Question about motor controller

ArduRover
1

Hello! I am building my first Rover and have question about motor controllers. I am familiar with building multiple drones In past with different versions of pixhawk.

Can I use controller below In my build with pixhawk 2.4.8?

https://electromen.com/en/products/item/motor-controllers/dc-motor-below-10A/EM-241C-48V/

2

Two preset speeds wont work and the pwm mentioned is 0-100% duty cycle pwm which is Not to be confused with rc pwm which the autopilot can output.
So no.
Look for an rc esc be it brushed or brushless. You need full variable speed control via RC protocols to allow the loop controls to work in ardupilot that allow nav and heading control

3

Thanks for reply. It would need to be quite powerful since trying to build Rover that can carry weight. Any recommendations?

4

Read the Wiki to start;
Brushed Motors
What battery voltage?

5

54V . So pololu g2 wont work

6

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005003803144999.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.7a302b55Ig5LoJ&browser_id=becbcee49f2b449ba5bac452995d6e41&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=bnqhxjoocmcavvmd1898767dcd4bad7be1a1112459&gclid=&pdp_npi=3%40dis!EUR!49.24!44.32!!!53.49!!%40210213c816901938782332695d0748!12000027220459038!sea!FI!0&isseo=y&algo_pvid=f0258135-63b3-4887-83fc-5b250de4b669

If I understood correctly this should work

7

By spec yes but Iโ€™m a skeptical of something so cheap providing that much power.

8

you cant go wrong with the vesc 7500, I use them on my ebike, they are fully programmable and work with RC PWM. brushed motors, brushless or sensored.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003307454862.html

9

Hello! I actually have now flipsky Mini FSESC4.20 50A base on VESCยฎ controllers that I try to get working. How shoudl these vescโ€™s work with brushed motor since there is no option to choose dc motor in configurator?

10

you dont need the configurator for a DC motor as there is nothing to detect, just set it to DC motor in the motor options (instead of BLDC or FOC) then set the current limits. I think you use the 2 outer motor wires when using DC mode.

11

Oh now I found it. Still wont be able to get motors spinning via ardupilot. From vesc controller there is tab where I can test motor rotation direction and it turns. So probably it is from vesc rc settings? How it reads rc connection

12

You will need to set the input to RC PPM I think its ADC or UART by default.

13

Yep its uart. Having hard time to change it since it asks to reboot esc and when I disconnect and reconnect battery it has returned to uart.

14

Im not sure if you can use the input wizard for rc pwm or if its only for adc.

15

Can I change settings to firmware and Flash directly to Esc? Since Iโ€™ll probably built multiple ugvs

16

you can use VESC tool to backup and restore the configuration.

18

Okey I managed to get motors running but now it works so that if I keep throttle at 20% from controller the speed increases until close TL maximum. There is no rc pwm so PPM was the only option I got them working. Also motors spin little different speed. Any recommendations how to fix these issues? Probably related to Esc rather than ardupilot but havent gotten any response from vesc comminity.

image
image768ร—1024 78.6 KB

image
image768ร—1024 92 KB

19

You have the control mode set to โ€œCurrentโ€. For a lightweight rover (and compatibility with ardurover) better use โ€œDuty Cycleโ€. The motor rpm keeps increasing, because the stick input controls the target current value. With no load, the current never reaches this target. Current control is used for electric skateboards and e-bikes.

1 Like
20

Ahh i see. I was running without weels on bench. Total weight for UGV is around 15kg and its going to have 10inch wheels