Forgive me

I love physics jokes.

http://xkcd.com/45/

Plausible Deniability

I have no idea if his political opinions are at all useful, helpful or realistic, but you have to admire the governator's style.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/28/arnold-schwarzenegge.html

Motor Turns

The motor is turning, have gone through program and am starting to remember what it was I was trying to do. Next step will be too pack everything up as I am moving at the end of the month. I will however have some time to work on the program.

Woot.

Progress

Getting there. Motor is turning. Can't seem to control speed though. I don't remember my program.



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Progress

Woot


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Vegas knows how to take your money

Last night I went to find dinner. I found a little chinese noodle shop, ordered a beef brisket noodle soup and an order of gai-lan. Bill - $38. Same dish at Taiwan Beef Noodle house (I think it is now called Wang's) on Granville in Vancouver - $14.

On the plus side, there didn't seem to be too much MSG as my dreams were fairly normal, at least for me. You know, motors, lithium batteries, blinking LEDs. Good dreams.

Have to wait until the weekend.

I'll be out of town all week, so there will not be any progress until the weekend, but I did pick up all the bits to populate the cards today. Progress should be pretty quick when I get back.

Double sided card done

The challenge I ran into was I had made a double sided design that really requires good alignment, and also had not aligned full spectrums template exactly square. So I redesigned the board to minimize the top layer and be forgiving to misalignment, and very carefully realigned the template. I believe this will be functional.





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Marathon time

4:13. Woot.


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follow up

So the double sided input card didn't work the first time. I guess I installed the stencil slightly off square which didn't impact the single sided cards, but made the double sided card goobered. I probably wont have time to try again until next week.

Why double sided pcbs are hard

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switch card

woot.

Progress

Here are the designs for the cards I am making.

The first I call "Input" which has some protection for the 15V inputs for the Concept Card. This will be the hardest to make as it is two sided and may be difficult to line up. I haven't made this yet.
The next image is "Switch" which takes the 5v from the sanguino and switches it to 15V and also takes the 15v status signal from the concept and knocks it down to 5V. I made this last night, and it turned out pretty good.
On both these cards I tried to keep the power rails on the outside and signal wires in the middle. Hopefully they will be pretty robust from a noise perspective.
The picture on the previous post was "Output" which takes the output from the Concept Card and interfaces to the IGBT's.

I also need to make a 10-15V input to 15V output regulated power supply for up to 20 amps, but this can wait for now as I have an old mac power supply kluged with a 7815 dangling from my desk.

If anyone is wondering, I'm using the free version of Eagle 5.6 for layout, and the reason I did three cards is I am limited to 2.5 by 3.5 inches on the PCB because that is all that will fit through the epson printer in the CD tray.

first succesful inkjet printed PCB

I bought a kit from Full Spectrum Engineering to do PCB's direct from an Epson R280. The first two didn't turn out very well, but the third worked okay.The trick was to print it 3 times, not the 2 that the instructions say, cooking the ink each time and being Very careful when re-aligning the circuit board.

I think the double sided boards are going to be very tough.

gap, but back at it

I ran into a wall a few months ago working on the inverter. My circuit to fire the IGBT's was just not working, and I couldn't figure out why. I've since tossed my own own design, got some commercial firing cards (Concept Scale Drivers) and designed some PCB's to interface the firing card to the sanguino.

I'll post some pics when I get the PCB's etched and built.

Quote I like from Tom Ligon from the talk Poywell forum

Regarding profit, here's the really neat thing. Yes, the reason power companies want to produce power is to sell it and make a profit. The bean-counters have job security, and the engineering economists can calculate the depreciation on capital investment and life cycle costs and all that, enabling the power companies to extract a viable margin.

But that's not the real profit, and we all know it, and it is why we're all concerned about energy. The profit is that the electricity made is worth far more than it sells for. If we cannot get it by other means, we'll spend the money on solar to get it because it will be worth it.

The profit is what you can do with energy, especially abundant energy with fewer negatives involved in getting it, and what the fruits of those expenditures are. Energy, with raw materials and human talent, are the basis for our economy, and so is priceless.

The economics will shake out the most economical way to produce the power we need, but they don't set the value of the power to civilization.

sweet hybrid bus

From 1905!
link

Not sure if this is real...

Russian Women's prison..... has a beauty pagent.
http://www.webpark.ru/comment/52940



Is this real or the plot for a bad porno from 1982?

All the tools are moved

Got everything moved. Likely not organized for a month. Ack.

Totally Knackered

Had a busy weekend. I irresponsibly purchased two lathes, a drill press, a metal saw, and a lifetime supply of bits of metal. We moved the last (and larger) lathe yesterday with the help of good friend John. This guy's strength never ceases to amaze me.

"No, don't worry. I can totally lift it."

Also did a bunch of wiring at my parents cabin. My hands are very sore from bending 4 gauge teck in electrical panels.

Little to no progress on electric car as I simply have been ignoring it as I walk most places these days.

Soon I'll get back to it.

Lawful Access

Please listen to this podcast.

I did, and sent the following letter to Minister Van Loan.

