Safety first! Wear eye protection and never touch a powered robot!
Note: This guide follows the assembly guide and assumes RoboClaw 10A is already installed. Do not use Loctite or thread locks on the assembly. They are not necessary and may cause damage to the Lexan.
A4WD1 Rover.
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Step 1.
If you do not plan on adding servos to the robot you can just plug RoboClaw into the receiver as shown in Figure 1. Make sure the yellow wires are toward the middle of the receiver. Then you can move on to Step 5.
Table 1.
[table=1,375,#000000][tr][td=35,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]RoboClaw[/td][td=15,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Hitec[/td][td=35,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Futaba[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]S1[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH2[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH1[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]S2[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH1[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH2[/td][/tr][/table]
Figure 1.
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Step 2.
The RoboClaw 2X10A has a feature called battery elimination circuit (BEC) that provides power to the RC receiver. It can provide enough current to power the receiver alone, but not if servos are used. In order to provide enough power for the receiver and the servos attached to it, we need to add a separate battery pack. In addition, we need to bypass the RoboClaw’s BEC to prevent it from interfering with the separate battery pack. To disable the BEC remove the jumper from JP3 (See Figure 2). This will disable VCC on the headers.
Figure 2.
http://downloads.basicmicro.com/downloads/tutorials/remove_jp3_roboclaw10a.jpg
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Step 3.
Plug S1 and S2 of the RoboClaw into the receiver as shown. Make sure the yellow wires are toward the middle of the receiver.
Table 1.
[table=1,375,#000000][tr][td=35,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]RoboClaw[/td][td=15,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Hitec[/td][td=35,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Futaba[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]S1[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH2[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH1[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]S2[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH1[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH2[/td][/tr][/table]
Figure 3.
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Step 4.
Plug the battery’s wiring harness from the radio into the receiver as shown. Make sure the black wire is on the outside of the receiver. You can also use our BATC-01 in order to use our rechargeable 6.0vdc batteries for this step. This is shown in the schematic Figure 4-2.
Figure 4.
Figure 4-2 Schematic.
http://downloads.basicmicro.com/downloads/tutorials/rc_roboclaw10a_4motors.jpg
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Step 5.
RoboClaw must be set to RC mode. Set the on board dip switches as shown in Figure 5. It’s a good idea to read the RoboClaw manual to familiarize yourself with the different settings. Make sure you center the control sticks, turn the radio on first, then the receiver, then Robo Claw. It will take Robo Claw about 1 second to calibrate the neutral position.
Figure 5.
http://downloads.basicmicro.com/downloads/tutorials/sw1_sw4.jpg
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Step 6.
Remove the battery case from the bottom of the radio to show the servo option switches. Set them as listed in Table 6.
Table 6.
[table=1,375,#000000][tr][td=20,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Hitec[/td][td=35,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Functions[/td][td=20,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]NOR/REV[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH 1[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Steering[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Reversed[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH 2[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Throttle[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Reversed[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH 3[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Lift/Lower[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Reversed[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH 4[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Rotate[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Reversed[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH 5[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Open/Close[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Normal[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]CH 6[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]–[/td][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]–[/td][/tr][/table]
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Step 7.
The complete robot controls are listed in Table 7.
Table 7.
[table=1,375,#000000][tr][td=20,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Control[/td][td=35,#808080,#C0C0C0,left,1,1]Function[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Right Stick Up[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Foward[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Right Stick Down[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Reverse[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Right Stick Left[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Left Turn-On-A-Dime[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Right Stick Right[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Right Turn-On-A-Dime[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Left Stick Up[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Lift[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Left Stick Down[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Lower[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Left Stick Left[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Rotate CCW[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Left Stick Right[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Rotate CW[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gear Switch Up[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Open[/td][/tr][tr][td=10,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gear Switch Down[/td][td=35,#808080,#FFFFFF,left,1,1]Gripper Close[/td][/tr][/table]
Figure 7.
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Step 8.
Refer to Figure 8 for information on controlling the robot.
Figure 8.
