Lexus GS450H VCU Support Thread

[catphish]

This makes sense. From experience, the High gear gives plenty of acceleration already, you may find yourself never using the Low gear.
...
Yes, it would be good to generate a truth table for the 4 possible states for this. This could maybe be as simple as running MG2 on the bench, applying a small load (gloved hand may be enough) to the output flange to see what's engaged and at what speed, in the various states.

I agree entirely on both points. I think implementing the gears may turn out to be an academic exercise, but I think it'll definitely be worth properly understanding how to correctly operate them. As soon as I have my oil pump running, I will test all four states individually.

The main thing that's confusing me is why high ratio seems to be engaged when both solenoids are deactivated, as all the documentation I've seen implies that one of the brakes should be activated for either ratio.

On a totally unrelated note, I have just finished rewriting the web interface for my board, so I should be ready for more bench testing on Monday. Source code always available: https://github.com/catphish/gs450h/

[kevpatts]

Looking for a spare 90980-12483 (connector for the oil pump controller) if anyone has one with wires attached? 2nd hand ones only seem to have wires on pins 4 & 5 and new ones don't come with terminals.

[xp677]

The controller only uses two signal wires (brown and black) and the blue power wire. Pins 4 and 5 sound correct.

[kevpatts]

Unfortunately the brown and black wires are pins 6 & 7 (according to this) but the only ones I can find to buy have pins 4 & 5, the HV pins, like this. I'm trying to avoid buying a whole new control unit just for the connector.

[xp677]

You can always just use generic pins and then fill the cavity with epoxy, then add your own connector.

[Jack Bauer]

Due to an "upgrade" on Olimex wifi modules I can no longer supply them as open networks. By default all charger kits will have SSID : gs450h_vcu PASSWORD : inverter123

If someone could please update the wiki with this would be much appreciated.

[steveknox]

Wiki updated.

[PatrcioEV-ATX]

Since my car doesn't have a CAN network, I'm using the other CAN on the VCU to send a custom message to include MPH (I've added that calc into my VCU software), Sensor.Voltage, Sensor.Amperes, Sensor.KW and mg2_speed. That info is received by a CAN Bus shield and sending it to an Arduino that is then serial and display printing the values.

Everything is working fine, but for some reason mg2speed just does not come through correctly. It's not at all accurate and jumps all over the place. The VCU sends it correctly to the webpage, and my MPH calc is steady and accurate. Any thoughts as to why it won't send over CAN correctly? From what I can tell from Damien's V7, he is using just the value of mg2_speed (other than some logic specific to his BMW).
.....

void Calc_MPH()
{
speedCalc=((abs(mg2_speed/1.9))/diff);
MPH=((speedCalc*60)/tireRpm);
}

mg2_speed is a larger value than what can fit into 8 bits. To keep it simple, just divide it by 100 or 50 when putting it into the message and multiply when receiving.

But you could split it into a low and high byte and go from there if you'd like to have all the resolution. Arduino has the lowByte and highByte functions for this, and for reconstructing the value on the receiving end, you can use word(highbytevariable, lowbytevariable).

Thanks, that is very helpful. What I ended up doing was a reverse calculation to get the RPM from the MPH value that I'm sending, but I'll give your method a try and see if that works. Really, I think either is fine for my needs.

BTW, I was finally able to get mg2_speed to send correctly over CAN by using lowByte and highByte. Took me a while to get the receiving bit right in the code, but works fine now. Thanks!

[PatrcioEV-ATX]

Battery protection in the VCU:

I think most electric cars will limit the available power as you get low on charge and eventually of course go "dead" at a voltage just over what could harm the batteries. I've instituted that in the web friendly V3 software if anyone is interested.