You have not struck the right balance. You have listened too much to the Police. You say you have consulted with industry. Which industries? Rogers? Bell? Telus? they are not innovators. They are not the new economy. Please talk to internet entrepreneurs. They are much more in touch with reality.

Your party was elected to protect individuals, not centralize government authority and power.

I listened to your interview on search engine. It is clear you are woefully out of touch with reality. If I could offer you a bit of advice, fire the staffer that briefed you for that interview. Even if you have no idea what you are talking about, you need to be able to fake it.

Jake Gray

Update

So I've been crazy busy and haven't had a lot of time lately to work on the project. I have figured out the IGBT driving though.

I've built the circuit in bread board and it seems to work. I've designed a PCB and I'm going to try my hand at etching. woot!

Challenges firing an IGBT

So it turns out firing an IGBT is a little more complicated than I thought. It turns out the gate acts like a capacitor, so if you charge it with a positive voltage to turn on the transistor, it stays on unless you put a negative charge on it to turn it off.

I've found an integrated circuit from fairchild semiconductor, the FOD3180, which does this as well as using an opto isolator. I've ordered a few from Arrow electronics as I couldn't find a local supplier.

more to follow

Side show

If anyone is interested, I am also building a new bed. It's kind of wacky.

Updated Photo

 
So here is the test VFD is it sits today. Sanguino is working generating a PWM 3 phase sin output to the firing cards. I have a 12v supply which is powering everything at the moment. I need to pick up some wire to hook the firing cards to the IGBTs, kluge some power to apply to the IGBTs, and then some big resistors or light bulbs or something to pump power through. I've found some help in locating a suitable vehicle and motors. Updates soon.

Setup of controller

 
Here is a photo of the mounted Sanguino, IGBT's, one of two PWM cards, a breadboard and a 12 volt power supply.
I screwed up one of the PWM cards by installing transistors the wrong way, and then desoldering badly and messing up a trace. Arg.

New arrival

Two PWM driver cards from the Reprap store arrived a couple days ago. I should have a chance to solder them up tonight and see if they do the trick. Now I just need a motor to play with.

Encoder has arrived

I purchased a BEI encoder from ebay a while ago and now have it in my hot hands. I intend to attach it to whatever motor I use as velocity feedback. That should allow me to create some sort of vector control for the motor. I've been reading a lot, but I am still unsure how the math works, but at least I think I know what the pieces are.

angular velocity of the rotating magnetic field, or frequency of the output (I can control this)
total voltage (I can control this)
output current (I can measure this)
speed difference between magnetic field and rotor, also called slip (I can measure this)

My thoughts are that the gas pedal will be attached to a pot that will essentially be a torque request. The controller will always output a frequency a bit faster than the moving speed of the rotor based on the motors slip. Based on the torque request, the voltage will be changed to get the requested current.

We'll see. Now I just need a few hundred volts dc and a motor to try it on.

Working!

My sanguino program is working quite well now. I used direct control of timer0 and direct port access on port C to get pwm of 6 normal outputs.I ran into a problem of not being able to generate a fast enough frequency, so I had to reduce the resolution of my sin wave array from a value every 2 degrees to every 6 degrees. I think this should still be fine for motor control, it just may produce some wicked harmonics. I'm still waiting for an encoder I bought off ebay, and two firing cards from the Reprap store.

Next step is to find a small three phase motor, some sort of shunt for measuring the current and start getting things to spin. Woot!

Commissioned Art

Check it out. Its meant to explore the blurring of the line between technology and humanity. Bender as Manet's Ophelia

Latest code

I've managed to generate the three phase sin wave output without using analog write commands or any delay functions. It uses some lower level commands within the Arduino programming environment.

It works to speed up and slow down the phases, but I haven't been able to control the maximum voltage yet. I think I'm running into a problem of the interrupt service routine being too long.

Cheers.

// this will be an attempt to change how the pwm is done, and use interupts and direct port access with a higher speed

// port C > 7= pin 23
// port C > 6= pin 22
// port C > 5= pin 21
// port C > 4= pin 20
// port C > 3= pin 19
// port C > 2= pin 18
// port C > 1= pin 17
// port C > 0= pin 16

#include
#include

ISR(TIMER0_COMPA_vect) {
callback();
}

boolean ledpin_1 = 1; // 0 or 1 for if the 1st led should be on
boolean ledpin_2 = 1; // 0 or 1 for if the 2nd led should be on
boolean ledpin_3 = 1; // 0 or 1 for if the 3rd led should be on
boolean ledpin_4 = 1; // 0 or 1 for if the 4th led should be on
boolean ledpin_5 = 1; // 0 or 1 for if the 5th led should be on
boolean ledpin_6 = 1; // 0 or 1 for if the 6th led should be on
int pot_value = 0; // input for the potentiometer used to control frequency
int analog_pin = 0; // input pin for pot

int freq = 0; //this is the counter that is counting up the bins
int freqmax = 10; //this will be the amount the counter counts up before going to the next part of the array, by changing this we can alter the frequency

