# Open ReVolt controller, where to start from?



## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

You'd better make sure you can get _every_ component on the BOM before you go down this path. I have some connectors for a Damien board I've ordered last month that are shipping in April 🤬

Some stuff has a year of leadtime and no inventory anywhere on the planet. Find each part is the long pole in your tent right now, imo.


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## yves.carrier (Nov 21, 2021)

Thanks Remy. I do admit that I was not considering this issue and will have to adapt my planning accordingly. But for the rest of it, where should I start from?


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

These are strange times.

Make sure you have verified you can get and have ordered all the parts it needs. 

The rest of the process is a complete waste of time and neurons if you can't knock down the long pole in your tent.


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## GE11 (Oct 24, 2011)

Man I can tell thats a Dang good and reliable controller!!


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## yves.carrier (Nov 21, 2021)

GE11 said:


> Man I can tell thats a Dang good and reliable controller!!


Did you built it by yourself? If so, where did you get the PCB from?


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## GE11 (Oct 24, 2011)

yves.carrier said:


> Did you built it by yourself? If so, where did you get the PCB from?


No.. I actually got my units that were fully built.... Not sure where to get more boards.. this is not supported anymore unfortunately... i can sell you a non functioning 1000 amp Zilla controller for real cheap!!


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## eSharo (Nov 20, 2021)

GE11 said:


> No.. I actually got my units that were fully built.... Not sure where to get more boards.. this is not supported anymore unfortunately... i can sell you a non functioning 1000 amp Zilla controller for real cheap!!


Thanks for your offer GE11 but I guess I will stick on the Open ReVolt since I just got good comments for it so far over the Net. Do you remember where you bought your unit from?

Thanks again!


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## GE11 (Oct 24, 2011)

eSharo said:


> Thanks for your offer GE11 but I guess I will stick on the Open ReVolt since I just got good comments for it so far over the Net. Do you remember where you bought your unit from?
> 
> Thanks again!


You are smart to stay with Open Revolt... That thang is very Solid... I have three now and and extra PCBs for Power board and Processor board...

I just gathered these units and parts over time...


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## eSharo (Nov 20, 2021)

Welll... So far, after about 10 hours of searching over the net, I don't still have a clue of where to start from to buy or build my Open ReVolt Controller. It looks like everything related to this project is pointing towards M. Paul Holmes and that he is no longer supporting the project. I got the original project files though. It includes the control board schematics in .pdf format which could be very useful if I ever succeed to get what I need to build the unit but it also includes files with the .sch and .pcb extensions. I tried to use Orcad to view the .pcb with no luck. Anyone knows what are the softwares that were used to generate these files? Maybe these are containing my missing link...


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## GE11 (Oct 24, 2011)

Try Ki Kad... Or maybe some of the other free SW tools...

Yeah,

The best thing to do is try to buy on from some one selling one. That's how I got mine...


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

PM the files to me and I'll PDF them for you in trade for all the files.


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## MattsAwesomeStuff (Aug 10, 2017)

Open ReVolt was an open source controller made by Paul. It later I think morphed into what people call the P&S Controller, Paul & Sabrina, his wife.

A couple years ago he was moving house, and his entire moving trailer was stolen, with everything they had.

I think I've seen him pop his head in here once since, but I think even after he got his life back together he expressed he was interested in phasing out of the community.

The last time I looked at the files, someone mentioned "Oh yeah, there's some errors in them, that won't work..." and there was no like... update, or, repository or... anything to resolve that. You'd have to have heard by word of mouth and then had someone who had a more modern copy (who knows where they got it from) give them to you.

And support is obviously non-existant.

If you're set on a DC system, it's half a pipe dream, but for $50-$150 you can buy a scrapyard Prius Gen 2 inverter, and with some extra parts get a 500V 1000A controller out of it. Caveat: the documentation for it is currently even worse than the ReVolt, though, it has been tested at least twice (once by Damien, once by EV8, both who either designed it in their heads or didn't share the specific circuits). EV8 after some polite but persistent nagging, has said that probably after the Christmas season he will have enough time off from work to sit down and draw out what he actually built and share it with people. I've tried to impress on him that it would not be a wasted effort, that there are still people who would love to have a super cheap DC controller. You name perhaps can be added to this list.

