Think i might need talking down..

[thelarkbox]

About a day after first installing my hub kit I was chatting with a chap over on pedelec.de who suggested a new controller would be a good idea and i bought one.. well it turns out my bike performs just fine and after an initial pas hicup (wrong sensor type for my bike) I cant fault it beyond a general gripe about the closed nature of the controller config, with the only parameter i am able to configure is the metric used for the display. But the bike works great Yes on some very select smooth tracks i could use a bit more speed, but as it stands 15mph is a bit too fast for many rds with my bike..

So I have this controller 22a peak power, KTlcd10 headset, ive got a nice big controller box that i can squeeze in between my 2x dropped crossbars (see profile pic) under the battery/existing controller. @saneagle has given me the circuit for a battery isolating ignition switch to fill the hole in the box.

And i have a backburner idea of establishing a bike area network(BAN) from bits out of the old projects box... that looks like it too could live in the big controller box as well,, hmmmm

stage1 after establishing the network will be integrating the cheap 433mhz wireless indicator to flas orange rgbleds on the left and right sides of the bike both back and front..

gsm gps dvr additions will just require the h/w and a larger sd card for recording.. and any other dumb electronics can be included with a £5 5v wireless sbc running github firmware..

later i may even attempt controller coms interfacing?? dont hold your breath for success unless i can stand on the shoulders of others..

But do i need to...... hmmmm

 

[saneagle]

About a day after first installing my hub kit I was chatting with a chap over on pedelec.de who suggested a new controller would be a good idea and i bought one.. well it turns out my bike performs just fine and after an initial pas hicup (wrong sensor type for my bike) I cant fault it beyond a general gripe about the closed nature of the controller config, with the only parameter i am able to configure is the metric used for the display. But the bike works great Yes on some very select smooth tracks i could use a bit more speed, but as it stands 15mph is a bit too fast for many rds with my bike..

So I have this controller 22a peak power, KTlcd10 headset, ive got a nice big controller box that i can squeeze in between my 2x dropped crossbars (see profile pic) under the battery/existing controller. @saneagle has given me the circuit for a battery isolating ignition switch to fill the hole in the box.

And i have a backburner idea of establishing a bike area network(BAN) from bits out of the old projects box... that looks like it too could live in the big controller box as well,, hmmmm
View attachment 54323
stage1 after establishing the network will be integrating the cheap 433mhz wireless indicator to flas orange rgbleds on the left and right sides of the bike both back and front..

gsm gps dvr additions will just require the h/w and a larger sd card for recording.. and any other dumb electronics can be included with a £5 5v wireless sbc running github firmware..

later i may even attempt controller coms interfacing?? dont hold your breath for success unless i can stand on the shoulders of others..

But do i need to...... hmmmm

When many of us got our first electric bikes, there was an urge to start accessorising with lights, alarms, indicators, panniers and anything else like that, but after a couple of years, all that wears of and you switch to wanting a minimalist bike for ultimate efficiency or utility.

 

[thelarkbox]

Cheers @saneagle , its something i am prone to -newbie gung-ho enthusiasm its whats responsible for the well stocked projects box..

 

[guerney]

Think i might need talking down..

I look forward to seeing this project working, and reading about all the details.

 

[thelarkbox]

Ive been fiddling and browsing, hurdle #1 is the problem of a 4-6a 5v psu that can maintain a consistent 5v with a varying input voltage, plan a was to use a ebike usb charge adaptor but these are limited to 2a well the cheap ones ive looked at are. probably solved with an ebay search..

for now im using a dummy access point and dhcp hosted on a basic soc no pi, saving an amp+ of potential 5v power and modding the tasmota bridge build with rules or perhaps scripts. (tested thanks to the author of esp_mqtt)

So amusing a suitable psu can be found at a reasonable price its now just a logic problem.
And then a practical soldering job..

