Hello,
So i am trying to figure out the wiring for the Sabertooth 2X5 to work with the Bot Board 2 in such a way that i can use it for the A4WD autonomous robot code lynxmotion.com/images/html/build135.htm. I realize this uses the R/C version as well as the 2x10 but how can i hook it up the same way with the 2X5? As well is it possible to run the Bot Board as well as the Driver off the same battery?
Thanks
My guess is that an equivlent Sabertooth 2x5 should work fine. However as there appears to be maybe 2 versions of the motor controller, it would help to know which one for sure.
It would also help to know additional information like what motors, what battery, etc to answer if you can run on one battery.
I do run mine on one battery (sort-of). I started off with a setup similar to the tutorial (actually I started off with the RC version). But my battery is actually two of the 6v 2800mah batteries that I wired in series to give me 12v. I then used a adjustable regulator lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx?productID=470&CategoryID=48 to give me 6v to run all of the other components. But this setup has tradeoffs. I may have a larger run time with the 2800mah setup vs using two 1600mah of the different voltages needed, and I only need one charger to charge up the system. However the regulator itself costs about as much as the two smaller batteries combined.
Good Luck and Have Fun!
Kurt
The motors are small, and i have just bought an additional battery pack so those problems are gone. The problem still remains is i have no idea if i am wiring the Sabertooth up correctly. Please help. : )
Hi again,
There are others up here that are better at wiring issues than I am. Have you looked at the Dimension Engineering web site for instructions? I believe this is the manual for the one I think you have:
dimensionengineering.com/datasheets/Sabertooth2x5.pdf
What part of the wiring are you concerned about? You connect the two wires from the first set of motors to the terminals marked M1A and M1B and likewise the two wires from the second set of motor to M2A and M2B. You would connect the motor Battery to the terminals marked: B- and B+ making sure you get the positive and negative correct. This wiring should have a switch in it to be able to turn the power on or off.
Since you mention wanting to use the sabertooth in RC mode. So you will need to make up two servo type wires with the three pin connectors at one end to plug into the BB2 IO pins 0 and 1. Assuming that the wire colors are Black/Red/Yellow, you would connect the black from both of these wire sets to the 0V terminal on the sabertooth, likewise you would connect the two Red wires to the 5V terminal and finally you would connect the two yellow wires with one going to S1(probably the one connected to P0 on the BB2) and the second one going to S2.
On the switches on the Sabertooth it looks like you need:
Switch
1 - Down
2 - up To select RC mode
3 - up (I think) lithium shut off
4 - down - to turn off mixed mode
5 - down - Turn off exponential mode
6 - Down - Turn on microcontroller mode - no timeouts no auto calibrate
Now again this is only my best guess at what you have.
Good Luck
Okay thanks yeah i set it up using servo connector cables so it plugs into the BB2, are you sure about the 5v though? in the lynxmotion autonomous rover tutorial i linked, it says this will cause a short or a problem anyhow. Also my switches are
1 off
2 off
3 on
4 on
5 off
6 off
I did it this way to follow that tutorial, should i change it? Thank you I really appreciate the help.
By the way the board and sabertooth are now on two different battery packs and the sabertooth does work because the little blue light is on.
The settings on the sabertooth are easy to figure out. They depend on how the control code is written (differential steering, like a tank or throttle and steering, like a car), what batteries are being used, what control method is wanted (RC pulses, DC voltage, serial). If you would take a few minutes to explain exactly what you have and how you want it to work it’s a simple 30 second task to go down the list and make the selections…