That said, it's at best 50/50 whether anyone finishes anything they ever intend to, life happens.

If it's not time to buy your controller though, and you can wait a few months, perhaps give that a consideration too.


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## yves.carrier (Nov 21, 2021)

remy_martian said:


> PM the files to me and I'll PDF them for you in trade for all the files.


Hi Remy, thanks a lot. I will do so by the end of the day.


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## yves.carrier (Nov 21, 2021)

MattsAwesomeStuff said:


> Open ReVolt was an open source controller made by Paul. It later I think morphed into what people call the P&S Controller, Paul & Sabrina, his wife.
> 
> A couple years ago he was moving house, and his entire moving trailer was stolen, with everything they had.
> 
> ...


Thanks a lot... This story about Paul is so sad, specially for someone having done so much for the community. Paul, if you ever read that, you have all my compassion and support.

Having said that, I guess I will keep trying to build an Open ReVolt Controller from whatever information I could find. I got a pdf version of the schematic diagrams and a BOM. This is already a very good starting point. What is hurting me badly for now is that I don't have the PCBs layouts (control board and high power boards). But I will keep on trying to find them.

I intend to start the actual conversion of my LeSharo after the camping season in 2022 so, I still have a little lead time in front of me...

Thanks again!


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## MattsAwesomeStuff (Aug 10, 2017)

yves.carrier said:


> Having said that, I guess I will keep trying to build an Open ReVolt Controller from whatever information I could find.


Best of luck to you.



> I got a pdf version of the schematic diagrams and a BOM. This is already a very good starting point. What is hurting me badly for now is that I don't have the PCBs layouts (control board and high power boards). But I will keep on trying to find them.


Umm, so I just went through my email. In 2018 I wrote to Paul and he sent me... I'll just quote it:

----
Here's some stuff for the AC controller (attached). Also, you can see the instructables here:
200kW AC Motor Controller for Electric Car

This is an alternate assembly approach that makes for a smaller controller:
20170515_105241.zip

The DC controller assembly is identical, but you just stick a DC board on instead of an AC board. You would use designSpark to look at the pcb and sch files.

-Paul
----

... and then he attached 3 files. One of which is a .PCB file. I've never gone that deep into electronics fabrication/simulation. And... I'm not sure how to upload them. Will these forums let me attach non-graphic attachments?

_tries that out_

Are there 3 files attached at the end of this post? Are those useful to anyone?

I'm not sure I was supposed to share those publicly, but it was an open source project, which is now developmentally defunct, so, hopefully not stepping on any toes. Anyone who wants to educate me on appropriateness protocols, feel free to tell me what behavior is expected of me.










Whelp, I tired. Anyone have better ideas on where to host files? I expect anywhere I put them is just going to be net rotted sooner or later. I could play the dirty trick of renaming file extensions, but that's kludgey.


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

Try mega.io

Thanks for taking the trouble to dig that all up


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## eSharo (Nov 20, 2021)

Thanks Matts for the searching.
Thanks Remy, I will try to look at the .pcb files with designSpark as Paul was suggesting instead of sending you the files to pdf them as I committed to yesterday. If I ever can do it, I will post "somewhere" the .pcb and .sch files along with the recipe to open them. 

BTW, don't you think we should start a thread to figure out a good file transfer solution for this site? This would be nice if everyone would use the same approach. 

I will get back to you soon...


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

MattsAwesomeStuff said:


> Best of luck to you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hi Matt - if you can work out how to get those boards made then I would put in an order for Five !

Can you attach the files to a PM??


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## Frank (Dec 6, 2008)

Would changing the file name extension to something else (example. Jpg) work for the upload? Users could then download and change the extension back. ?? 