 

[PC2017]

minimalist bike for ultimate efficiency or utility

a part from @guerney

 

[Cisco-man]

When many of us got our first electric bikes, there was an urge to start accessorising with lights, alarms, indicators, panniers and anything else like that, but after a couple of years, all that wears of and you switch to wanting a minimalist bike for ultimate efficiency or utility.

…and less attractive to scrotes.

 

[thelarkbox]

Project shrink.

.with circa 123 leds
I did a rough wrap round to estimate the number of leds required, the final leds will sit under the box lips front and rear, hopefully providing a flood light effect?? so final count could differ, but its enough to determine power requirements..

While only the leds designated Front will ever draw anything close to the max current i will use the 60ma per led max draw to determine a 7.5-8a psu is required.

once/if i sort the logic i can test the final build draw of the h/w but am happy atm to assume its less than 400ma total. so a 5v 8a step down voltage regulator that can accept a input voltage between 32v-52v and maintain a constant output.

Left Hand Indicator (leds 41-60 + 101-124)
Right hand Indicator (leds 1-20 + 61-84)
Rear (leds 85-100)
Front (leds 21-40)

I think i need to describe at least 5 x 'patterns'/'masks' I dont know all the proper lingo atm..
1 left side indicators activated Lights OFF
2) Left side indicators activated Lights ON
3) Right side indicators activated Lights OFF
4) Right side indicators activated Lights ON
5) Lights On.
perhaps

and apply each according to what controller buttons are depressed. This needs a fair bit of reading up on tasmota rules and scripts.. Its still preferable to work within the confines of tasmota as its handling of the dedicated RF decoding h/w is what probably reads the indicator controller.

Thats the thing with great projects like tasmota, you learn about it apply it and it just works so you forget about it.. ha..

edit.. with the leds under the carry box lips they should not be an eye catcher during the day
But at night time i kinda want to be an eye magnet..

 

[thelarkbox]

Tonight however i need to clear up the mess i made searching for the crappy rf daughter boards that didnt bloody work.. tomorrow it will be pencil sharpening..

 

[Bikes4two]

I'm with @saneagle on the initial enthusiasm for ebike add-ons etc. - had plenty of ideas myself but when you think it through anything circuit board based will need to be robust to stay sound in the harsh bike riding environment and any extra connections involving the bike battery need special thought.

Having said all of that, keep us informed of your developments and good luck.

 

[Saracen]

Unless like on a car the indicators are WIDE apart some small flashing light on the back will look like just that a small flashing light not left/right with not enough space to separate it so pointless

 

[matthewslack]

5v 8a..... I'd be looking for a way to use more v and less a, take a feed from main battery voltage and control by mosfet or relay.

I have a 3a 5v DC-DC converter, not seen anywhere near 8a. This one claims input voltage of up to 50v.

DC-DC Buck Converter 12V 24V 36V to 5V 3A with USB Power Adapter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DC-DC Buck Converter 12V 24V 36V to 5V 3A with USB Power Adapter at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

My non- flashing trailer lights are three identical 12V lamps in series, no converters needed. This kind of thing, also available in white, red and other quantities.

Pardon our interruption...

 

[guerney]

a part from @guerney

Who are we to impede the progress of relentless compulsive tinkerers?

I totally understand the motivation for this project! I've long envied my younger self: fitter, slimmer, a tad taller, a lot better looking... and his motorbike had very sensible highly visible indicators. I can't find a photo of @trevor brooker's 12V flashing led indicator lights, which he's hot glued onto his side mirrors, and I can't find a link to the product either. They were smaller than these, the flashing circuit is contained within the lights:

Flashing Light LED Strobe Beacon Alarm 12V Emergency Warning Signal Lamp | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Flashing Light LED Strobe Beacon Alarm 12V Emergency Warning Signal Lamp at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Every time I almost end up flattened going around fast multi-laned roundabouts, I think "AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" and "I must fit indicators!!!" 2 X 1800LM + 2400LM headlights and 1 X 1800LM flashing red rear light has burned away my cyclist's invisibility cloak, day and night, and the Oxford safety arm mounted to the end of my right handbar has effectively nullified my other gripe, namely close passing... but the lack of indicators gets forgotten. I will no doubt be reminded again tomorrow night while going around a particularly nasty big fast roundabout, one of the exits of which leads directly to a motorway. Drivers can now always see me day or night, but I can't always see drivers, particularly if they're directly behind me, and they go around that roundabout so fast I often get beeped and almost squashed while changing lane. There's no easy way for pedestrians to cross either, else I'd walk the bike over three exits. I'd be safer with indicators.

