A Super-Brain For An E-bike

March 7, 2020 by Bryan Cockfield 12 Comments

There’s no better way of improving a project than logging data to make informed decisions on future improvements. When it came to [Brian]’s latest project, an electric bike, he wanted to get as much data as he could from the time he turned it on until the time he was finished riding. He turned to a custom pyBoard-based device (and wrote it up on Hackaday.io), but made it stackable in order to get as much information from his bike as possible.

This isn’t so much an ebike project as it is about a microcontroller platform that can be used as a general purpose device. All of the bike’s controls flow through this device as a logic layer, so everything that can possibly be logged is logged, including the status of the motor and battery at any given moment. This could be used for virtually any project, and the modular nature means that you could scale it up or down based on your specific needs. The device is based on an ARM microcontroller so it has plenty of power, too.

While the microcontroller part is exceptionally useful ([Brian] talks about some of its other uses here and gives us even more data on his personal webpage), we shouldn’t miss the incredible bike that [Brian] built either. It has a 3 kW rear hub motor and can reach speeds of around 60 mph. While we let the commenters below hash out the classic argument of “bicycle vs. motorcyle” we’ll be checking out some electric vehicles that are neither.

New Part Day: Pyboard D Is Smaller, Wireless, And Has Expansion Modules

March 20, 2019 by Roger Cheng 16 Comments

Historically, microcontrollers’ limited computing power and storage space meant software had to be written in low-level languages out of necessity. In recent years small affordable chips grew powerful enough that they could theoretically run higher level languages, sparking numerous efforts to turn that theory into reality. MicroPython delivered on this promise in a big way when their Kickstarter-funded pyboard was delivered along with its open source software. Several years have since passed, and now it is time for an upgraded pyboard: the D-series.

We’ve talked with [Damien George] back when the original Kickstarter was still underway. Since the launch of pyboard and release of MicroPython source code, we’ve played with ports running on an ESP8266 and on a BBC micro:bit. The software ecosystem has continued to grow, most recently we looked at LittlevGL graphics library. But just because all the flashy action has been happening on the software side doesn’t mean the hardware side has been sitting stagnant.

Pyboard-D upgraded from original pyboard’s STM32F4 to more capable STM32F7 chips. Witnessing the popularity of MicroPython on networked darlings ESP8266 and ESP32, there will be a pyboard D variant with a Murata 1DX on board for WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. The new pyboard will be extremely compact with limited edge connections so a fine-pitched connector is required to bring out all the pins. To bring the new pyboard back to its educational and tinkerer roots, a breakout board will take those pins and spread them out in a breadboard friendly form factor. These breakout boards can also host small (12 mm x 12 mm) “tiles” to add individual features.

The wireless pyboard D will obviously invite comparison tests with an ESP32 running MicroPython, and its hardware expansion tiles invites comparison with Adafruit’s Wings. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare once widely available and we can get our hands on them. If you’ve picked up an earlier release at FOSDEM 2019, we invite you to share your experience in comments.

[via Adafruit blog]