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How do torque simulation motor controllers work?

Published: 19 March 2023
Last updated: 21 May 2023

Torque simulation controllers do not control torque

In recent times, there has been a surge in the marketing of motor controllers as torque simulation controllers. This led me to assume that these controllers control the motor torque rather than its speed. However, this turned out to be false, I discovered that these controllers merely regulate the motor voltage, just like regular motor controllers.

Motorcontroller S06P 2Torque simulation controllers do not control torque

Further examination revealed that the torque simulation is achieved by controlling the motor voltage through a combination of the throttle voltage and the cadence, which is the rate at which a cyclist pedals.

The behavior of the torque simulation controller was evaluated using a KT36SVPR-XD15D controller and a 2-speed motor from Xiongda. The motor was mounted on a test bench to facilitate measurements and data collection. The measurements were done with my Bluetooth Watt meter dongle.

On the whole, the results of my measurements indicate a lack of direct feedback from the motor torque. Nevertheless, it appears that the torque simulation controllers are functioning satisfactorily through a clever combination of cadence and throttle control.

Here are the charts I have measured from the torque simulation controllers:

Speed power vs cadence 0VHow do torque simulation motor controllers work?
Speed & power vs cadence. Throttle voltage = 0V

Speed power vs cadence 2.5VTorque simulation motor controllers
Speed & power vs cadence. Throttle voltage = 2.5V

Speed power vs throttle voltage 0 5VSpeed & power vs throttle voltage 0-5V

Speed power vs loadSpeed & power vs load

 

 

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