int sinarray [] = {0,0,87,0,0,87,3,0,85,0,0,88,7,0,83,0,0,90,10,0,81,0,0,91,14,0,79,0,0,93,17,0,77,0,0,94,21,0,74,0,0,95,24,0,72,0,0,96,28,0,69,0,0,97,31,0,67,0,0,98,34,0,64,0,0,98,37,0,62,0,0,99,41,0,59,0,0,99,44,0,56,0,0,100,47,0,53,0,0,100,50,0,50,0,0,100,53,0,47,0,0,100,56,0,44,0,0,100,59,0,41,0,0,99,62,0,37,0,0,99,64,0,34,0,0,98,67,0,31,0,0,98,69,0,28,0,0,97,72,0,24,0,0,96,74,0,21,0,0,95,77,0,17,0,0,94,79,0,14,0,0,93,81,0,10,0,0,91,83,0,7,0,0,90,85,0,3,0,0,88,87,0,0,0,0,87,88,0,0,3,0,85,90,0,0,7,0,83,91,0,0,10,0,81,93,0,0,14,0,79,94,0,0,17,0,77,95,0,0,21,0,74,96,0,0,24,0,72,97,0,0,28,0,69,98,0,0,31,0,67,98,0,0,34,0,64,99,0,0,37,0,62,99,0,0,41,0,59,100,0,0,44,0,56,100,0,0,47,0,53,100,0,0,50,0,50,100,0,0,53,0,47,100,0,0,56,0,44,99,0,0,59,0,41,99,0,0,62,0,37,98,0,0,64,0,34,98,0,0,67,0,31,97,0,0,69,0,28,96,0,0,72,0,24,95,0,0,74,0,21,94,0,0,77,0,17,93,0,0,79,0,14,91,0,0,81,0,10,90,0,0,83,0,7,88,0,0,85,0,3,87,0,0,87,0,0,85,0,0,88,3,0,83,0,0,90,7,0,81,0,0,91,10,0,79,0,0,93,14,0,77,0,0,94,17,0,74,0,0,95,21,0,72,0,0,96,24,0,69,0,0,97,28,0,67,0,0,98,31,0,64,0,0,98,34,0,62,0,0,99,37,0,59,0,0,99,41,0,56,0,0,100,44,0,53,0,0,100,47,0,50,0,0,100,50,0,47,0,0,100,53,0,44,0,0,100,56,0,41,0,0,99,59,0,37,0,0,99,62,0,34,0,0,98,64,0,31,0,0,98,67,0,28,0,0,97,69,0,24,0,0,96,72,0,21,0,0,95,74,0,17,0,0,94,77,0,14,0,0,93,79,0,10,0,0,91,81,0,7,0,0,90,83,0,3,0,0,88,85,0,0,0,0,87,87,0,0,3,0,85,88,0,0,7,0,83,90,0,0,10,0,81,91,0,0,14,0,79,93,0,0,17,0,77,94,0,0,21,0,74,95,0,0,24,0,72,96,0,0,28,0,69,97,0,0,31,0,67,98,0,0,34,0,64,98,0,0,37,0,62,99,0,0,41,0,59,99,0,0,44,0,56,100,0,0,47,0,53,100,0,0,50,0,50,100,0,0,53,0,47,100,0,0,56,0,44,100,0,0,59,0,41,99,0,0,62,0,37,99,0,0,64,0,34,98,0,0,67,0,31,98,0,0,69,0,28,97,0,0,72,0,24,96,0,0,74,0,21,95,0,0,77,0,17,94,0,0,79,0,14,93,0,0,81,0,10,91,0,0,83,0,7,90,0,0,85,0,3,88,0,0,87,0,0,87,0,0,88,3,0,85,0,0,90,7,0,83,0,0,91,10,0,81,0,0,93,14,0,79,0,0,94,17,0,77,0,0,95,21,0,74,0,0,96,24,0,72,0,0,97,28,0,69,0,0,98,31,0,67,0,0,98,34,0,64,0,0,99,37,0,62,0,0,99,41,0,59,0,0,100,44,0,56,0,0,100,47,0,53,0,0,100,50,0,50,0,0,100,53,0,47,0,0,100,56,0,44,0,0,99,59,0,41,0,0,99,62,0,37,0,0,98,64,0,34,0,0,98,67,0,31,0,0,97,69,0,28,0,0,96,72,0,24,0,0,95,74,0,21,0,0,94,77,0,17,0,0,93,79,0,14,0,0,91,81,0,10,0,0,90,83,0,7,0,0,88,85,0,3,0,0,87,87,0,0,0,0,85,88,0,0,3,0,83,90,0,0,7,0,81,91,0,0,10,0,79,93,0,0,14,0,77,94,0,0,17,0,74,95,0,0,21,0,72,96,0,0,24,0,69,97,0,0,28,0,67,98,0,0,31,0,64,98,0,0,34,0,62,99,0,0,37,0,59,99,0,0,41,0,56,100,0,0,44,0,53,100,0,0,47,0,50,100,0,0,50,0,47,100,0,0,53,0,44,100,0,0,56,0,41,99,0,0,59,0,37,99,0,0,62,0,34,98,0,0,64,0,31,98,0,0,67,0,28,97,0,0,69,0,24,96,0,0,72,0,21,95,0,0,74,0,17,94,0,0,77,0,14,93,0,0,79,0,10,91,0,0,81,0,7,90,0,0,83,0,3,88,0,0,85};