I added these:

#define TurtleVoltage 50
#define DeadVoltage 25 (these values are just for testing with my limited 60 volt bench power supply)

And in get_torque ( ):

if((gear==DRIVE)&&(Sensor.Voltage>TurtleVoltage))
ThrotVal = map(ThrotVal, parameters.Min_throttleVal, parameters.Max_throttleVal, 0, parameters.Max_Drive_Torque);
if((gear==DRIVE)&&(Sensor.Voltage<=TurtleVoltage))
ThrotVal = (map(ThrotVal, parameters.Min_throttleVal, parameters.Max_throttleVal, 0, parameters.Max_Drive_Torque)/2);
if((gear==DRIVE)&&(Sensor.Voltage<DeadVoltage))
ThrotVal = 0;

I am using the ISA shunt. That's where Sensor.Voltage is coming from.

This is ultimately going to get much more sophisticated because I will at some point institute regen and cruise control (based on code from smarter people than me).

Test/demo video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVglthXgJB ... copy_link

[Gigas]

Ok I'm slightly confused here - and maybe I just missed it but I plan on wiring up the connector and using the manual lever so I have a mechanical brake BUT these two diagrams are different in the wire schematic. The connector says pin 1 is drive but the but on the colored diagram 3 is drive? P is 3 on the connector and 1 on the colored wire diagram - what am I missing and do I just follow the connector? This is the LAST part of my wire diagram I need to wire and I can finally start testing this thing to get it spinning.

also I hooked up the resolvers to the transmission - does it matter which one goes to which on the transmission G and M resolver from the invertor?

[catphish]

For what it's worth, I think it makes more sense to use pins 6 and 9 (FWD and REV) instead or R and D. This way, you can use the momentary "B" position without it dropping into neutral.

[Gigas]

For what it's worth, I think it makes more sense to use pins 6 and 9 (FWD and REV) instead or R and D. This way, you can use the momentary "B" position without it dropping into neutral.

do you mean you can just use a momentary push button and hit pin 6 or 9 with 12v for a second and it goes in drive or reverse till you select something else?

[catphish]

do you mean you can just use a momentary push button and hit pin 6 or 9 with 12v for a second and it goes in drive or reverse till you select something else?

No, the gear selector has 5 positions: Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, B. "B" is special, unlike the others, it's momentary, when you let go of the lever it goes back to D. It's therefore useful as a switch to do something special, but you *probably* want the inverter to stay in forward more while it's engaged (not neutral).

Each of these 5 positions has wire that goes to 12v when it's selected, but there are 2 extra wires, "FWD" and "REV". FWD goes to 12v when either D or B are selected. REV is just the same as R.

In my project I'll be using FWD to put the inverter into forward, and REV to put the inverter into reverse. I'll be using B either to trigger a gear ratio change, or engage cruise control.

To clarify, this means that while using the momentary "B" position, the "B" and "FWD" wires will still be live, but D will not.

[Bryson]

I used FWD in my car as well, and I use B in my firmware to shift into low gear (it doesn’t have to be momentary if your setup doesn’t have a spring return). Works great

[catphish]

I used FWD in my car as well, and I use B in my firmware to shift into low gear (it doesn’t have to be momentary if your setup doesn’t have a spring return). Works great

Do you have the ratio selection working correctly? If so, can you share any specifics? I have an idea of how to do it, but any input would be appreciated.

[Bryson]

I only allow shifts at stop or very low torque, I wouldn’t say it’s ready for prime time. I basically just use it for doing burnouts..

[Gigas]

Ok I just need to confirm a few things as I finished pinning and wiring up everything - check my wires and put 60v to the invertor and got NOTHING! Very frustrating. I checked and double checked - I even ordered a new pedal and a 5k pot just to test things. When 12v is turned on I here a relay click in the transmission and can switch gear fine but I don't seem to be getting anything from the invertor. Is there a way to make sure my invertor is good? I'm at a loss right now as what to do - Just to make sure can you guys verify I have these labels on the plugs correct?

