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The Hacksmith: Charge a One Wheel at any EV Charge Station

2020-04-23 | By The Hacksmith

License: See Original Project

New developments in devices that utilize electric power, whether they are being created for practical or entertainment purposes, have become increasingly common. The One Wheel is a great example of this — a balancing board that uses electricity as its primary power source, requiring battery charging on a consistent basis. The One Wheel travels surprisingly fast, up to almost 20 MPH, and is said to “give you the feeling of flying.”

The One Wheel was first invented by Kyle Doerksen in 2013, though mass production of the board didn’t officially kick off until the launch of a 2014 Kickstarter campaign. Like hoverboards, One Wheels use gyroscopes to process rider input based on how much they lean forward or backward. This sends power to the electric motor and propels the rider forward or backward at varying speeds. What sets the One Wheel apart from similar electric balancing boards is the size of its wheel. Most hoverboards have small wheels with plastic tires, which can send the rider flying if they run over minuscule obstacles like pebbles or sidewalk cracks. Thanks to the One Wheels’ rubber tires and ground clearance, these boards can go just about anywhere.

The One Wheel XR can go almost 20 MPH and has a range of up to 18 miles, depending on the terrain. The only shortcoming in the One Wheel’s design is its charging capabilities — it works if you can charge it at home, but a 25-pound board is a lot of weight to carry if it dies while you are out and about.

So, The Hacksmith team came up with a solution for the One Wheel’s lack of on-the-go charging options. With The Hacksmith’s new charging circuit, their One Wheel can now be charged at any EV charge station. Check out how it works in the video below!

 

How Does it Work?

EV%20Charge%20Station%20Diagram

The electric standard for EV charging is the J1772 charge port. This is what all electric vehicles plug into around the world.

An EV charging port puts out 240V AC. It has a protection circuit with an extra pin that will prevent power from flowing to the battery if conditions aren’t safe. The charger that comes with the One Wheel already accepts up to 250V, so the only component needed to make an adapter that allows charging from an EV port is something that will trick the EV charging port to think charging conditions are safe.

Hacksmith Industries already has some experience making adapters for EV charging ports thanks to the Half-Scale Cyber Truck. In fact, the circuit for this One Wheel charger was taken from the Cyber Truck’s design.

After some research and help from team members, The Hacksmith’s circuit was complete. The adapter was ready for testing after adding a box to contain the wires and an ON/OFF switch. Check out the circuit diagram below!

Schematic and BOM

 

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