int max_volts = 95; // controls amplitude of the sin wave
int analog_volt = 1;

int value_pwm_1 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_1
int array_tag_1 = 0; // where to get first value for phase 1 positive from array, first value in array is tagged at 0
int on_pulses_pin1 = 0; // counter for how many pulses pin 1 has been on

int value_pwm_2 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int array_tag_2 = 1; // where to get first value for phase 1 negative from array
int on_pulses_pin2 = 0;

int value_pwm_3 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int array_tag_3 = 4; // where to get first value for phase 2 positive from array
int on_pulses_pin3 = 0;

int value_pwm_4 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int array_tag_4 = 5; // where to get first value for phase 2 negative from array
int on_pulses_pin4 = 0;

int value_pwm_5 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int array_tag_5 = 2; // where to get first value for phase 3 positive from array
int on_pulses_pin5 = 0;

int value_pwm_6 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int array_tag_6 = 3; // where to get first value for phase 3 negative from array
int on_pulses_pin6 = 0;


void setup()

{
TIMSK0 = (1< // flag a (OCF0A) is written
TCCR0A = (0<TCCR0B = (0<OCR0A = 200; // this is the CTC value, this value gets changed to
// change the resolution of the counter
DDRC = 255; // this sets all of port C to outputs.
}


// This should be the routine called everytime the timer gets to the value of OCR0A
void callback()
{

if (freq >= freqmax)

{
freq = 0;
if (array_tag_1 < 1074) // 1074 is the last the last array tag for phase 1 postive, so below that we add 6 to each tag to get to the next spot for each phase in the array
{
array_tag_1 = array_tag_1 + 6;
array_tag_2 = array_tag_2 + 6;
array_tag_3 = array_tag_3 + 6;
array_tag_4 = array_tag_4 + 6;
array_tag_5 = array_tag_5 + 6;
array_tag_6 = array_tag_6 + 6;
}

else
{ // after 1074 we reset all the array tags to their original value
array_tag_1 = 0; // this resets the array counters back to zero
array_tag_2 = 1;
array_tag_3 = 4;
array_tag_4 = 5;
array_tag_5 = 2;
array_tag_6 = 3;
}
}

else
{
freq = freq + 1;
on_pulses_pin1 = (sinarray[array_tag_1] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin2 = (sinarray[array_tag_2] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin3 = (sinarray[array_tag_3] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin4 = (sinarray[array_tag_4] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin5 = (sinarray[array_tag_5] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin6 = (sinarray[array_tag_6] * freqmax / 100);
}

//PIN 1
if (on_pulses_pin1>freq) //these if's check to see if each pins counter has reached its max and then turns the pins on or off as needed
{
ledpin_1 = 1;
}
else
{
ledpin_1 = 0;
}
//PIN 2
if (on_pulses_pin2>freq) //these if's check to see if each pins counter has reached its max and then turns the pins on or off as needed
{
ledpin_2 = 1;
}
else
{
ledpin_2 = 0;
}
//PIN 3
if (on_pulses_pin3>freq) //these if's check to see if each pins counter has reached its max and then turns the pins on or off as needed
{
ledpin_3 = 1;
}
else
{
ledpin_3 = 0;
}
//PIN 4
if (on_pulses_pin4>freq) //these if's check to see if each pins counter has reached its max and then turns the pins on or off as needed
{
ledpin_4 = 1;
}
else
{
ledpin_4 = 0;
}
//PIN 5
if (on_pulses_pin5>freq) //these if's check to see if each pins counter has reached its max and then turns the pins on or off as needed
{
ledpin_5 = 1;
}
else
{
ledpin_5 = 0;
}
//PIN 6
if (on_pulses_pin6>freq) //these if's check to see if each pins counter has reached its max and then turns the pins on or off as needed
{
ledpin_6 = 1;
}
else
{
ledpin_6 = 0;
}


// Set all outputs
PORTC = (0<

}


void loop()

{

// pot_value = analogRead(analog_pin) / 100; // using a pot to control the frequency
// max_volts = analogRead(analog_volt) / 4; // changes the max voltage based on the second pot

pot_value = 100;


// port A looks like the analog inputs
// port B looks safe to play with
// port C looks safe to play with
// port D looks like it has the tx and rx pins

// Disable interrupts
// cli();
// Enable interrupts
// sei();

}

Arduino Libraries

It seems that the timerone.h library from the arduino site does not work with the sanguino. I'm heading to New York for the week and will take the datasheets with me to see if I can figure out why. It may be something simple like the Library references the wrong pins, or the wrong control registers. Here is the current non-functioning attempt at code using an interupt to time the Pulse width instead of a delay function.

