First time posting here.
I am in the process of making a RC excavator. The design and mechanical aspects I have got under control, but the control and electronics is a area I am not experienced in. I would like to use the ps2 v2 controller from robotshop, the reason for wanting a play station style controller is the dual analog sticks will allow for controlling the excavator in the same manner as the real thing. The use of The right and left buttons on the front of the controller will run the right and left tracks accordingly.
A little background on the machine. The power source on the machine is 7.2 volts as the 2s batteries will be able to run all motors and servos and hopefully the control boards and electronics. The excavator has 3 gear motors from robotshop they will run the drivetrain and rotation. There are 3 servos that will run the directional valves for the hydraulics. The hydraulic pumps are small DC motors, the quality is not the best so I will here replacing them with better motors. Now would high quality DC motors or brushless motors last longer ? These pumps will be running for long periods of an hour or so under load.
The big question is The PS2 controllers from robotshop and the boards that are recommended to go with them, the lynx motion 32 board a good choice for my project ? Are there other boards that will work better for this project ? I would really like to use the play station controller style for my controller.
If there is anymore information needed I will be more than happy to get it up here. Any advice or input is greatly appreciated as I am learning.
A brushed ESC will likely only allow you to spin the motor in one direction, but yes, it should work. Take note of the BEC; you should remove the power wire of risk damaging the board. You can get a Sabertooth dual 12A brushed motor controller for $65: robotshop.com/en/sabertooth-dual-12a-regenerative-motor-driver.html
Do you need to control all motor separately or can you link some together?
The BotBoarduino can be used to control servos as well (on its own). The SSC-32 is used when you have so many servos that it’s best to take the load off the microcontroller so it can do more “important” things.
The botboarduino is able to link 2 pin sets just like the ssc 32 thru programming ? and have them work in tandem ?
Yes, you can use the Arduino servo library and either connect each servo to its own set of three pins or use a Y harness to connect them to one set of pins so they receive the same signal. We suggest using two pins and simply sending the same position signal to each.
The Sabertooth is for brushed DC motors. The Cytron DC motor controller is as well, and is compatible with the BotBoarduino. Note that you will need a cable connector.
In order to use a PS2 controller, you need to connect it to a microcontroller and program it; it’s a far cry from normal R/C. If you’re ready to program, then consider using the Lynxmotion PS2 V3, along with a BotBoarduino (programmed in Arduino).
With the setup I have for my function on the excavator i will need to go the PS2 v3 and botboard route. The servos that move my distibution valves only need 10 degree swing in either direction, so programming then to only turn a small amount is a must. Arduino boards will be the answer to make this work properly for me. Learning about arduino will also be something new, so this is exciting also.
The botboarduino once the playstatin control is hooked it will control the servos without problem, but how do i get motor control and power, the drive motors will be drawing about 3- 6 amps depending on load, the rotation motor and 3 pump motors will be drawing 2 - 4 amps depending on load. I think i will need 5 amp controllers to prevent damaging the controller due to high Amp draw, now the question I have is, will a brushed ESC from a hobby store work for motor control, since it had the servo style 3 wire plug, Can they be plugged into the botboarduino ?
The reason I ask is for a 10 Amp ESC from my local hobby store is $10, but a DC arduino dual motor controller in the 5 - 10 Amp rangeis about $60. So to control 6 motors there is a large price diffrence between $60 for all ESC’s , or almost $200 for the arduino controllers.
Thanks for the information; this is really helping me get a list of parts to make this thing move.
The control you mentioned will work great for the drive motors as they will be under the most load and amp draw, and they must be able to move independently and reverse. Unfortunately all the motors must operate independently. The rotational motor I can get a single controller from robotshop, allowing forward and reverse. The 3 pump motors will only need to spin forward so the hobby ESC’s will work on them, and I will remember to disconnect the BEC’s on them.
Now another question, the botboardino you suggested, can it be programed similar to the lynxmotion ssc 32 ? or will I need a ssc 32 to link to the botboarduino ? I watched the video on it ( ssc 32 ) and being able to link 2 components to work together will be a great asset to the controls. The reason for this is I want to save on battery drain and motor wear on the pumps by having them only run when needed. Having pump #1 fire up at the same time as the servo running directional valve #1 both working as long as there is signal to them, and then both turning off when not needed. This way of say the pump or a hydraulic line on group #1 goes down I won’t have to worry about all hydraulic functions being effected, or oil going everywhere, I can just stop using that function and get over to the machine to shut it down.
thank you again for your information. This has been a major help to get an understanding on what is needed to get my project to finally move under its own power.
The botboarduino is able to link 2 pin sets just like the ssc 32 thru programming ? and have them work in tandem ? I am just making sure for my own sake, i would hate to get everything ordered and have just one piece of the system missing once it all arrives.
I am making my parts list: the sabertooth will be great for drive motors, and now I need a motor controller for the rotational motor, i was looking at this : Cytron 13A, 5-25V Single DC Motor Controller . I know it is larger than I should need but I want to know if it is compatable with the Botboarduino ? I am still very new at knowing what is compatable with what, as Arduino was not in my vocabulary until this week.
