I am about to embark on a little rover build just for fun. I have printed this mini rover with a few modifications, and plan on using a pixracer. My one main question is do I have to also get a motor driver or will 2 simple brushed esc work to control the brushed motors that I plan on using. I have read through the wiki but still had that question. I plan on using these motors but still need a small ESC that would support up to 4s battery.
The fella that built this used this ESC but I am a bit skeptical about it.
I suspect the MicroRC 5A brushed motor ESC linked will work.
The output from the pixracer is normally PWM in the range of 1ms to 2ms (aka 1000 pwm to 2000 pwm). I looks to me like the ESC can probably accept this signal.
We donāt actually support calibrating the ESCs in Rover so Iāve added it to our to-do list. My guess is that MP is showing the ESC calibration even though Rover doesnāt support it (it does work for Copter).
the output pwm range from the pixracer isnāt the same as the receiverās output range. The way to fix this is to set the SERVOx_MIN and SERVOx_MAX (where x is the output channel connected to the motors) to match the RCy_MIN and RCy_MAX (where y is the input channel for the throttle from the receiver).
maybe thereās no PWM output coming out the back of the pixracer. This could be because the safety switch is enabled (disable by setting BRD_SAFETY_ENABLE = 0), the vehicle is disarmed or itās in Hold mode (try manual mode)
Thereās no particular reason to disable the safety switch - I was thinking that perhaps on such a small rover there was no room but the parameter might have been left at BRD_SAFETY_ENABLE = 1. ā¦ The Copter experience should serve you well with Rover for the most partā¦ although Rover is missing some features that Copter has they are coming together quickly.
By the way, in case itās not clear, it isnāt necessary to use two-paddle-input on a skid-steering vehicle - I actually recommend sticking with the more traditional steering and throttle input. Some users get confused with inputs-and-outputs thinking they are somehow connectedā¦ but theyāre really not.
To dig in further, if you can provide a dataflash log I might be able to see the problem.
I guess the motor is meant as a replacement part. Those motors are usually sold/bought together with a gearbox. I has a quick look with google and could not find a gearbox without motor.
It should be possible to use the more common separated steering and throttle input by simply setting pilot-steer-type = 0 and then I suppose there may be some changes on the transmitter side in case you want to get both steering and throttle on the same stickā¦ but from an AP point of view, there shouldnāt be any other changes required.
How do you like Uavcast? Iām thinking of trying it. try to post a short log. Power up, use the rover for 10 or 15 minutes, then power down. The log should be of a reasonable length.
Good afternoon!
I have apm 2.6 and the mission planer program. At installation of an insertion of Rover the program gives an error message (Please Update - Some order library dlls are causing problems Method not found: Void Mission Planer.Arduino.Comms.set_StopBits (Svstem.I.O.Ports.StudBits)
I have three computers and everywhere the same mistake. Please help!
Just an update. Iāve got UAVcast set up on my Pi3b+. Just using the Piās WiFi on serial 0 for telemetry and the video is great on mission planner. Next step is setting up Zerotier and waiting for my Huawei Cell dongle to arrive. Thanks for giving me some confidence with the UAVcast system @rmackay9 also. @Matt_C
Really my only question at this point is how are you powering the Pi. I was going to use a castle 10 amp BEC. Plenty of Amps but I saw something on UAVmatrix about soldering wires directly to the USB connection for the modem. Is running a good supply to the power input on the Pi enough or is it really necessary to solder wires directly to the port the modem is plugged into? trial and error will tell me but looking for your input on your setup.
@111165, this looks like a mission planner installation issue so maybe try re-installing it. It may also be that MP isnāt working properly on older versions of Windows (i.e. Windows7) but that is just a guess. By the way, the APM flight controllers arenāt officially supported anymore and the firmware for those boards is very old so we highly recommend upgrading to one of the more modern flight controllers listed here.
I did not see any problems with the Pi, for video and telemetry, just connected via WiFi to my home network. Iām getting ready to tackle the cell part shortly. I think iām going to try using an old MiFi hotspot first. I got my Huawei stick modem yesterday and managed to get myself locked out of the sim card from my hotspot somehow. I have a new sim card now (1 hour wasted at Verizon), in the ājetpackā, It seems they call them this now, and will play around a bit. Iāve watched the Zerotier video a 1/2 dozen times and I am still a bit confused but Iāll figure it out hopefully.
