Woohoo. I been digging thru the source code of the Open source firmware and I am really liking it. The controller uses a supped up 8051 MCU and I used to make my living programming those decades ago. But the chip today is 60 times more powerful and 10 times more feature rich than the entire board computers I used to program. And its now a $5 chip compared to the $3000 my company was paying way back then. Just a bit of perspective of whats making these motor go.
The code is posted but you have to download the tools and compile it yourself before you have something to flash. Very un user friendly, but its very new code. So its good that its like that to keep people from getting into this too quickly. I hunted around and not many people out of like 50 are actually running this new code. So its not like the thousands that flash custom OS's in the Samsung phones. But I think this will eventually take off.
Somebody actually wrote new code to replace what Bafang has locked down. Actually it looks like many somebodies, as other motor code is also available for scrutiny and duplication. And since the source code is available, its easy peasy to customize it with no limits at all. That's a very powerful incentive that will give this traction.
The code works on BBS02B and BBSHD and claims to play nice with all the compatible displays. And did you know that the displays can also be flashed over for unlimited customization? Clearly new crazy controller features would need new display code for ease of use. So I think open source display code will eventually pop up.
As for features, the BBSHD has 2 internal thermal sensors while the BBS02 has just one. This new code uses them to display thermos and actually ramp down motor power in response. The temperatures are configurable and the code is open to be even more configurable. Awesome. But the BBS02 sensor may not be mounted in a prime location for MOSFET temporatures. So lower temperatures may have to be configured so MOSFETs get the care they deserve.
You can add more magnets to your wheel for speed sensor. As many as you want actually. It's also configurable. Or run without speed sensor entirely. My motor shuts off if speed sensor isn't running. You have more battery voltage control. Higher highs and lower lows. More motor current controls. More control of the throttle response. You can configure the low and high voltage on your throttle so the entire motion is used. Good thing because my throttle wastes half of the travel right out of box. Gear shift sensor timing is configurable. And motor ramps up instead of just full power when timer is up. Makes the shift sensor more usable. Max motor current has been increased. That's great for extra bursts as long as the thermos are setup to kick in safety cut back if rider get too greedy with extra power usage. Motors can be over driven as long as they are given time to run easy for cooling down. And this new code is written to prevent over heating. The BBSHD has one of its sensors inside the motor windings. So its even better setup for accurate thermo monitoring by the controller. The PAS operation is much more configurable to zero in on the best user feel. At least 2 pages of PAS setting can be stored and button toggled for street and offroad settings. Maybe more than 2 PAS setting pages if you choose to reassign other buttons. Like the headlight button. All in configuration. This code has cruise control. Motor keeps speed with no peddle or throttle. For those that ride without holding the handlebars. I did that a ton as a kid. Dying battery ramps down to lower motor speed rather than just cutting off. That way the voltage rises up abit so the BMS doesn't just shut you off with usable power left over. Configurable so YOU can get the most out of your battery pack. Hopefully its got tons more error messages that are meaningful than the factory. I can't tell about that because I can't see the Bafang error codes. But open source has a ton of error messages I hope I never see. Hah
And more features to come. When somebody posts open source display code, we going to see all kinds of new features that need display support. I use DDWRT in all of my routers. Open source code. The factory could not keep up with all the fancy stuff open source kept making these routers do. I can see the same thing happening with open source eBike controls. The blue tooth displays grabbing smart phone content for even more clever features.
Anyways, Ill let the kids do all that stuff and just send donations. But I got everything I need to make quick changes of my own, if the need arises. But its looking impressive just the way it is. Just have to see more usage reviews.
The code is posted but you have to download the tools and compile it yourself before you have something to flash. Very un user friendly, but its very new code. So its good that its like that to keep people from getting into this too quickly. I hunted around and not many people out of like 50 are actually running this new code. So its not like the thousands that flash custom OS's in the Samsung phones. But I think this will eventually take off.
Somebody actually wrote new code to replace what Bafang has locked down. Actually it looks like many somebodies, as other motor code is also available for scrutiny and duplication. And since the source code is available, its easy peasy to customize it with no limits at all. That's a very powerful incentive that will give this traction.
The code works on BBS02B and BBSHD and claims to play nice with all the compatible displays. And did you know that the displays can also be flashed over for unlimited customization? Clearly new crazy controller features would need new display code for ease of use. So I think open source display code will eventually pop up.
As for features, the BBSHD has 2 internal thermal sensors while the BBS02 has just one. This new code uses them to display thermos and actually ramp down motor power in response. The temperatures are configurable and the code is open to be even more configurable. Awesome. But the BBS02 sensor may not be mounted in a prime location for MOSFET temporatures. So lower temperatures may have to be configured so MOSFETs get the care they deserve.
You can add more magnets to your wheel for speed sensor. As many as you want actually. It's also configurable. Or run without speed sensor entirely. My motor shuts off if speed sensor isn't running. You have more battery voltage control. Higher highs and lower lows. More motor current controls. More control of the throttle response. You can configure the low and high voltage on your throttle so the entire motion is used. Good thing because my throttle wastes half of the travel right out of box. Gear shift sensor timing is configurable. And motor ramps up instead of just full power when timer is up. Makes the shift sensor more usable. Max motor current has been increased. That's great for extra bursts as long as the thermos are setup to kick in safety cut back if rider get too greedy with extra power usage. Motors can be over driven as long as they are given time to run easy for cooling down. And this new code is written to prevent over heating. The BBSHD has one of its sensors inside the motor windings. So its even better setup for accurate thermo monitoring by the controller. The PAS operation is much more configurable to zero in on the best user feel. At least 2 pages of PAS setting can be stored and button toggled for street and offroad settings. Maybe more than 2 PAS setting pages if you choose to reassign other buttons. Like the headlight button. All in configuration. This code has cruise control. Motor keeps speed with no peddle or throttle. For those that ride without holding the handlebars. I did that a ton as a kid. Dying battery ramps down to lower motor speed rather than just cutting off. That way the voltage rises up abit so the BMS doesn't just shut you off with usable power left over. Configurable so YOU can get the most out of your battery pack. Hopefully its got tons more error messages that are meaningful than the factory. I can't tell about that because I can't see the Bafang error codes. But open source has a ton of error messages I hope I never see. Hah
And more features to come. When somebody posts open source display code, we going to see all kinds of new features that need display support. I use DDWRT in all of my routers. Open source code. The factory could not keep up with all the fancy stuff open source kept making these routers do. I can see the same thing happening with open source eBike controls. The blue tooth displays grabbing smart phone content for even more clever features.
Anyways, Ill let the kids do all that stuff and just send donations. But I got everything I need to make quick changes of my own, if the need arises. But its looking impressive just the way it is. Just have to see more usage reviews.
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