Pololu TReX Dual Motor Controller DMC01

The start of an unlimited project one step at a time.

A.    This is what I have:

6WD Wild Thumper
Pololu TReX Dual Motor Controller DMC01
OSEPP Tank-01 Robotics Mechanical Kit -http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tank-Robot-Platform-Kit-/112443774361?hash=item1a2e2bd599:g:ZzUAAOSwpINZY78j
6 channel RC radio and receiver
Arduino Mega 2560 and a SparkFun MicroView - OLED Arduino Module (which I’m in hopes to use)
APM 2.6 Autopilot, Telemetry Radio and a u-blox GPS+Compass

B.    My ultimate goal is to build an autonomous rover using the Wild Thumper.

First I want to use the Tank, Pololu Motor Controller, and RC Radio.  My question is does anyone have any experience using the Pololu Dual Motor Controller?

Any help would be appreciated.

DMC01

No direct experience, but it seems versatile. It accepts serial, RC and analog input, the easiest of which to use is likely RC. The screw termianls at the back are connected to Motor 1, Battery and Motor 2, and you connect the RC input to channels 1 and 2 with the GND (black wire) towards the outside of the board. The RC jumper should be set to RC mode, and it’s up to you if you want to use channel mixing. There is an onboard battery elimination circuit (BEC) so you don’t need to power your receiver separately. There is a BEC jumper.

Step One Finished

My first response was from “Cbenson”. Between his incite and a little surfing I was able to finish step one.

The link below is a recap of what, why, and how I’ve gotten this far.  As time progresses this document will have additions.

http://snsemp.com/Rover/Rover_Project.pdf

   The next step is getting a version of Mission Planner that will work with my APM 2.6 Autopilot.  The folks at Mission Planner dropped support for the APM Autopilot.  Mission Planner is free and I would like to keep it that way and not have to pay for a program.  Hopefully someone will know how / where to obtain older versions.  I would like to have the ZIP file instead of the MSI installer.  The ZIP file version allows me to put the program into any folder and I can run it from there.  Can have more than one version installed at a time.

Thanks in advance.

Step one finished

My first response was from “Cbenson”. Between his incite and a little surfing I was able to finish step one.

The link below is a recap of what, why, and how I’ve gotten this far.  As time progresses this document will have additions.

http://snsemp.com/Rover/Rover_Project.pdf

   The next step is getting a version of Mission Planner that will work with my APM 2.6 Autopilot.  The folks at Mission Planner dropped support for the APM Autopilot.  Mission Planner is free and I would like to keep it that way and not have to pay for a program.  Hopefully someone will know how / where to obtain older versions.  I would like to have the ZIP file instead of the MSI installer.  The ZIP file version allows me to put the program into any folder and I can run it from there.  Can have more than one version installed at a time.

Thanks in advance.