Hello i am brand new to EV’s and have some concepts i would like to talk about.
I was wondering what it would take to add a laptop as a controller?.? Is it possible. How much of the electrical process can be run from the lappy? Is there a company out there doing this already?
I know that this is a bit odd but I was looking for a way to streamline the process. I also want the ability to race the car a little bit. i would like to be able to win a light to light race against and ICE. I have a plentiful supply of lappies laying around and wanted to use that to my advantage.
you SHOULDN’T use the laptop as the controller, but you could “control” the controller via a laptop (i.e. provide analog and digital outputs to control the throttle pot, keyswitch input, fwd/rev inputs, etc). I’d recomend keeping the controller system as its supposed to be, for safety reasons, as well as functionality reasons.
I would not recomend using the laptop to gate the FETS in a controller or to be the “brains”, as its VERY important for timing of the gating. If you use a laptop, there’s no guarantee that the processes will actually process. Also, what if it locks up? reboots? crashes? what “mode” will the controller stay in?
You COULD use it to monitor, depending on what controller you use, or if you have an analog and digital input card for it to monitor currents, voltages, throttle input, etc.
Ok so what if i decided to use a live operating system. Like a knoppix from linux. It should provide a stable platform. I understand what you mean about the lappy freezing up or decides to reboot, thats why I am suggesting a live operating sys. Im not implying anything against you just questioning what the threshold is for this. Actually thank you for being concise. I appreciate that.
I would imagine much the same way the mosfet chips on a amplifier can be? I dont know enough to provide you with an answer. I guess im thinking toooooo far into this. I was talking to a computer engineer friend and he told me that a program to run an EV would cost alot. But once someone did create the software, you could eliminate the controller and just use a laptop. I really should really get my head out of the clouds. I was hoping for a way to streamline the process, and make it easier for the average joe to build a Ev. If you could purchase a program and install it on a laptop, which would be dedicated to the car, i thought it would make it easier.
I hope that makes sense. I just got done with two poker tournaments, and its almost 7 am.
Even Alltrax controllers for golf carts have PC serial connections and software that allow you to dial in performance specs on the fly. Controllers for higher power EV’s will have similar capabilities already.
The computer is used for monitoring current status and uploading performance curves into the controller’s own brain, thus the controller is doing the work and you’re not risking lives in the event of a computer hardware failure.