I could hot glue standalone 12V flashers to Oxford fold-out lollipops either side at the back, but I've run out of space for switches on my handlebar.

 

[thelarkbox]

Exactly @Saracen, you get it, with the right face of both my rear and front carry boxes flashing for a right signal and the left side of the bike flashing for the left signal there should be zero confusion unlike with the original 6-8cm long unit. ..

@Bikes4two, I do hear what your saying, and partially i think i just have to get it out of my system by trial and failure.. While your concerns are valid a bottle of £shop nail polish is a great poormans conformal coating and component setting agent in one to protect electronics from a harsh environment..



Thanks for the links @matthewslack the 'transformers' you linked to will i think? vary the output depending on the input voltage like the bigger one below.. which for led power isnt such a big deal, but the soc board probably wont appreciate it..

A quick browse on ebay for suitable psu modules.. since i may have both 36 and 48v batteries used ideally the step down voltage transformer used will cope with input voltages upto 52v while maintaining a constant 5v output as the input voltage drops.

Im out of my depth electronically, i suspect candidates such as this


would vary the output as the input drops?

and the only constant voltage drivers i can find are mains powered or the guts of the ebike usb charges..

so, im edging towards 3x LM2596HV modules dedicating one to the control h/w 2x for the lights (perhaps 3x, will test real world draw@ full power of 120 leds first, i have a 2m strip used for lighting i can plug its mains supply into a power monitor for the watts drawn at full white bright, it will be in excess of the power required to power the leds (transformer + control systems included) so will provide a good ceiling metric.

But just visually comparing the 2 pictures above the small boards are lacking a Lot of heat dissipation??

Anyway Ive made 20 coffees sharpened all the pencils, redrawn my revision chart and finally opened the tasmota docs for a read up.. And More project shrinkage.. For now or to begin with im ignoring the front and rear lighting aspect, maintaining constant on substrings while other substrings flash while do-able with addressable leds is a bit more complex so will be ignored for now.. Start simple and embelish later..

for now i will be testing with a small set of leds 6x one for each delegated position on the bike, i can replace with arrays/lists later. and i can get away using the soc psu to power a few leds.

 

[matthewslack]

Exactly @Saracen, you get it, with the right face of both my rear and front carry boxes flashing for a right signal and the left side of the bike flashing for the left signal there should be zero confusion unlike with the original 6-8cm long unit. ..

@Bikes4two, I do hear what your saying, and partially i think i just have to get it out of my system by trial and failure.. While your concerns are valid a bottle of £shop nail polish is a great poormans conformal coating and component setting agent in one to protect electronics from a harsh environment..



Thanks for the links @matthewslack the 'transformers' you linked to will i think? vary the output depending on the input voltage like the bigger one below.. which for led power isnt such a big deal, but the soc board probably wont appreciate it..

A quick browse on ebay for suitable psu modules.. since i may have both 36 and 48v batteries used ideally the step down voltage transformer used will cope with input voltages upto 52v while maintaining a constant 5v output as the input voltage drops.

Im out of my depth electronically, i suspect candidates such as this


would vary the output as the input drops?

and the only constant voltage drivers i can find are mains powered or the guts of the ebike usb charges..

so, im edging towards 3x LM2596HV modules dedicating one to the control h/w 2x for the lights (perhaps 3x, will test real world draw@ full power of 120 leds first, i have a 2m strip used for lighting i can plug its mains supply into a power monitor for the watts drawn at full white bright, it will be in excess of the power required to power the leds (transformer + control systems included) so will provide a good ceiling metric.

