recompiling,!and!having!the!controller!reflashed!with!the!new!binaries!at!the!dealership!during!
normal!maintenance.!
!
And!so!thousands!of!these!VCUs!could!be!flashed!when!built,!with!the!software!specific!to!that!
particular!vehicle.!
!
The!particular!VCU!would!of!course!be!completely!inappropriate!and!non!functional!in!any!other!
vehicle!make!or!model.!!
!
As!many!automakers!are!experimenting!with!product!introductions!of!plug]in!electric!vehicles!and!
hybrid!gasoline/electric!vehicles,!many!of!the!components!used!in!these!vehicles!are!becoming!
available!when!the!cars!are!salvaged!and!are!recycled!through!salvage!yards!and!such!online!
services!as!eBay.!
!
As!such,!they!will!become!a!resource!to!individual!tinkerers!and!those!converting!existing!cars!to!
electric!drive.!!Fortunately,!most!are!somewhat!generic!and!almost!all!of!these!components!were!
designed!to!be!controlled!by!CANbus!signals!from!the!Vehicle!Control!Unit!that!came!with!the!
original!car.!
!
It!would!be!a!serious!advantage,!to!have!a!more!generalized!vehicle!control!unit!that!could!produce!
these!CAN!commands!to!drive!existing!power!switching!inverters,!chargers,!dc]dc!converters!and!
other!equipment!gleaned!from!the!many!parts!available!in!salvage.!!But!to!be!truly!useful,!it!should!
allow!some!basic*configuration!by!the!end!user!allowing!these!conversions!to!modify!operation!of!
the!VCU!to!accommodate!THEIR!vehicle!without!the!need!to!entirely!rewrite!the!software!and!flash!
the!VCU.!!Just!change!a!handful!of!variables!specific!to!the!car.!
!
In!December!2012,!Jack!Rickard!of!Electric!Vehicle!Television!http://evtv.me!first!proposed!a!
program!to!develop!such!a!GENERALIZED!Electric!Vehicle!Control!Unit!or!GEVCU!using!the!then!
just!introduced!Arduino*Due!platform!with!an!84!MHz!32]bit!ARM!CORE3!processor.!!And!he!
elected!to!do!this!as!an!open*source!project!anyone!could!not!only!use,!but!modify!further!with!
regards!to!either!hardware!or!software!to!meet!their!own!particular!needs.!!
!
As!such,!the!GEVCU!could!serve!as!the!central!computer!or!“brains”!of!any!electric!car,!and!flexibly!
drive!ANY!available!inverters,!motors,!battery!management!systems,!throttles,!brakes,!sensors,!etc!in!
the!car.!!This!modular!approach!would!to!some!degree!commoditize!many!of!the!major!components!
of!the!vehicle,!while!the!specifics!were!held!in!a!central,!open!source!device!that!anyone!could!
change,!adapt,!and!extend!as!necessary.!
!
A!number!of!EVTV!viewers!began!contributing!code!and!hardware!designs!and!by!late!summer!
2013,!EVTV!first!drove!a!1974!VW!Thing,!with!a!Siemens!1PV5135!AC!induction!motor!and!
DMOC645!inverter!from!Azure!Dynamics,!all!entirely!controlled!by!the!GEVCU.!!It!featured!
controlled!regenerative!braking!on!both!throttle!and!brake,!a!controllable!precharge!procedure!for!
applying!power!to!the!DMOC,!and!control!of!the!cooling!fans!on!the!liquid!cooling!system.!
!
Along!the!way,!the!original!Arduino!Due!hardware!morphed!into!a!somewhat!more!hardened!
hardware!design!capable!of!surviving!the!automotive!environment,!while!retaining!the!full!
compatibility!with!the!Arduino!software!development!environment.!
!
A!selected!subset!!of!Arduino!input!and!output!pins!was!brought!out!to!a!single!weather!resistant!
AMPSEAL!35!pin!connector!for!example.!!Various!strategies!and!components!were!used!to!isolate!
