Deefholt Dynamics is a Formula Student team based in Diepholz, Germany. Every year, we build an electric race car to compete against other university teams at Formula Student events.
One of the most critical components of the car is the Electronic Control Unit (ECU), which is responsible for reading, processing, and distributing all relevant information to various subsystems.
Since commercially available ECUs don’t allow for the desired flexibility, we have decided to design our own.
Our design is an ESP32-based board with a CAN interface for communication with other systems in the car. The entire ECU is galvanically isolated to prevent external interference.
The biggest change compared to last year is that the ECU and the drivetrain controller have been merged into a single board, which means the communication to the inverters happens in the same place as the data from various sensors is collected.
Information is collected through digital and analog inputs as well as CAN. The outputs control MOSFETs, enabling the switching of LEDs and relays.
We are grateful to have Aisler as a sponsor of our team, which allows us to quickly build prototypes and optimise them for use in our car. The ability to directly upload PCB files from the design program has been particularly convenient, and the detailed instructions made the process seamless. Additionally, the web viewer provided an easy and clear way to inspect the board prior to ordering.
Warm regards and a big thank you to Thore and the team. You were always available and helped us immensely!
ECU-pcb
ECU-pcb mounted inside the car