Boardwheel (Onewheel-like board) Glossary

I originally needed this list myself when I started to build boards instead of solely relying on Future Motion’s Onewheels. I am using the term Boardwheel here to describe a board with one wheel, similar to the trademarked Onewheel. When I first wanted to build my own boardwheel, I quickly found out that the learning curve was very steep. There were many things you need to understand: terms, abbreviations, firmwares, hardware, software, and configuration options. I wrote them down for my own reference, but later realized I might as well share them with fellow boardwheel builders.

 

1S1P
1 battery cell. Important voltages to know for 1 cell:
4.2V = Full
3.6V = Nominal (what we declare as the voltage)
3.0V = Empty regular
2.5V = Empty empty
xSyPy = y parallel sets of x cells in series. Higher x affects top speed. Higher y affects capacity (range).
15S
Stock battery pack in OW XR and Pint. 54V nominal. 63V top.
18S2P
75V. Probably cannot use stock BMS anymore. Stock battery pack in OW GT.
20S2P
84V. P28A. 403 Wh. 5.6Ah. Cannot use stock BMS anymore. Needs ZBMS or Ennoid.
$500 at zbattery.solutions
ASS
Advanced Sensorless Startup
BLE
Bluetooth Low Energy
BMS
Battery Management System. See https://spintend.com/blogs/news/hey-do-you-really-know-how-bms-board-works
Can use stock BMS on XR if you don’t get batteries above 15S.
Boardwheel
A board with one wheel, similar to the trademarked Onewheel. Others sometimes call this a one wheeled board, or a DIY Onewheel, but also Funwheels and Floatwheels are examples of boardwheels.
CAN bus
Controller Area Network. A communication protocol that transfers data between system components. A two-wire, bidirectional bus that provides a high level of error detection and error handling capabilities.
CBXR
ChiBatterySystems eXtended Range battery pack. A battery upgrade for the Onewheel XR. Claims to double the range of a stock battery. 15S2P built with Grade A Molicel batteries.
Ennoid
Type of BMS. More expensive than ZBMS, connects to VESCtool.
Very configurable. Can do 24S. $280 shipped (similar price as replacing a stock BMS).
Bit of a pain to configure.
ESC
Electronic Speed Controler. Control speed and direction of a motor. Input: power and several switches, throttles, and sensors. Output: Motor power.
FM
Future Motion. The company that created and owns the Onewheel brand.
FOC
Field Oriented Control. A technique for motor control in a VESC that optimizes the efficiency of brushless motors.
FOCbox Unity
Flakey dual controller. Do not use.
IMU
Inertial Measurement Unit. An IMU is a device that measures and reports specific force, angular rate, and sometimes magnetic field surrounding the body, using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes, and sometimes magnetometers.
Latching power switch
Keeps state after releasing, until it is pressed again.
LCM
The Light Control Module in the Floatwheel ADV/Pro controls the lights, a buzzer, as well as the power state of the controller. It runs basic firmware, so its behavior is changeable.
Little FOCer
VESC hardware, made by Shaman Systems (or so).
See https://customwheel.shop/high-voltage-vesc-motor-speed-controllers/little-focer-fully-assembled-flowglider-box
Little FOCer V3.1. supports 84V 20S
Makers PEV
US based distributor for FOCer etc.
Molicel
Make of batteries. Typical Molicel batteries used in boardwheels are their “Ultra-High Power Cells” P28A and P42A.
P28A
Molicel battery often used for speed battery packs.
P42A
Molicel battery often used in torque battery packs. The P42A is roughly 45% heavier and larger in volume than the P28A.
Tenka
Bad quality VESC hardware trash.
Torque Box
A slightly larger battery box that fits for instance a 20S2P or a CBXR 19S2P battery pack.
Trampa
Manufacturer of one type of VESC hardware, branded VESC.
VESC
Vedder Electronic Speed Controler. An open source software project. Runs on different ESC hardware boards. Includes reference hardware schematics. Widely used since many years in boutique and high end e-skateboards. VESC does not include things like lighting, battery management, GPS etc.
VESC Firmware
The actual software instance installed on a VESC hardware.
Voltage cutoffs
Motor Cfg / General / Voltage
Battery Voltage Cutoff Start: 2.3V per cell (Start: throttles down power)
Battery Voltage Cutoff End: 2.0V per cell (End: shuts off motor)
ZBMS
Type of BMS.. $91 only (sold out at last update). Up to 24S.

Originally published: 2023-07-12
Latest update: 2023-08-06