//this will be an attempt to change how the pwm is done, and use interupts with a higher speed



#include "TimerOne.h"

int freq = 0; //this is the counter that is counting up the bins
int freqmax = 1000; //this will be the amount the counter counts up before going to the next part of the array, by changing this we can alter the frequency
int sinarray [] = {0,0,87,0,0,87,3,0,85,0,0,88,7,0,83,0,0,90,10,0,81,0,0,91,14,0,79,0,0,93,17,0,77,0,0,94,21,0,74,0,0,95,24,0,72,0,0,96,28,0,69,0,0,97,31,0,67,0,0,98,34,0,64,0,0,98,37,0,62,0,0,99,41,0,59,0,0,99,44,0,56,0,0,100,47,0,53,0,0,100,50,0,50,0,0,100,53,0,47,0,0,100,56,0,44,0,0,100,59,0,41,0,0,99,62,0,37,0,0,99,64,0,34,0,0,98,67,0,31,0,0,98,69,0,28,0,0,97,72,0,24,0,0,96,74,0,21,0,0,95,77,0,17,0,0,94,79,0,14,0,0,93,81,0,10,0,0,91,83,0,7,0,0,90,85,0,3,0,0,88,87,0,0,0,0,87,88,0,0,3,0,85,90,0,0,7,0,83,91,0,0,10,0,81,93,0,0,14,0,79,94,0,0,17,0,77,95,0,0,21,0,74,96,0,0,24,0,72,97,0,0,28,0,69,98,0,0,31,0,67,98,0,0,34,0,64,99,0,0,37,0,62,99,0,0,41,0,59,100,0,0,44,0,56,100,0,0,47,0,53,100,0,0,50,0,50,100,0,0,53,0,47,100,0,0,56,0,44,99,0,0,59,0,41,99,0,0,62,0,37,98,0,0,64,0,34,98,0,0,67,0,31,97,0,0,69,0,28,96,0,0,72,0,24,95,0,0,74,0,21,94,0,0,77,0,17,93,0,0,79,0,14,91,0,0,81,0,10,90,0,0,83,0,7,88,0,0,85,0,3,87,0,0,87,0,0,85,0,0,88,3,0,83,0,0,90,7,0,81,0,0,91,10,0,79,0,0,93,14,0,77,0,0,94,17,0,74,0,0,95,21,0,72,0,0,96,24,0,69,0,0,97,28,0,67,0,0,98,31,0,64,0,0,98,34,0,62,0,0,99,37,0,59,0,0,99,41,0,56,0,0,100,44,0,53,0,0,100,47,0,50,0,0,100,50,0,47,0,0,100,53,0,44,0,0,100,56,0,41,0,0,99,59,0,37,0,0,99,62,0,34,0,0,98,64,0,31,0,0,98,67,0,28,0,0,97,69,0,24,0,0,96,72,0,21,0,0,95,74,0,17,0,0,94,77,0,14,0,0,93,79,0,10,0,0,91,81,0,7,0,0,90,83,0,3,0,0,88,85,0,0,0,0,87,87,0,0,3,0,85,88,0,0,7,0,83,90,0,0,10,0,81,91,0,0,14,0,79,93,0,0,17,0,77,94,0,0,21,0,74,95,0,0,24,0,72,96,0,0,28,0,69,97,0,0,31,0,67,98,0,0,34,0,64,98,0,0,37,0,62,99,0,0,41,0,59,99,0,0,44,0,56,100,0,0,47,0,53,100,0,0,50,0,50,100,0,0,53,0,47,100,0,0,56,0,44,100,0,0,59,0,41,99,0,0,62,0,37,99,0,0,64,0,34,98,0,0,67,0,31,98,0,0,69,0,28,97,0,0,72,0,24,96,0,0,74,0,21,95,0,0,77,0,17,94,0,0,79,0,14,93,0,0,81,0,10,91,0,0,83,0,7,90,0,0,85,0,3,88,0,0,87,0,0,87,0,0,88,3,0,85,0,0,90,7,0,83,0,0,91,10,0,81,0,0,93,14,0,79,0,0,94,17,0,77,0,0,95,21,0,74,0,0,96,24,0,72,0,0,97,28,0,69,0,0,98,31,0,67,0,0,98,34,0,64,0,0,99,37,0,62,0,0,99,41,0,59,0,0,100,44,0,56,0,0,100,47,0,53,0,0,100,50,0,50,0,0,100,53,0,47,0,0,100,56,0,44,0,0,99,59,0,41,0,0,99,62,0,37,0,0,98,64,0,34,0,0,98,67,0,31,0,0,97,69,0,28,0,0,96,72,0,24,0,0,95,74,0,21,0,0,94,77,0,17,0,0,93,79,0,14,0,0,91,81,0,10,0,0,90,83,0,7,0,0,88,85,0,3,0,0,87,87,0,0,0,0,85,88,0,0,3,0,83,90,0,0,7,0,81,91,0,0,10,0,79,93,0,0,14,0,77,94,0,0,17,0,74,95,0,0,21,0,72,96,0,0,24,0,69,97,0,0,28,0,67,98,0,0,31,0,64,98,0,0,34,0,62,99,0,0,37,0,59,99,0,0,41,0,56,100,0,0,44,0,53,100,0,0,47,0,50,100,0,0,50,0,47,100,0,0,53,0,44,100,0,0,56,0,41,99,0,0,59,0,37,99,0,0,62,0,34,98,0,0,64,0,31,98,0,0,67,0,28,97,0,0,69,0,24,96,0,0,72,0,21,95,0,0,74,0,17,94,0,0,77,0,14,93,0,0,79,0,10,91,0,0,81,0,7,90,0,0,83,0,3,88,0,0,85};
int pot_value = 0; // input for the potentiometer used to control frequency
int analog_pin = 0; // input pin for pot

