Dashboard” tab of the software suite.
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Once the “kV” and the “Nu ber of Pole Pair” values are entered, launch the
“Static Test.” This test will produce three short buzzing sounds, and deter ine
the inductance and resistance of the otor windings. The resulting values will be
shown on the screen.
Next, launch the ‘Spinning Motor Test,” which will cause the otor to rotate at
about half speed for 15 seconds. During this test, the controller will deter ine the
exact kV winding constant for the hub, as well as the pinout and ti ing advance
of the hall sensors, if present. If the otor spins backwards during this test,
check the box “Flip Motor Spin Direction on Next Autotuning?” and relaunch the
“Spinning Motor Test.”
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During the spinning test, the
Baserunner will start the otor in
sensorless ode. If the otor fails to
spin and just starts and stutters a few
ti es, adjust the sensorless starting
para eters as described in section 5.5,
“Tuning the Sensorless Self Start,” until
the otor is spinning steadily. If the
spinning test detects a valid hall
sequence, the final screen will show the
hall offset, and that the “Position
Sensor Type” is “Hall sensor start and
sensorless run.”
5.3 Battery Limits
Basic Setup tab
With the controller apped to
your otor and spinning correctly,
you should now set the battery
voltage and current settings to
appropriate values for your pack.
Set “Max Current” to a value that
is equal to or less than the battery’s rating. Higher battery currents will result in
ore power, but can also stress the battery cells, resulting in shorter battery life.
Excessively high values can also cause the BMS circuit to trip, shutting down the
pack.
We reco end setting “Max Regen Voltage (Start)” to the sa e value as the full
charge voltage of your battery, with the “Max Regen Voltage (End)” to about 0.5V
higher than full charge. This will ensure you can do regen even with a ostly
charged battery.
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The “Low Voltage Cutoff (Start)” and “Low Voltage Cutoff (End)” values can be
set just above the BMS cutoff point of your battery. If you are using a V3 Cycle
Analyst, we reco end leaving these values at the default 19.5/19.0 volts and
use the CA3’s low voltage cutoff feature instead. That way you can change the
cutoff voltage on the fly.
If you are setting up a syste with regenerative braking and have a BMS circuit
that shuts off if it detects excessive charge current, then you ay also need to
li it the “Maxi u Regen Battery Current” that will flow into your pack.
5.4 Motor Phase Current and Power Settings
Basic Setup tab
In addition to regulating the current flowing in and out of the battery pack, the
Baserunner can independently control the axi u phase currents that flow to
and fro the otor. It is the otor phase current that both generates torque and
causes the otor windings to heat up. At low otor speeds this phase current
can be several ti es higher than the battery current you see on a Cycle Analyst.
The “Max Power Li it” sets an upper li it on the total watts that will be allowed
to flow into the hub otor. This value has a si ilar effect to a battery current li it,
but it is dependent on voltage. A value of 2000 Watts will li it battery current to
27 a ps with a 72V pack, while allowing over 40 a ps with a 48V pack.
“Max Phase Current” deter ines the peak a ps, and hence torque, put through
the otor while accelerating at full throttle assu ing no other li its are reached.
The “Max Regen Phase Current” value directly sets the peak braking torque of
the otor at full regen. If you want a strong braking effect, then set this to the full
55 or 80 a ps. If the axi u braking force is too intense, then reduce its
value.
The following graph illustrates the interplay between otor phase current, battery
current, and otor output power for a typical setup. When riding at full throttle,
low speeds will be phase current li ited, ediu speeds will be battery current
li ited, and high speeds will be li ited by the voltage of your battery pack.
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5.5 Tuning the Sensorless Self Start
Advanced Setup
If you are running in sensorless ode, then you ay need to tweak the
sensorless self start behaviour.
When the brushless otor is run without hall sensors and started fro a
co plete stop, the otor controller atte pts to ra p up the otor’s rp to a
ini u speed so that it can latch onto the rotation (closed loop).
It does this by first injecting a static current into the phase windings to orient the
otor into a known position. The controller then rotates this field faster and faster
until reaching the “Autostart Max RPM” value.
As initial values, set the
“Autostart Injection Current” to
half your axi u phase
current, an “Autostart Max RPM”
to 5-10% of the running otor
rp , and an “Autostart Spinup
Ti e” anywhere fro 0.3 to 1.5
seconds, depending on how
easily the otor can propel the
bike up to speed.
On bikes that you pedal to help
get you underway, a short 0.2-0.3
second ra p will often work best,
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while a uch longer ra p is required if you need to start oving without
pedaling.
If you feel the otor repeatedly trying to start when applying throttle, the
“Autostart Ra p” ay be too aggressive, or the “Autostart Max RPM” ay be too
low. You ay also generate faults such as “Instantaneous Phase Overcurrent.”
