How to test how much torque a motor has?
Of course, someone could just pull out a dyno and provided they know how to use it they could give us some torque curves.
What I want to do however is to see on a practical use case example what the different motors can do for us on our Onewheels. I want real-world, relatable tests.
Bonus points if I can have fun while doing it…
The idea
Here’s my idea: I have this ridiculously steep paved hill (eliminates traction issues) - I will see how fast I can accelerate up it - I will roll into it above 5mph to avoid sensorless transitions and crunch issues… I will start with 100A max current and I will slowly increase max current in 10-20A increments.
The test ends after a fixed amount of time (5 seconds may be sufficient), I will record all the metrics.
If the board cannot maintain speed and drops below 5mph the test will be aborted early.
Problems/challenges:
- I expect to run into nosedrags but hopefully it will be manageable
- The motors will heat up after each test run, I will not have time to wait for them to cool back down before the next run: I can slightly mitigate this by cycling through different boards during this test, but I do not expect starting temperature to be the same each run
Variations of this test
If acceleration at full amps is too fast for me (I get scared to keep pushing it) - I might try increasing rider weight (30lb backpack for example)
Expected Metrics / Results
Acceleration in m/s(2) or g - but I might just end up measuring the distance I can climb in a fixed time period, e.g. 5s or 10s
Saturation current: the current above which the board no longer shows improved performance
Temperature: how quickly does the motor heat up