int max_volts = 0; // controls amplitude of the sin wave
int analog_volt = 1;

int value_pwm_1 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_1
int ledpin_1 = 3; // light connected to digital pin 3
int array_tag_1 = 0; // where to get first value for phase 1 positive from array, first value in array is tagged at 0
int on_pulses_pin1 = 0;

int value_pwm_2 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_2 = 4; // light connected to digital pin 4
int array_tag_2 = 1; // where to get first value for phase 1 negative from array
int on_pulses_pin2 = 0;

int value_pwm_3 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_3 = 12; // light connected to digital pin 12
int array_tag_3 = 4; // where to get first value for phase 2 positive from array
int on_pulses_pin3 = 0;

int value_pwm_4 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_4 = 13; // light connected to digital pin 13
int array_tag_4 = 5; // where to get first value for phase 2 negative from array
int on_pulses_pin4 = 0;

int value_pwm_5 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_5 = 14; // light connected to digital pin 14
int array_tag_5 = 2; // where to get first value for phase 3 positive from array
int on_pulses_pin5 = 0;

int value_pwm_6 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_6 = 15; // light connected to digital pin 15
int array_tag_6 = 3; // where to get first value for phase 3 negative from array
int on_pulses_pin6 = 0;

void setup()
{
pinMode(7, OUTPUT); // using an LED on pin 7 to indicate the completion of one complete cycle on phase 1
pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
pinMode(12, OUTPUT);
pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
pinMode(14, OUTPUT);
pinMode(15, OUTPUT);
Timer1.initialize(100); // initialize timer1, and set a 1/1000 second period, can this be changed dynamically in the program?
Timer1.attachInterrupt(callback); // attaches callback() as a timer overflow interrupt
}

void callback()
{


if (freq >= freqmax)
{
freq = 0;

if (array_tag_1 < 1074)

{ // 1074 is the last the last array tag for phase 1 postive, so below that we add 6 to each tag to get to the next spot for each phase in the array

array_tag_1 = array_tag_1 + 6;
array_tag_2 = array_tag_2 + 6;
array_tag_3 = array_tag_3 + 6;
array_tag_4 = array_tag_4 + 6;
array_tag_5 = array_tag_5 + 6;
array_tag_6 = array_tag_6 + 6;
}

else
{ // after 1074 we reset all the array tags to their original value
array_tag_1 = 0; // this resets the array counters back to zero
array_tag_2 = 1;
array_tag_3 = 4;
array_tag_4 = 5;
array_tag_5 = 2;
array_tag_6 = 3;

}

}
else
{
freq = freq + 1;
on_pulses_pin1 = (sinarray[array_tag_1] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin2 = (sinarray[array_tag_2] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin3 = (sinarray[array_tag_3] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin4 = (sinarray[array_tag_4] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin5 = (sinarray[array_tag_5] * freqmax / 100);
on_pulses_pin6 = (sinarray[array_tag_6] * freqmax / 100);

if (on_pulses_pin1>freq) //these if's check to see if each pins counter has reached its max and then turns the pins on or off as needed
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_1, HIGH);
}

else
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_1, LOW);
}

if (on_pulses_pin2>freq) //
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_2, HIGH);
}

else
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_2, LOW);
}

if (on_pulses_pin3>freq) //
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_3, HIGH);
}

else
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_3, LOW);
}

if (on_pulses_pin4>freq) //
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_4, HIGH);
}

else
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_4, LOW);
}

if (on_pulses_pin5>freq) //
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_5, HIGH);
}

else
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_5, LOW);
}

if (on_pulses_pin6>freq) //
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_6, HIGH);
}

else
{
digitalWrite(ledpin_6, LOW);
}




}

}


void loop()
{
pot_value = analogRead(analog_pin) / 100; // using a pot to control the frequency
max_volts = analogRead(analog_volt) / 4; // changes the max voltage based on the second pot


}

OK, now tell us what the hell they are.

Dear Dr. Dawg,

Sorry for posting something a little obscure. IGBT's or Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors, are fast acting high power semiconductor switches. The units I have are capable of switching 200 amps at 1200 Volts at a significantly high switching rate. This is what makes it possible to use pulse width modulation to turn the switches off and on really fast to generate a variable alternating current output from a dc source, like a big battery pack.

And if anyone knows how to use the timers directly on a Sanguino, please send me a note.

IGBT's have arrived!

Three fully functional 200A (450 peak!) 1200 V IGBT blocks arrived yesterday. I paid about 90 dollars Canadian including shipping and handling. These are generally about 2-300 dollars a piece new, so I think I did okay. They are actually smaller than I thought they'd be. I guess newer semiconductors produce less heat and so they can make the package smaller.

