The controller on my electric bike recently died and the cost of sourcing a replacement was a little more than my wallet could bear, so I sorted out a cheaper solution utilizing a PICAXE micro controller.
I also recently picked up 100k μF worth of electrolytics (2 x 30k and 2 x 20k) for next to nothing. So I've gotten to wondering if there is a quick and dirty way to capture the braking energy with one or more of these and then feed it back into the motor, switching over to the battery once the charge is depleted.
Ideally I would like to do all switching control and sensing with the PICAXE and software.
My first thoughts are back to back P & N-type MOSFETS between the motor and capacitor(s) and simple resistive dividers connected to an ADC input to sense the charge level. However I have a strong suspiscion that it can't be quite this simple.
If anyone has any ideas I'd be most appreciative.
I also recently picked up 100k μF worth of electrolytics (2 x 30k and 2 x 20k) for next to nothing. So I've gotten to wondering if there is a quick and dirty way to capture the braking energy with one or more of these and then feed it back into the motor, switching over to the battery once the charge is depleted.
Ideally I would like to do all switching control and sensing with the PICAXE and software.
My first thoughts are back to back P & N-type MOSFETS between the motor and capacitor(s) and simple resistive dividers connected to an ADC input to sense the charge level. However I have a strong suspiscion that it can't be quite this simple.
If anyone has any ideas I'd be most appreciative.