500 amp Battery Isolator and Relay

[yurtle]

Both good points.

I don't really see a need for on-the-fly tweaking of settings, as we can do that with a laptop. That should simplify the hardware, as a touch screen, "keypad", "mouse", etc. wouldn't be needed. Just a simply push button to toggle between screens or options.

We're waiting,

See You Later.

[yurtle]

In addition to battery voltage and current, the controller seems to only give you controller current. Wouldn't we also want controller output voltage?

[seulater]

I agree that i have to get a Alltrax controller then i probably will get more motivated. Right now i am just overwhelmed with getting up to speed on the different controllers, motors and gear setups.

All these are not cheap so try and play is out of the question for me.

I have done no research what so ever on the Alltrax controller. Does it give you amperage data info through the computer connection ? OR another way to put it is when you have your laptop connected to it, is there information it gives you to display volts & amps ?

If so that would be great for me anyways.


As far as on the fly programming, let me throw this one at you guys.
Now what i am going to say is assumptions from a few blurry screen shots.
It looks like with the Alltrax AXE controller you can adjust max speed & torque amongst other things i would imagine.

What if a simple 4 push button button setup on the dash where when you press them they will automatically program the controller on the fly.
For example, button
#1) is for fastest speed.
#2) is for max torque
#3) balanced speed and torque.
#4) slower speed for if kids use it, or neighbor.

What could happen is that you program the controller to what you want for each button setting. Then press and hold it down for 4 seconds and the device will read all the settings from the Alltrax AXE controller and store them to that button. You do this for all 4 of them the way you want it.
Then later when you want a different setup just press that button, it will turn red indicating it is updating the controller, when it then turns green the controller is now updated with the new settings and your ready to drive.

Most companies like this you can sign a NDA with them to get the software format so you can learn how to communicate with it. If they won't that is no big deal either as i have tools to reverse engineer the data protocol myself.


P.S. lets work together to get these carts into the modern age. They are so far behind the times in technology its insane.
There are 2 things that have me really wondering what these golf cart engineers are thinking...

#1) This one that bothers me the most and makes me wonder how any company could ever cut corners so much or not care enough to do.
These carts do not have a main fuse off the battery to the controller. If one of my engineers designed something like this and did not use one i would have fired him on the spot.

#2) This one i am not 100% sure of so feel free to correct me. In the little poking around i have done here on the forum, when you upgrade to a Alltrax controller you do not get rid of the main solenoid. This makes me wonder what the hell Alltrax is thinking. If i were to design a controller i would tie the gas pedal switch to a lead on my controller. Dump the solenoid / resistor & diode all together. When the gas pedal micro switch detects that the pedal is pressed it would then tell me to turn on. There is absolutely NO need for the solenoid. So why they have not designed a feature like this in dumbfounds me. Unless of course i am wrong about this.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by seulater

..................

P.S. lets work together to get these carts into the modern age. They are so far behind the times in technology its insane.
There are 2 things that have me really wondering what these golf cart engineers are thinking...

#1) This one that bothers me the most and makes me wonder how any company could ever cut corners so much or not care enough to do.
These carts do not have a main fuse off the battery to the controller. If one of my engineers designed something like this and did not use one i would have fired him on the spot.

#2) This one i am not 100% sure of so feel free to correct me. In the little poking around i have done here on the forum, when you upgrade to a Alltrax controller you do not get rid of the main solenoid. This makes me wonder what the hell Alltrax is thinking. If i were to design a controller i would tie the gas pedal switch to a lead on my controller. Dump the solenoid / resistor & diode all together. When the gas pedal micro switch detects that the pedal is pressed it would then tell me to turn on. There is absolutely NO need for the solenoid. So why they have not designed a feature like this in dumbfounds me. Unless of course i am wrong about this.

First, My thought on your two questions.

1. Any resistance in the high current loop is lost performance and the MOSFETs in the controller and the brushes in the motor act as "Fusible Links".
Alltrax and other aftermarket controllers come with fuses to be installed in the high current loop.

2. A single systems is lest likely to create a runaway cart.

----------------

Attached are some more readable screen shots of the changeable parameters and monitored functions for both the AXE (Series) and the DCX (Shunt) controllers.
The data log for the SPM (Series) has 32 columns, not counting Date and Time.