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk


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## eSharo (Nov 20, 2021)

Hi all,

I downloaded and installed Design Spark. This is definitely a key to our ability to follow Paul's design. From a first survey, it allows to open the .sch and .pcb files while the .pcb file seems to be generated from the .sch file. So, this is a CAD software. I will send you the exported graphic files that are giving an idea of what it looks like but the real trick is to install Design Spark and to dig into the original files that I will post here as well. Could someone tell me what are the allowed file extensions on this site so that I can post the relevant files?

Thanks.


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

Just post everything on mega (it's free and people grabbing the files don't need to register) and share the links to them here. This DIYec forum site appears to only host picture and written document file formats.


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## MattsAwesomeStuff (Aug 10, 2017)

Duncan said:


> Hi Matt - if you can work out how to get those boards made then I would put in an order for Five !


No no no. I'm not making or ordering any. This was 3 years ago. I just dug up the files.



> Can you attach the files to a PM??


No, and I was too lazy to create an other account on another website, but I used an annoymous temp file transfer site and PM'd Remy the files, so, perhaps he will host them on Mega or otherwise provide. Seems to have a better handle on it than I do, and, probably understand what's he's actually looking at.


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

ok, thanks Matt. Will have a look


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## eSharo (Nov 20, 2021)

Remy, I installed MegaDownloader but my security system keeps me from installing MegaUploader... Since I don't want to turn my security protection off, can't we just use a widely available file transfer site as Dropbox or Google Drive or anything of the kind?


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

I'll upload the files in a day or two


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## JH_7900 (12 mo ago)

I've been searching for information on the Open Revolt AC motor controller project and landed on this thread.
Are the files the PCB and BOM files or any other pertinent files able to be accessed?
I appreciate your help. I'm new to the EV community and am excited about launching a project.


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## eSharo (Nov 20, 2021)

Hi there. Here is a link to all the information I retrieved so far about the Open Revolt controller (you need a Google account to reach it)





__





EV interest groups file transfer - Google Drive







drive.google.com





I am afraid it is not complete and that some parts of information may be out-of-sync with others. Unfortunately, I have not keep track of where I found everything since I spent a few days last month to try to figure out where to start from with limited success. One thing that I know is that this whole project was relying on the volunteered kind contribution of Paul Holmes but it looks like he is no longer supporting the project. I hope this will help.


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## eSharo (Nov 20, 2021)

eSharo said:


> Hi there. Here is a link to all the information I retrieved so far about the Open Revolt controller (you need a Google account to reach it)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


And here are a few links that may help:
BOM - Open ReVolt/Control - Control Board 
Open ReVolt - EcoModder Forum Wiki 
BOM - Open ReVolt - Power board  
Paul Holmes Forum long thread


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## JH_7900 (12 mo ago)

Thank you so much. I’ll check it out and report back if I make some headway on the project.


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## CapCarCap (Feb 1, 2021)

I had a few control board PCBs made if you want to buy one.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

CapCarCap said:


> I had a few control board PCBs made if you want to buy one.
> View attachment 128948


Hi is that the board for the AC or the DC IGBT controller or for the old MOSFET Open Revolt??


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## CapCarCap (Feb 1, 2021)

The mosfet one


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## bnt (5 mo ago)

I'd take two boards if you still have them. Let me know! I cant private message you because I'm a new member, so please get in touch.


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## GE11 (Oct 24, 2011)

Do you have anymore of these boards?


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## CapCarCap (Feb 1, 2021)

I do still have some boards if you want to buy some


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## jgerig42 (1 mo ago)

yves.carrier said:


> Hi Remy, thanks a lot. I will do so by the end of the day.


 Did Remy get pdfs to you? Were they good? Would you share?


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## jgerig42 (1 mo ago)

Are there any updates from anyone on getting ReVolts made? Have files been tracked down? I’d love to make one of these too


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

Nope - I lost the files before pdf'ing them. No idea how.