New book arriving

I looked up some relevant courses at UBC in Electrical Engineering in order to find relevant textbooks. I found a course that was titled "Electro-mechanical Energy Conversion and Transmission" which sounded pretty good. However the textbook "Electric Machinery Fundamentals" from Stephen Chapman is a $200 plus textbook. I found it used for about $30 on Amazon. Woo! Still waiting for the encoder and the IGBTs from ebay.
I need to learn how to seperate the magetizing current from the torque producing current so I can figure out an algorithm for feed back and control of the frequency and voltage output. I may just use a Voltage/frequency table to start, but I'd like to learn how to calculate the real output required for Vector Control.
On a side note, I had a comment from MSimon, who I think is one of the avid contibuters to the Talk-Polywell fusion forum which I read every morning. If you're at all interested in super-conducting magnets, plasma physics, massive pulsed capacitor banks, or other energy geek type stuff check it out.

Political Interjection

How does this guy get appointed to the Senate?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090106.wsenate06/BNStory/politics/home

Call me old fashioned, call me judgmental, but pony tails and more than one ring per hand is "not senate material."

3 phase sin wave

I've managed to generate a 3 phase sin wave on the sanguino. Its just pulsing LEDs at this point, but I am able to modulate the frequency and the amplitude. Still have lots of work to do as this current code uses the analogWrite command which does PWM at about 490 Hz. I'm going to need this to work a lot faster. Also I've used a delay command to change the frequency. I'd like to come up with a way to not use any delays in the program. Here it is if anyone is interested:

// 3 phase sin wave output
// by Swamijake

int sinarray [] = {0,0,87,0,0,87,3,0,85,0,0,88,7,0,83,0,0,90,10,0,81,0,0,91,14,0,79,0,0,93,17,0,77,0,0,94,21,0,74,0,0,95,24,0,72,0,0,96,28,0,69,0,0,97,31,0,67,0,0,98,34,0,64,0,0,98,37,0,62,0,0,99,41,0,59,0,0,99,44,0,56,0,0,100,47,0,53,0,0,100,50,0,50,0,0,100,53,0,47,0,0,100,56,0,44,0,0,100,59,0,41,0,0,99,62,0,37,0,0,99,64,0,34,0,0,98,67,0,31,0,0,98,69,0,28,0,0,97,72,0,24,0,0,96,74,0,21,0,0,95,77,0,17,0,0,94,79,0,14,0,0,93,81,0,10,0,0,91,83,0,7,0,0,90,85,0,3,0,0,88,87,0,0,0,0,87,88,0,0,3,0,85,90,0,0,7,0,83,91,0,0,10,0,81,93,0,0,14,0,79,94,0,0,17,0,77,95,0,0,21,0,74,96,0,0,24,0,72,97,0,0,28,0,69,98,0,0,31,0,67,98,0,0,34,0,64,99,0,0,37,0,62,99,0,0,41,0,59,100,0,0,44,0,56,100,0,0,47,0,53,100,0,0,50,0,50,100,0,0,53,0,47,100,0,0,56,0,44,99,0,0,59,0,41,99,0,0,62,0,37,98,0,0,64,0,34,98,0,0,67,0,31,97,0,0,69,0,28,96,0,0,72,0,24,95,0,0,74,0,21,94,0,0,77,0,17,93,0,0,79,0,14,91,0,0,81,0,10,90,0,0,83,0,7,88,0,0,85,0,3,87,0,0,87,0,0,85,0,0,88,3,0,83,0,0,90,7,0,81,0,0,91,10,0,79,0,0,93,14,0,77,0,0,94,17,0,74,0,0,95,21,0,72,0,0,96,24,0,69,0,0,97,28,0,67,0,0,98,31,0,64,0,0,98,34,0,62,0,0,99,37,0,59,0,0,99,41,0,56,0,0,100,44,0,53,0,0,100,47,0,50,0,0,100,50,0,47,0,0,100,53,0,44,0,0,100,56,0,41,0,0,99,59,0,37,0,0,99,62,0,34,0,0,98,64,0,31,0,0,98,67,0,28,0,0,97,69,0,24,0,0,96,72,0,21,0,0,95,74,0,17,0,0,94,77,0,14,0,0,93,79,0,10,0,0,91,81,0,7,0,0,90,83,0,3,0,0,88,85,0,0,0,0,87,87,0,0,3,0,85,88,0,0,7,0,83,90,0,0,10,0,81,91,0,0,14,0,79,93,0,0,17,0,77,94,0,0,21,0,74,95,0,0,24,0,72,96,0,0,28,0,69,97,0,0,31,0,67,98,0,0,34,0,64,98,0,0,37,0,62,99,0,0,41,0,59,99,0,0,44,0,56,100,0,0,47,0,53,100,0,0,50,0,50,100,0,0,53,0,47,100,0,0,56,0,44,100,0,0,59,0,41,99,0,0,62,0,37,99,0,0,64,0,34,98,0,0,67,0,31,98,0,0,69,0,28,97,0,0,72,0,24,96,0,0,74,0,21,95,0,0,77,0,17,94,0,0,79,0,14,93,0,0,81,0,10,91,0,0,83,0,7,90,0,0,85,0,3,88,0,0,87,0,0,87,0,0,88,3,0,85,0,0,90,7,0,83,0,0,91,10,0,81,0,0,93,14,0,79,0,0,94,17,0,77,0,0,95,21,0,74,0,0,96,24,0,72,0,0,97,28,0,69,0,0,98,31,0,67,0,0,98,34,0,64,0,0,99,37,0,62,0,0,99,41,0,59,0,0,100,44,0,56,0,0,100,47,0,53,0,0,100,50,0,50,0,0,100,53,0,47,0,0,100,56,0,44,0,0,99,59,0,41,0,0,99,62,0,37,0,0,98,64,0,34,0,0,98,67,0,31,0,0,97,69,0,28,0,0,96,72,0,24,0,0,95,74,0,21,0,0,94,77,0,17,0,0,93,79,0,14,0,0,91,81,0,10,0,0,90,83,0,7,0,0,88,85,0,3,0,0,87,87,0,0,0,0,85,88,0,0,3,0,83,90,0,0,7,0,81,91,0,0,10,0,79,93,0,0,14,0,77,94,0,0,17,0,74,95,0,0,21,0,72,96,0,0,24,0,69,97,0,0,28,0,67,98,0,0,31,0,64,98,0,0,34,0,62,99,0,0,37,0,59,99,0,0,41,0,56,100,0,0,44,0,53,100,0,0,47,0,50,100,0,0,50,0,47,100,0,0,53,0,44,100,0,0,56,0,41,99,0,0,59,0,37,99,0,0,62,0,34,98,0,0,64,0,31,98,0,0,67,0,28,97,0,0,69,0,24,96,0,0,72,0,21,95,0,0,74,0,17,94,0,0,77,0,14,93,0,0,79,0,10,91,0,0,81,0,7,90,0,0,83,0,3,88,0,0,85};