[seulater]

Thanks for the screen shots. Great to know there is all the info i want there.

First, My thought on your two questions.

1. Any resistance in the high current loop is lost performance and the MOSFETs in the controller and the brushes in the motor act as "Fusible Links".
Alltrax and other aftermarket controllers come with fuses to be installed in the high current loop.

2. A single systems is lest likely to create a runaway cart.

For #1 that is good to know that the controllers have fuses.

I know there is concern for a run away cart as there should be.
There are many meas to keep this from happening in the controller without relying on the external solenoid, they should implement it, IMHO.

Well from what you added here in the screen shots, make me excited about doing it. somewhere else yurtle said something about a gizmo that Alltrax has to display information like this, doesn't that display all this stuff already ?

[yurtle]

The Alltrax ExRay is a stand alone speedo, odo, with volts and two temps. I added a rotary switch to monitor 9 different voltage readings - battery 1-8 and pack.

Cool product, but it doesn't talk to the controller.

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by seulater

Most companies like this you can sign a NDA with them to get the software format so you can learn how to communicate with it. If they won't that is no big deal either as i have tools to reverse engineer the data protocol myself.

#1) This one that bothers me the most and makes me wonder how any company could ever cut corners so much or not care enough to do.
These carts do not have a main fuse off the battery to the controller. If one of my engineers designed something like this and did not use one i would have fired him on the spot.

Folks have bragged about programming PICs, so it's been done.

Alltrax recommends an inline fuse, and mine came with one.

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by seulater

Right now i am just overwhelmed with getting up to speed on the different controllers, motors and gear setups.

All these are not cheap so try and play is out of the question for me.

What type drive does your buggy have? If it's a ITS/Series, I might be able to loan you an AXE 4855, 36 - 48 volts 500 amp, serial programmable (configurable) via freeware from Alltrax.

PM me if interested. I probably can live for a month or two without a buggy.

[seulater]

The Alltrax ExRay is a stand alone speedo, odo, with volts and two temps. I added a rotary switch to monitor 9 different voltage readings - battery 1-8 and pack.

Cool product, but it doesn't talk to the controller.

I just looked it up it is kinda neat, I wonder why they didn't add another option to talk to the controller to get all its info as well. I wonder if the controller will not operate ( I.E. allow you drive) if its in that mode on the laptop where you change things. That would suck if it was the case.

[quote]Folks have bragged about programming PICs, so it's been done.

Alltrax recommends an inline fuse, and mine came with one.[/QUOTE

My flavor is Atmel, but any will do for such a simple task.

What type drive does your buggy have? If it's a ITS/Series, I might be able to loan you an AXE 4855, 36 - 48 volts 500 amp, serial programmable (configurable) via freeware from Alltrax.

PM me if interested. I probably can live for a month or two without a buggy.

From what i have been told its a 36v - ITS/Series. Thanks for the kind offer but i would like to be 100% clear on what the offer is all about.
Is it to see if i like the new performance, or it is to develop a remote head unit to display the controllers information and possibly reprogram it on the fly ?

[yurtle]

Both.

My offer is to mail you my AXE 4855 and let you see what 500 amps can do for you. I ran my stock motor on 48 volts and 500 amps with no problems. My ExRay told me the motor temp, so I set warning and danger lights to keep me from melting it. You can set the max amps to 400 and be safe, though I rarely see it hit 400 amps for more than a couple of seconds, or when climbing a really steep hill with lotsa passengers.

If you decide you like it, and want to buy one of your own, you can hang onto it and develop the hardware/software interface.

I'm not expecting anything for free, or even discounted.

When set up in data-logging mode, it creates a text file, with various polling times, including continuous, so the outputs should be easy. As to changing parameters on the fly, it's the same interface, so I'd think that would work too. The controller has to be powered up to program it, so you can power it with any PSU, or even two 9 volt batteries. There's no indication that you need to cycle the power for the changes to take effect.

Again, I wouldn't think most folks would need on the fly configuration, but a "kid mode" might interest some. I know of two Club Cart accidents in my 'hood, that resulted in front end suspension damage.