Hello
I am currently designing a 1/5 rc compact tracked loader . I want to use electric linear actuators to lift the arm and tip the bucket 4 actuators total 2 per side (axis) controlled with pwm from a rc receiver i see robot shop sells a board that helps fine tune end points as well as allow the actuator to work through pwm. this is the Product Code : RB-Fra-14
my questions are
- is this a application suitable for linear actuators
- can 2 actuators reliably be used is tandem with out fightings each other ( same axis )
any suggestions comments ect are greatly appreciated
Hello @Satellite98 and welcome to the RobotShop community,
I believe you shared the wrong product code because the one you copied is a Force Linear Actuator without an RC interface. I’m guessing you were referring to RB-Fir-14 instead. If that’s the case…
is this a application suitable for linear actuators
Because of the way tracked loaders move, I would say that servos would be better suited for this application but that doesn’t mean linear actuator won’t work for it.
can 2 actuators reliably be used is tandem with out fightings each other ( same axis )
I’m not 100% sure how you are planning on setting the linear actuators to achieve the desired motion but I see no problem with using two actuators on the same axis at the same time.
controlled with pwm from a rc receiver i see robot shop sells a board that helps fine tune end points as well as allow the actuator to work through pwm
I also wanted to point out that RC and PWM are two different modes.
RC Servo Interface Mode: This is a standard hobby-type remote-control digital servo interface (CMOS logic),
compatible with servos and receivers from manufacturers like Futaba™ and Hi-Tec™. The desired actuator position is input to the actuator on lead 4 as a positive 5 Volt pulse width signal. A 1.0 ms pulse commands the controller to fully retract the actuator, and a 2.0 ms pulse signals full extension. If the motion of the actuator, or of other servos in your system, seems erratic, place a 1–4Ω resistor in series with the actuator’s red V+ lead wire.
PWM Mode: This mode allows control of the actuator using a single digital output pin from an external microcontroller. The desired actuator position is encoded as the duty cycle of a 5 Volt 1 kHz square wave on actuator lead 2, where the % duty cycle sets the actuator position to the same % of full stroke extension. The waveform must be 0V to +5V in order to access the full stroke range of the actuator.
If you want to use an RC receiver and control the actuator this way that is perfectly fine, I just wanted to point out that you wouldn’t be exactly using PWM to control the actuator.
I hope that helps!