But just visually comparing the 2 pictures above the small boards are lacking a Lot of heat dissipation??

Anyway Ive made 20 coffees sharpened all the pencils, redrawn my revision chart and finally opened the tasmota docs for a read up.. And More project shrinkage.. For now or to begin with im ignoring the front and rear lighting aspect, maintaining constant on substrings while other substrings flash while do-able with addressable leds is a bit more complex so will be ignored for now.. Start simple and embelish later..

for now i will be testing with a small set of leds 6x one for each delegated position on the bike, i can replace with arrays/lists later. and i can get away using the soc psu to power a few leds.

The one I linked will give you a fixed, regulated output voltage, and up to their max claimed current, provided the input voltage is high enough, and input can supply enough current.

There is no difference at the output if you increase the input voltage: it is a DC-DC converter, not a transformer.

 

[thelarkbox]

The one I linked will give you a fixed, regulated output voltage, and up to their max claimed current, provided the input voltage is high enough, and input can supply enough current.

There is no difference at the output if you increase the input voltage: it is a DC-DC converter, not a transformer.

Cheers I appreciate the distinction between transformer and converter, in name and function, but to me they are both oblique black boxes that work differently im just glad they work.

On second look at your link I owe you an apology for not giving it a proper once over in the first place, i staled at reading 36v in the heading and dismissed it as unsuitable at that.
I now see the wider input voltage range. stamped on the damn things themselves hmmm.

Nicely potted to for harsh conditions.

 

[matthewslack]

Cheers I appreciate the distinction between transformer and converter, in name and function, but to me they are both oblique black boxes that work differently im just glad they work.

On second look at your link I owe you an apology for not giving it a proper once over in the first place, i staled at reading 36v in the heading and dismissed it as unsuitable at that.
I now see the wider input voltage range. stamped on the damn things themselves hmmm.

Nicely potted to for harsh conditions.

They are great for all my USB-C chargeable accessories, 3A is enough for that.

Beware of the high voltage limit, my first one was 80V in the listing and marked as such, but recent second one was listed as 50V but marked 36. So far OK on my 36V bike, which is 42V when fully charged...

 

[AGS]

If you fit a Bluetooth speaker to your bike, you can use a led strip light controller to turn those led strips into disco lights.

You are way behind the curve:

 

[StuartsProjects]

But just visually comparing the 2 pictures above the small boards are lacking a Lot of heat dissipation??

The LM2596HV is rated for 5V at 3A, so thats 15W output.

Its a swiched mode converter, efficency is in the 92% range, so at 15W output the converter would need to dissapate 1.2W. In the open airt it might be OK at that power, but I would suspect it would get quite hot if enclosed.

 

[thelarkbox]

@AGS no need for more controllers but yes thats the idea, tho to scale upto that level Lots of power will need diverting from the batteries..

The LM2596HV is rated for 5V at 3A, so thats 15W output.

Its a swiched mode converter, efficency is in the 92% range, so at 15W output the converter would need to dissapate 1.2W. In the open airt it might be OK at that power, but I would suspect it would get quite hot if enclosed.

Yeah @StuartsProjects, i think your understanding runs deeper than mine..
But that sounds ok as when used as indicators im looking at significantly less than 50% of the max draw.

60x leds at the front if brightest white would draw more than 3a but if limited to 50% output should be fine
these are not main beam lighting just additional eyecatchers.

the rear all red would draw 33% of the max if at 100% brightness, this i would like to reserve for a braking light i can pick up from the bikes brake sensor line eventually so again will be limiting it to circa 50% for the back light effect when implemented. -

I would need to run power and data lines to the leds anyway so i may as well run hi voltage power with the data line and convert it at the led end exposed to more elements

and the 1 dedicated to control will draw max 300ma though if i upgrade the esp top a real server.. that will increase by 1.2a but well within margins..

So i had better stop 'talking about it' pull out my finger and work out the details..