AM radio as motor monitor?

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WetOne

Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2013
Messages
15
Has anyone else found that by tuning the AM radio to an empty frequency band between stations, you can listen to the power pulses being fed to the motor? It is especially striking at low RPM. I am picking up audible information on what the controller is sending to the motor, and can hear when the power does a step increase as RPM rises. The regenerative braking pulses are also audible.
Is it worth asking the electronics guys to devise an antennae/filter to pick up and isolate this signal, to use as a feedback diagnostic as we drive this great car? Insight to how the controller and motor are responding to our driving inputs could improve our experience
 
WetOne said:
Has anyone else found that by tuning the AM radio to an empty frequency band between stations, you can listen to the power pulses being fed to the motor? It is especially striking at low RPM. I am picking up audible information on what the controller is sending to the motor, and can hear when the power does a step increase as RPM rises. The regenerative braking pulses are also audible.

Finally a use for an AM radio! This is clever, must drive car today.
 
Interesting. I'm not an electronics guy but more of a software one.

Maybe with one of these
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1497
It would be pretty easy. I'm having a hard time finding a smaller module that can capture AM signals. Probably a beagleboard with USB-in + a small LCD might be able to pull it off. There are some apis that let you interface with the radio, a simple GUI and some software triggers and that should be it.
 
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