// generated the array in excel, it is 6 outputs (one positive and one negative for each phase) times 180 bins for 2 degree resolution

int pot_value = 0; // input for the potentiometer used to control frequency
int analog_pin = 0; // input pin for pot

int max_volts = 0; // controls amplitude of the sin wave
int analog_volt = 1;

int value_pwm_1 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_1
int ledpin_1 = 3; // light connected to digital pin 3
int array_tag_1 = 0; // where to get first value for phase 1 positive from array, first value in array is tagged at 0

int value_pwm_2 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_2 = 4; // light connected to digital pin 4
int array_tag_2 = 1; // where to get first value for phase 1 negative from array

int value_pwm_3 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_3 = 12; // light connected to digital pin 12
int array_tag_3 = 2; // where to get first value for phase 2 positive from array

int value_pwm_4 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_4 = 13; // light connected to digital pin 13
int array_tag_4 = 3; // where to get first value for phase 2 negative from array

int value_pwm_5 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_5 = 14; // light connected to digital pin 14
int array_tag_5 = 4; // where to get first value for phase 3 positive from array

int value_pwm_6 = 0; // variable to keep the actual value_pwm_2
int ledpin_6 = 15; // light connected to digital pin 15
int array_tag_6 = 5; // where to get first value for phase 3 negative from array

void setup()
{
pinMode(7, OUTPUT); // using an LED on pin 7 to indicate the completion of one complete cycle on phase 1
}

void loop()
{
pot_value = analogRead(analog_pin) / 100; // using a pot to control the frequency
max_volts = analogRead(analog_volt) / 4; // changes the max voltage based on the second pot

analogWrite(ledpin_1, (sinarray[array_tag_1] * max_volts / 100)); // sets the value_pwm_1 picked from the array
analogWrite(ledpin_2, (sinarray[array_tag_2] * max_volts / 100)); // sets the value_pwm_2 picked from the array
analogWrite(ledpin_3, (sinarray[array_tag_3] * max_volts / 100)); // sets the value_pwm_3
analogWrite(ledpin_4, (sinarray[array_tag_4] * max_volts / 100)); // sets the value_pwm_4
analogWrite(ledpin_5, (sinarray[array_tag_5] * max_volts / 100)); // sets the value_pwm_5
analogWrite(ledpin_6, (sinarray[array_tag_6] * max_volts / 100)); // sets the value_pwm_6

if (array_tag_1 < 1074) { // 1074 is the last the last array tag for phase 1 postive, so below that we add 6 to each tag to get to the next spot for each phase in the array

array_tag_1 = array_tag_1 + 6;
array_tag_2 = array_tag_2 + 6;
array_tag_3 = array_tag_3 + 6;
array_tag_4 = array_tag_4 + 6;
array_tag_5 = array_tag_5 + 6;
array_tag_6 = array_tag_6 + 6;


}

else { // after 1074 we reset all the array tags to their original value

digitalWrite (7,HIGH); // I flash an LED to see the completion of each cycle

array_tag_1 = 0; // this resets the array counters back to zero
array_tag_2 = 1;
array_tag_3 = 2;
array_tag_4 = 3;
array_tag_5 = 4;
array_tag_6 = 5;

}

delay(pot_value); // delays and reruns the whole thing after going through each full cycle. I need to be able to due this without delays and with faster PWM

digitalWrite (7,LOW);




}