The eChook Nano Kit
Last updated
Last updated
Greenpower sell an eChook Nano kit that contains all the hardware and sensors needed to get eChook telemetry running on a Greenpower car. The Android App and Live Data website are free to use, no kit purchase necessary.
From December 2024, V2 of the eChook Nano kits are being sold by Greenpower. While there is still assembly and soldering required for sensors, the main board comes pre-assembled. There is a blog post going into more details of the changes here.
This kit contains a fully assembled eChook board, and Arduino Nano Every and Bluetooth module. It also contains PCBs for the current sensor and hall effect (magnet) sensors that require some assembly.
The move to smaller surface mount components and machine assembled boards has allowed a number of improvements, including better labelling of connections on the board, more protective circuitry - if any 5V output is short circuited in the harness it will self isolate, allowing any other sensors and the eChook to remain functional, transient voltages are better supressed and all inputs are now 30v tolerant.
The original eChook is a fully DIY kit containing of the eChook PCB, all components required to populate the PCB as well as sensors for Current, Temperature (x2) and Rotation (Wheel and motor shaft).
This kit is no longer available to purchase, but the individual PCBs are - see below.
If you want to source the components yourself, the bare eChook nano GPT board is available from the eChook shop here. The listing includes links to the full Bill of Materials needed for assembly.
If you want to go totally DIY, or tweak the PCB to your own requirements, the schematics and PCB layouts are Open Sourced and available on GitHub.
Quantity
Component
Use
1
eChook nano PCB
1
470r Resistor
Voltage drop for LED
12
1k Resistor
Protection for Arduino pins
2
4k7 Resistor
Input Resistors for current differential amplifier
4
10k Resistor
Feedback on Differential amp and pull ups for Thermistors
2
16k Resistor
24v and 12v Potential Dividers
1
47k Resistor
Post amp current filter
2
82k Resistor
24v and 12v Potential Dividers
1
Green LED, 5mm
Indicator LED on PCB
1
BC547 NPN Transistor
Amplification stage of PWM output on PCB
3
Ceramic Capacitor 1uF
Low Pass filtering on some sensors
1
22uF 50v Electrolytic Capacitor
Input voltage smoothing for the regulator
2
47nF Ceramic Capacitor
Smoothing Capacitors for current sensor (not on PCB)
1
4.7nF Ceramic Capacitor
Smoothing Capacitors for current sensor (not on PCB)
1
0.25A Radial Resettable Fuse
Over current protection (Short Circuit)
1
8 Way DIP Socket
Socket for Op-Amp
1
Microchip MCP6002 Dual Op Amp
Used in differential amplifier for current input
2
15 way SIL 2.54mm Female PCB Socket
Socket for Arduino
1
6 way SIL 2.54mm Female PCB Socket
Socket for Bluetooth Module
1
5v 1A Voltage Regulator (Tracopower TSR 1-2450)
Take 24v from the car and provide a robust 5v to the Arduino
1
Rectifier Diode, 50V 1A
Reverse Polarity Protection
2
NTC Thermistor 10kΩ@25°
Temp Sensor (not on PCB)
2
Hall Effect Sensor (A1101EUA-T)
Sensor for wheel/motor rpm (not on PCB)
1
Current Sensor (LEM HAIS 50p)
Senses current in the 24v cable from the battery.
3
4 pin Pluggable Terminal 5.08mm
Connectors
2
3 pin Pluggable Terminal 5.08mm
Connectors
1
2 pin Pluggable Terminal 5.08mm
Connectors
1
3 pin Pluggable Terminal 3.81mm
Connectors
1
Arduino Nano
The Brain of the eChook
1
USB Cable for Arduino
Connect Arduino to PC
1
HC-05 Bluetooth module
Send data to phone over bluetooth
1
6 way Male-Female PCB Jumper Cable (Dupont Connectors)
Allows connecting the bluetooth module remotely
8
Neodymium Puck Magnets
Place on hub and motor shaft to trigger hall effect sensors
Some tools and consumables will be required to build the kit and integrate the sensors to the car:
Soldering Iron and Solder
Solder Sucker or solder wick (handy correcting any build errors)
Wire Snips
Small flathead screwdriver
Multimeter
Wire for connecting sensors remote to the board
