This repository is dedicated to the Shimano e-Steps as I happen to have an e-Bike that is fitted with the Shimano drive-train. There is hardly any technical information on the electronics, so I decided to do a little exploring myself.
Update: 31-12-2021 - Added SC-E6010
Electrification of a bike is very populair. There are two basic bike types:
- pedelec, limited to 25km/h, no helmet required
- speed e-bike, limited to 45km/h, requires a helmet, insurance
Among the pedelecs, drive-trains of Bosch, Shimano, Bafang and Yamaha are used as well as automatic transmission systems of Shimano, NuVinci, etc. which make riding a bike a joy.
Somehow we always are looking to get close or beyond the boundries that are set. In a case of a pedelec it would be interesting to go beyond the 25km/h speed limit. Doubling speed is dangerous, however setting the limit to 28 or 30km/h would be nice.
In the software the circumfence of the wheel is all that needs to be set, but where...
You can find some patents in the patents directory.
The communication between the different system parts on the e-bike use power line communication (i.e. data is superimposed on the DC voltage).
TODO
- Hookup oscillocope and see what happens
- Measure voltages on the "bus"
The console/display of the pedelec is a graphical display with backlight. It features a display, two buttons, a bus interface and an internal Li-Ion battery. The processor and the proprietary bus for the pedelec seem to be split in a specific IC and a more generic controller from Renesas R5F100GJA.
Datasheet and photos are in the pictures directory.
NOTE: The SC-E6010 is replaced by a new one, as my old one had some problems with the graphical display (probably oxidation). The unit on itself still fully functions. So if anyone wants to use it to do some hacking, drop me a note, I will sent it to you.. Of course I expect the hacking results to be returned :-)
I ordered a bunch of accessoires and started experimenting...
For anyone that thinks that just adding the Bluetooth module to the bike: it doesn't work.
- Connect EW-WU111 to EW-SD50
- Take out any connection on the bike
- Place the interface and cable in between
- Pressing the power button
The display stays clear and the e-steps system does not turn on.
- Restore the situation
- Pressing the power button
The display turns on and the e-steps system works like before.
Let's try to hookup the PC interface. For that we install the software on a PC.
- Preinstall Microsoft
dotnetfx35.exesoftware as this is required. You can find this on the Microsoft website. - Install the Shimano software
e-tube project. This can be found on the Shimano website. - Put the
SM-JC41junction box in one of the wires from the e-bike system - Attach the
SM-PCE1to the USB port - Attach the special cable to the SM-PCE1 and the other end to the junction box
Tested on 13-08-2018 with the above setup and the result was that the setup is not working. The setup uses a Mac, with VMWARE and Windows 8..10, to work like a PC. Checking some forums revealed that there are more problems using "other" systems than PC's as people claim that the USB implementation of the SM-PCE1 does not comply with the USB standard.
NOTE: So the next step is to find a PC and repeat the above process.
So far all experiments turned up nothing and are a bit frustrating.
The SM-PCE1 is an USB interface to connect the e-Steps system to a PC. It is used for service, configuration and maintenance. It is normally not required for a bike owner to have such an interface, but my curiosity was triggered to find out if I can hookup Bluetooth to my bike.
Refer to the pictures directory and look for all pictures that start with the prefix SM-PCE1.
Strangely enough the PCB has two super-capacitors. These are 2.5V and stacked so they can handle 5V.
The USB interface is a Texas Instruments chip.
The EW-WU111 is a wireless interface with ANT and BLE wireless standards. The interface can be placed in between a wireless connection cable.
The EW-SD50 is a piece of wire in various lengths with connectors at both ends. The length of the wire can be ordered between 150mm and 1600mm.
The junction box has four connections for cables, making it easy to insert a device to the e-Bike system.
The SM-DUE10 is a Reed switch with an attached cable, together with a magnet that can be attached to the spoke of a wheel. It is handy to have the magnet around if ever you loose the magnet the e-bike doesn't function anymore.
Just a piece of plastic to insert and/or remove a connector from a device.
The power supply is not just a regular power supply, but comes with a lot of electronics, including a micro-controller that talks over the power line. For the curious user you will find pictures that show the various parts of the power supply.
Refer to the pictures directory and look for all pictures that start with the prefix PS.
The micro-controller on the Power Supply board is from SinoWealth. It is a 8051 class processor with some standard integrated peripherals.
There are several companies and people who offer all kinds of hacks to speed up the pedelec. Clearly that is against what is legal: a pedelec has a maximum allowed speed of 25km/h and speeding it up beyond this point is a violation. If you want speed then use an e-Bike.
You can find hacks on YouTube that decrease the rotation of the magnet along the sensor by a factor two. The bike electronics controller thinks it rotates slower (half the speed) and increases its support effectively towards 50km/h (in theory).
As already mentioned Shimano has its own support software that works with their special interface.
Another company emax-tuning provides software for the Shimano e-Steps 8000. They also provide some freeware that can be found here.