**UPDATE: Today I went by Radio Shack (the source cc) and picked up some heatshrink, wire, PCB’s and ceramic capacitors. These will ground each (+) and (-) terminals on the motor to the case and across the terminals. The PCB’s and IR LED’s are an experimental nightvision system for my 1.2 and 2.4GHZ wireless cameras. The heatshrink is to cover the soldered parts and connected wires and the 20 gauge standard wire will be used to connect the LED’s to the PCB, and connect the two boards in parrallel.
I’ll have pics when all this is done. Stay tuned. 8)**
Today it took me about an hour to solder all the capacitors on, reconstruct the wiring and hook everything up. Than I had about a half hour to test the robot. The capacitors seem to work ok, I did have a little RF interferance at startup but it soon stopped. When driving the robot - again two sprockets came off the motor shaft with the hubs. Im thinking Im going to have to either A) drill a hole through the shaft and put a longer screw and bolt it on tight from the other side or B) just super glue it and hope for the best.
Also, I’ve noticed that at some points the Sabertooth is going slower or faster at times. When I turn to the right, it turns very quickly, but when I turn to the left it seems like it moves much slower and has no power. The same thing when driving forward/backward. Going forward is slow and backward is fast. This may be a power issue so Im going to charge may batts all night and test this tomorrow. It really is a random thing so it most likely is the batteries. Also, the cables on the sabertooth are marked CH1 forward, CH2 Turning. But they are the opposite. Even when I reverse the servo channels on my Laser 6 it is the same. It works correctly when I switch the channels on the receiver though (ch1 -2/ ch2 -1).
Did you Overheat the Capacitors,Or maybe bought the wrong one’s?
I’m not saying that your stupid or anything,but I’m just making sure you bought the right one’s.
If forward and turn are reversed, then one of your motors is wired in backwards. Its not a big deal if its working for you that way (the drive is symmetric, unless you’re using the flip channel), but that’s what’s up.
Yes, the hub + sprocket comes loose and slides off the motor, even when Im driving it normally. I’ll have to find a way to make it stay on. Im not new to this, it should be easy to fix.
Wowy7, I looked at the totorials on LM.com and by looking at the picture I was able to figure out I need a #10 ceramic capacitor. They seem to work quite well, but I do get a little jerkiness from the robot every once and a while and a little at startup. This may have to do with also the fact that the reciever is shaking a lot from the rough ride (ive only been driving it on ceramic flooring at the moment). When it drives on grass this will be eliminated becuase the tracks give a smoother ride on outdoor terraine.
This is assuming you haven’t modified the hub and it’s going onto a 6mm motor shaft. You can’t connect the hub to a 6mm motor shaft with a screw driver style hex tool. You must use an “L” style hex tool. Insert the short end into the hub’s set screw and while holding the hub into place tighten the set screw very tightly. It can help to make loud guttural noises while you are torquing down on the set screw. Like this… Heeeeaaaerrrrggghh! This will cut the circular pattern from the set screw into the flat of the motors shaft if done properly. I have never needed to use loctite in this application, but your mileage may vary. 8)
Yeah, GRUNT thats what I do, but they slip off, I geuss becuase of the friction from the ground when turning forces them off. Loctite should be fine. Im not saying it’ll be a lot better, but it should work
Anyways, I figured out the problem why some channels were slower than the others. The bottom slider needed to be adjusted. The scorpion dosent use this one so i figured it didnt matter, but it does.
Also, the hubs aren’t coming off. I added a little white glue to the end and tightened it down real hard this time! (Im on my highschool wrestling team 8) ) and it works.
Are you absolutely certain that your setscrews are seating properly on the flats of the shafts? Even a tiny bit of misalignment can make a setscrew appear to engage properly, but pop loose with the application of just a little bit of force. I was bitten by that one a number of times back when I was racing R/C trucks competitively; a dropped motor pinion gear will lose the race faster than any driving error.
Typically, I’ll get the setscrew as close as I can get, and then “jiggle” it ever so slightly back and forth while seating the setscrew very slowly, allowing it to find its own ‘seated’ position on the flat. Once it has seated fully, then I crank it down hard to lock it in place.
yes, I’ve been making sure to align it properly becuase of the frequent disloging. It does seem to be holding well now. just a drop of white glue and cranking it down as hard as I can did the trick.
UPDATE: Added heatshrink to all the soldered wires in my robot by heating it up with a 240W blowdryer and heating it onto the wire. Im not sure if anyone else has done this, just thought I’d share my idea. It seems to work well at 120W as well but 240W gets the job done much better.
I also am going to build the IR LED lighting system for my wireless cameras. 8 LED’s per camera.