To correct this particular fault, try increasing either the “Current Regulator
Bandwidth” or the “PLL Bandwidth” para eters, or both. These para eters are
found under “Feedback Bandwidth Tuning” on the “Basic Setup” tab.
5.6 Throttle and Regen Voltage Maps
Advanced Setup tab
With ost ebike controllers, the throttle signal controls the effective voltage and
hence unloaded rp of the otor. With a Baserunner, however, the throttle is
directly controlling the otor torque.
If you pick the otor off the ground and give it just a tiny a ount of throttle, it will
still spin up to full rp as there is no load on the otor. People so eti es
istake this behavior as an all-or-nothing throttle response. If you apply partial
throttle while riding, you will get a proportional torque fro the otor which will
stay constant even as the vehicle speeds up or slows down. This is different fro
standard ebike controllers, where the throttle ore directly controls otor speed.
By default, the Baserunner is configured so that active throttle starts at 1.2V, and
full throttle is reached at 3.5V, which is broadly co patible with Hall Effect ebike
throttles.
The Baserunner has an analog ebrake line on the 9 pin Mains plug that can be
used to provide s ooth variable regenerative braking force fro zero up to the
ax regen phase a ps. In order to use the regen features of the V3 Cycle
Analyst, this ebrake signal ust be shorted to the throttle signal so that a single
voltage can control both regen and power. This is achieved via the short 9Pin to
2Pin adapter cable discussed in Section 3.1.
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The regen voltage is apped by default so that regenerative braking starts at
0.8V and reaches axi u intensity at 0.0V. This way there is no overlap
between the throttle region and the braking region and a single wire can control
both ranges.
5.7 Field Weakening for Speed Boost
Basic Setup tab
The Baserunner can boost the top speed of your otor beyond what is nor ally
possible fro your battery voltage. This is acco plished through injecting a field
weakening current that is perpendicular to the torque producing current. This
approach will have the sa e end effect as advancing the co utation ti ing.
The a ount of boost received for a given field weakening current will depend on
the characteristics of your particular otor and cannot be easily predicted. A
conservative trial and error approach of s all incre ents is reco ended for
deter ining a suitable value.
Increasing a otor’s top speed in this way is less efficient than using a higher
voltage pack or a faster otor winding, but for a speed boost of 15-20%, the
additional losses are quite reasonable.
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The following graph shows a large direct drive hub otor’s rp as a function of
field weakening current. The upper black line is the otor’s easured rp , while
the initially lower yellow line is the no-load current draw, reflecting the a ount of
extra power lost due to field weakening. We can see that at 20 a ps of field
weakening, the otor speed increases fro 310 rp to 380 rp , while the no
load current draw is still just under 3 a ps.
5.8 Virtual Electronics Freewheeling
Dashboard/Basic Setup tabs
The Baserunner controller can be set to inject a s all a ount of current into the
otor, even when the throttle is off. When properly tuned, this current injection
can overco e the drag torque present in hub otors capable of regenerative
braking, allowing the to spin freely when pedaling without any throttle.
To setup this feature, we
reco end first going to the
“Dashboard” tab. With the
syste throttle at full, note the
“Motor Current” value.
Navigate back to the “Basic
Setup” tab, check “Enable
Virtual Freewheeling,” and set
“Electronic Freewheeling
Current” to a value slightly less
than that of the observed
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unloaded otor current. The “Motor Stall Ti eout” setting deter ines when this
injection current will stop once the otor co es to a stop.
Once the values for “Virtual Electronic Freewheeling” are set, the controller will
draw about 10-40 watts in order to overco e the otor’s drag. Regenerative
braking should recapture ore energy than lost due to the injection current.
Users of id-drive otors can also use this feature to keep the drive train always
engaged, eli inating windup delay and harsh clutch engage ent when throttle is
applied and the otor co es up to speed.
6 Additional Details:
6.1 Throttle Priorities
The throttle input signal to the Baserunner controller is accessible through each
of the three signal connectors. These are wired with resistors in between the in
order to avoid conflict if two or ore devices are atte pting to drive this throttle
voltage. The resistor co bination gives the throttle signal on the Mains cable the
highest priority, with the throttle signal on the PAS plug (typically used for a
torque signal) the second priority, and finally the throttle signal on the WP8 Cycle
Analyst plug has lowest priority.
Nor ally when a CA3 device is in use there is no hookup to the other two plugs
and the CA3's throttle output won't be overridden even though it has lowest
priority. If a torque sensor is plugged into the PAS plug, while a nor al hall effect
throttle is hooked up to the Mains cable harness, then both the torque signal and
the throttle will operate in parallel to ove the Baserunner's throttle input high.
6.2 Reverse Mode
The signal PAS 2 used in the 6 pin PAS plug is electrically equivalent to the
F D/REV pin in the Main plug. This input is by default configured as a reverse
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