[PatrcioEV-ATX]

Ok I just need to confirm a few things as I finished pinning and wiring up everything - check my wires and put 60v to the invertor and got NOTHING! Very frustrating. I checked and double checked - I even ordered a new pedal and a 5k pot just to test things. When 12v is turned on I here a relay click in the transmission and can switch gear fine but I don't seem to be getting anything from the invertor. Is there a way to make sure my invertor is good? I'm at a loss right now as what to do - Just to make sure can you guys verify I have these labels on the plugs correct?



download (1).jpg0618212332_2.jpg

Those look correct. How are you getting power to those 12v lines? The Inverter Power (B, Pin 6) is for providing a ground to a relay. Also, in Park, the inverter will make no whine. Couple of thoughts:

* You should be able to connect your throttle to the VCU and get readings without being connected to the inverter at all. You can set min/max throttle and verify it's reading correctly.
* Make sure your CLK, REQ, HTM, and MTH connections between VCU and Inverter are correct.
* Make sure your resolver connections to the Inverter are correct.
* Do you have a common ground for Inverter and VCU? I'm not certain this is required, but it seems to resolve a lot of my accessory issues when I'm having problems.

[Gigas]

That may be my issue as I didn't hook a relay to the B and B2 , as it looks like they where connected together and just connected to positive via the 10amp fuse
- so if I'm reading this right now B and B2 connect together and go to 5(87) on a relay - 2(85) and the relay goes positive via ignition switch - 3(30) goes to positive via 10amp fuze and 1(86) goes to pin 6 on the vcu.

-I'll recheck the throttle via the vcu when the new one comes in a day or so
-i'll double check all the connections
-does it matter where the resolvers are connected as there a gsn and msn and I'm not sure which goes to which on the transmission - also I don't have the temps wired up on the resovlers - not sure if that matters
- I have the ground of the vcu and the two grounds of the invertor connected to the same busbar then the negative of the 12v supply goes to that bussbar

[PatrcioEV-ATX]

ground.JPGThat may be my issue as I didn't hook a relay to the B and B2 , as it looks like they where connected together and just connected to positive via the 10amp fuse
- so if I'm reading this right now B and B2 connect together and go to 5(87) on a relay - 2(85) and the relay goes positive via ignition switch - 3(30) goes to positive via 10amp fuze and 1(86) goes to pin 6 on the vcu.

-I'll recheck the throttle via the vcu when the new one comes in a day or so
-i'll double check all the connections
-does it matter where the resolvers are connected as there a gsn and msn and I'm not sure which goes to which on the transmission - also I don't have the temps wired up on the resovlers - not sure if that matters
- I have the ground of the vcu and the two grounds of the invertor connected to the same busbar then the negative of the 12v supply goes to that bussbar

I don't know that the relay is required, I was just making sure you weren't using Inverter Power as a positive 12volt. The temp wires go to the VCU and aren't really meaningful anyway (see previous discussion in this thread). They are just informational. Yes, the resolvers need to be right, but I honestly can't recall now how I determined which was which. I confirmed with my setup that switching the resolver connectors on the tranny will still allow the inverter to fire up and drive the motors (it'll just send the wrong values to each).

EDIT: E81 is Generator Resolver (MG1) and E82 is Motor Resolver (MG2)

[xp677]

The front resolver plug is for the front motor (MG1).

[Gigas]

Looks like I have a dead inverter - I thought I saw somewhere on here that a guy bought a couple, repaired a part in the middle that would go bad, and then have a good unit again. I can't seem to find that post or what part that is. I'm getting no communication from the VCU and the inverter

[PatrcioEV-ATX]

Looks like I have a dead inverter - I thought I saw somewhere on here that a guy bought a couple, repaired a part in the middle that would go bad, and then have a good unit again. I can't seem to find that post or what part that is. I'm getting no communication from the VCU and the inverter

Where are you? Maybe someone is close enough that they could take your inverter and plug it in to their set up. That would at least tell for sure if it is the inverter. These inverters aren't cheap in the states, so not a great solution to buy another unless you know for sure you need it.

[Gigas]

Im at NC/VA area but I don't see anyone near this area

[ggeter]

Looks like I have a dead inverter - I thought I saw somewhere on here that a guy bought a couple, repaired a part in the middle that would go bad, and then have a good unit again. I can't seem to find that post or what part that is. I'm getting no communication from the VCU and the inverter

Is your trans switch Drive/Reverse lines wired to Input1/Input2 on VCU and Park to Pin6 on inverter? First time I hit the throttle, nothing happened until I got those plugged in.