It's likely you cannot get the key components these days to fully populate any board.


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## jgerig42 (1 mo ago)

CapCarCap said:


> I do still have some boards if you want to buy some


I am interested in buying a control board if they are still up for grabs!


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## jgerig42 (1 mo ago)

I found an assembly instruction book for the Open ReVolt





Paul & Sabrina’s EV Stuff!


1 | P a g e Paul & Sabrina’s EV Stuff! Motor Controller Assembly Directions Paul & Sabrina Holmes [email protected]



online.fliphtml5.com


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## jgerig42 (1 mo ago)

eSharo said:


> Welll... So far, after about 10 hours of searching over the net, I don't still have a clue of where to start from to buy or build my Open ReVolt Controller. It looks like everything related to this project is pointing towards M. Paul Holmes and that he is no longer supporting the project. I got the original project files though. It includes the control board schematics in .pdf format which could be very useful if I ever succeed to get what I need to build the unit but it also includes files with the .sch and .pcb extensions. I tried to use Orcad to view the .pcb with no luck. Anyone knows what are the softwares that were used to generate these files? Maybe these are containing my missing link...


Do you still have these files? Would you be willing to share them?
Also, do we have a lead yet on the actual code to put on these things once we get them built?


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## GE11 (Oct 24, 2011)

CapCarCap said:


> I do still have some boards if you want to buy some



what Boards do you have??


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## MattsAwesomeStuff (Aug 10, 2017)

I swear I dug the files out again and gave them to someone other than Remy this year...

Again, probably not a good solution. I haven't heard of anyone building an OpenReVolt in half a decade.


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

...and it's likely the components could have as much as a two year leadtime. Without even one key component, you have nothing.

Make your project dependent on a $6 part with a 2 year delivery time and it will wind up as salvage in the classifieds.

This is not something to dismiss. Have all of the parts in hand before you fabricate any board these days. Here's an update I got from a supplier on parts for one of my projects from this past Sunday, if you don't believe me:


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## CapCarCap (Feb 1, 2021)

GE11 said:


> what Boards do you have??


Rev 2c


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## floydr (Jun 21, 2021)

remy_martian said:


> ...and it's likely the components could have as much as a two year leadtime. Without even one key component, you have nothing.
> 
> Make your project dependent on a $6 part with a 2 year delivery time and it will wind up as salvage in the classifieds.
> 
> ...


 Which ATTINY? digi-key.com has ATTINY841-SSU in stock right now if they are what you need or will work. They might have the other chip in stock as well.
Later floyd


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

"Right now" is the important caveat in that statement.

Design your schematic, board layout, send it to PCB fab...then find zero stock.

The whole methodology has been turned in its head to where it doesn't go on the schematic unless it's ordered. Which is fine for a handful of devices and boards.

Then you go back, redesign the schematic and firmware to use your '841.

Then you go back, redesign the schematic and firmware to use the next one that's in stock.

A documentation, support, and revision control nightmare.


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## jgerig42 (1 mo ago)

Okay, so the next question... supposing we get all the parts and get the hardware assembled and it's glorious, does anyone have the code that needs to go on these to make them function?


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## CapCarCap (Feb 1, 2021)

Here’s a link to the files I have (If I find more files I’ll add them):






Cougar Open Revolt 2c - Google Drive







drive.google.com





And here’s a good place to find other links and info:









Homemade 100 HP Motor Controller for an Electric Car


Homemade 100 HP Motor Controller for an Electric Car: This instructable explains how to build your own 100 HP (peak) motor controller for use in an electric car or motorcycle conversion. It can take any voltage up to 144v, and the peak current is 500 amps. The cost of the components is a fe…




www.instructables.com





Hope this helps


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## GE11 (Oct 24, 2011)

CapCarCap said:


> Rev 2c


How many sets of boards do you have? Do you have both Logic and Power boards?


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## CapCarCap (Feb 1, 2021)

I have 3 logic boards left and no power boards


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