Electric Skateboard at Westport Maker Faire + Rev 3

Announcement:

I will be demonstrating my electric skateboard at the Westport Maker Faire, on April, 27th.  This should be a super cool event, and I'm really looking forward to it.

And....

Revision 3 is awesome!

Here is what changed:
  • Updated controller settings
  • New voltage regulator circuit
  • Reconfigured lots of wires
The results:
  1. The board now rides like a dream.  The wireless control takes you from a super slow creep, a foot per second or so, to full speed, in very nice increments -- easy to control, easy to hold a steady speed.  This is what i'm most happy about.  As noted earlier, there was some difficulty in this area, and i'm now fully satisfied with its operation.  Win!
  2. The voltage regulator now allows me to power the wireless receiver with the skateboards main battery pack.  I had always planned on doing this, but in a rush to ride, i skipped this step and slapped a 9V on the Fio.  It also took some work cause i needed a good VR to go from the 40VDC down to 5VDC.  So I got this Recom switching regulator
  3. All the wires are now hidden - with the exception of the leads going to the motors, which are very discreet.  Nice and pretty.
Unfortunately, i didn't get to take a good picture of the board without the wires hanging out yet.  But here is a picture of the voltage regulator circuit.


I went for a few rides around the neighborhood today, after the update.  All was well.  Tomorrow, I'll be heading up to Trumbull to ride with my buddy Tim, and his pedal power.

The next step will be to install my new F4 bindings I got.  I can't tell if i'm going to enjoy them or hate them.  It seems like a bit of a toss-up;  But i am interested in having a little more leverage to use on turns.