Microcontrollers

[windu34]

What are they used for specifically in electric vehicle? Can they be used to get adjust speed of motor or just keep track of time?

[Miske]

Bump

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

What is the difference between this and the EV thread?

[windu34]

What is the difference between this and the EV thread?

This is microcontroller-specific and is not specific to EV

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

What is the difference between this and the EV thread?

This is microcontroller-specific and is not specific to EV

Okay then.

[bernard]

I've only worked briefly with an Arduino Uno so I can't answer your original question about Arduino vs. Raspberry Pi, but I'll link you to two useful pages: ELI5: Arduino and Raspberry Pi and readwrite: Arduino Vs. Raspberry Pi.

For your new question: would adjusting a potentiometer connected to your motor(s) and power source be sufficient to vary the speed of your vehicle?

[windu34]

I've only worked briefly with an Arduino Uno so I can't answer your original question about Arduino vs. Raspberry Pi, but I'll link you to two useful pages: ELI5: Arduino and Raspberry Pi and readwrite: Arduino Vs. Raspberry Pi.

For your new question: would adjusting a potentiometer connected to your motor(s) and power source be sufficient to vary the speed of your vehicle?

I initially tried that, but couldnt get it to work properly. Ill give it another try though.

[TwelveSquared]

A common way in hobbyist robotics to get variable speed is by modifying a servo to act as a speed controller. It requires a bit more advanced programming to control than other methods, but can allow for very fine adjustments in speed.

Actually, that whole website is a good resource for robotics. I don't know how much of it applies to EV, since vehicle events aren't my thing.

[windu34]

A common way in hobbyist robotics to get variable speed is by modifying a servo to act as a speed controller. It requires a bit more advanced programming to control than other methods, but can allow for very fine adjustments in speed.

Actually, that whole website is a good resource for robotics. I don't know how much of it applies to EV, since vehicle events aren't my thing.

That sounds perfect! Ill try it!

[Paradox21]

The big difference between a raspberry pi and (most) arduino is that the pi has an operating system on it, but the arduino is just running bare machine code. The OS is great for running separate programs at the same time, which makes it good at multitasking. However, this comes at the expense of consistency. You can't get instruction level consistency with an operating system, meaning you will get a bit of variability in run-time even if you run the same program twice.

An arduino provides the consistency you would expect, but multi-tasking is a bit harder. You have to run a single program in a loop and you can use timer-driven interrupts to get a semblance of multi-tasking if you need it.

For speed control, consider controlling the speed in software. For example, you could send PWM to the motors on your wheels. Varying the duty cycle could be an easy way to get consistent speed control. With an analog speed control like a potentiometer, you are limited by how consistently you can set your speed control. Doing it in software is an easy way to make it very consistent.