Remote Control for Sabertooth Dual 50A 12-48V Motor Driver for bike and hoverboard

Help & Support Robot Parts
1

Hi everyone,

I am trying to figure out what I can use for the remote control of the Sabertooth Dual 50A 12-48V Regenerative Motor Driver that I am going to use to power four 12V 18A fans.

I am going to start out by using these on my bike for added propulsion as a test bed, but will eventually be moving these over to my hoverboard project once I figure out how to get the remote control for it working.

I have been stuck on figuring out how to add a one handed remote control for a long time. I basically just need a variable speed controller that can function in forward and reverse with an on and off switch. This could be achievable with a 2 axis joystick, or multi-axis joystick. I have been reading tutorials and guides for Xbee, Sabertooth, and Arduino, and Sparkfun, but I am still very unsure what pieces I need, how they should all be put together, and what case I should use for the controller.

Finding a good case for one handed robotic remote controls is a lot harder than it seems like it should be… There is also a lot less information on creating one handed controllers and finding cases than I would have expected. Especially considering how popular the Xbee units are. I have seen a number of people use the Wii numchuck remote, but I am not sure if this is what I should use and what parts I would need for it.

One of the best controllers that I have wanted to use for a while is the bluetooth Zeemote JD1 phone gaming controller. It is a pretty good deal at $27 plus shipping.

I am really tempted to get this remote since they do have a Java and Android SDK developer kit for it with programming guides, API documentation, and the complete source code. If I could get this controller to work directly with a bluetooth receiver, than this would definitely cut out a lot of steps and would be a lot more sturdy and reliable than a custom handled remote. And if I couldn’t get this to work, I could always just use it to play games on my phone :slight_smile:.

While I will eventually want to use this on my hoverboard in combination with a solid state gyro as a tilt sensor, right now I am just working on getting a control to attach to my bike. This is my third time putting fans on my bike. The first time I had four ducted fans that gave a small slight boost with about 800 cfm total. The second time I had two 16" fans that had about 1300-1500 cfm total, which gave me a fairly noticeable boost of speed on flat ground. These four new fans produce about 3000 cfm each which could produce somewhere around 8,000-12,000 real CFM total. Which should be a lot of fun. The motor controllers I used for the first two bike fan projects were rated for over 100A at 12V, and they included reversable remote controls with them, but they were not meant for continuous use and they died after a few uses.

This time, I think I have made a good choice with the selection of the Sabertooth Dual 50A controller, but I have been stuck on the control aspect, and I have basically put the project on hold for two years because of it.

I have a lot to learn about how to work with the Xbee and Sparkfun control boards. I have been reading the tutorials, but I am starting to feel a little lost… I am almost considering just using a standard wired e-bike throttle control until I can figure out how to get the wireless controller up and running. I have been reading the different manuals/tutorials for Sabertooth, Sparkfun, and Xbee, but I am just not clear about exactly what parts I am going to need.

From what I understand so far, here is what I will need for a wireless joystick communication with the Sabertooth Dual 50A 12-48V Motor Controller:

On the joystick/transmitter side, from what I understand so far, I would have three boards stacked on top of each other. The top board would be the joystick shield kit, below that would be the Xbee Arduino Shield board with the Xbee module, and on bottom would be the Arduino Uno board. I would then hook up the 9V power supply, but I am not sure if I would have to power the other two boards on top or if they get power from the Arduino.

On the receiver side, I would have one Xbee module plugged into the Xbee Explorer regulated board, and a seriel cable would connect directly from the Xbee to the Sabertooth Motor Controller. Power would be provided by the 9v power pack with a 5vseriel regulator.

There are a lot of parts about this that I am not quite sure about. Whether I have all the right parts, how to make them work correctly, etc.

Does anyone have advice on this? Does that part list look about right to you?

Also, just for fun in case you are interested, here is an example of one of the only working hoverboards on the market now for comparison (The Airboard from Arbortech). My design focuses on producing a model that would have a lot more control, be a lot quieter, and will be more efficient (including a new more efficient hoverskirt design that I developed):

arbortech.com.au/view/airboard/
[video=youtube;P_-PQdrgw2A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_-PQdrgw2A&feature=player_embedded

Cheers :slight_smile:

2

Also, for my bike, a button remote with two buttons, one for forward, and one for reverse would also work great. While I would not be able to vary the speed with this, this would have an advantage over a variable speed controller because of the small size.

This is what I had been using before for my last fan powered bike project, and it worked great for a control. It also came in a very small package which made it very easy to fit onto the handlebars.

The only problem was the motor controller, which was not able to handle continuous use.

3

Thank you very much for your post Coleman, you made some good points.

First of all, the Sabertooth motor controller is probably cutting it too close at 50A per channel. I was going to run two 18A fans in parallel on each channel, or 36A continuous use on each side. Similar fans can have peak power spikes of up to 60% when starting up, which would be 57.6 peak spikes of power. It would probably be a good idea to go with the RoboteQ MDC2250 Dual Channel 2 x 60A, 7V-50V DC Motor Controller

As for the controller, all of the RC controllers looked way too big to be able to fit on the handlebars of my bike, and you are right that the Xbee would be too clunky. I am basically looking for a small one handed controller, and it looks like bluetooth would be the best way to do that.

The MDC2250 is part of the NextGen version of their new controllers that includes a USB interface, and MicroBasic scripting.

Ideally, what I would like to do is to get a USB bluetooth receiver that I can plug into the MDC2250 controller, and get a MicroBasic program to be able to use a Wii remote, or the Zeemote JD1 remote. I know that this is a harder option, but I think that it will allow me to have the smallest controller size while still giving a good signal.

If I can figure out how to get the Bluetooth connection up and running, than I would also need to get another RobteQ MDC2250, and a HDC2450 and do the same Bluetooth interface.

This is somewhat different from a normal robot, because instead of controlling a robot in the distance, I will be standing on my hoverboard and bike and I will therefore need a small one handed remote.

Thanks for your help and advice!

4

That is a very nice controller. Thank you for your help Coleman. That looks like one of my best options, although I am still interested in looking at a way to use the JD1 without any adapters by just using the custom Java programming, and a USB Bluetooth adapter.

5

I think that I want to look into how to use the Zeemote JD1 controller SDK that has custom Java programming to link up with a RoboteQ MDC2250 Dual Channel 2 x 60A, 7V-50V DC Motor Controller.

MicroBasic sounds like it is pretty close to Java, and the MDC2250 already has a 32-bit microcomputer installed. So I am hoping that I could just create a MicroBasic program using the SDK kit that Zeemote provided that could connect with the JD1 remote (or find someone who could help me do that). Then I could hopefully just connect a USB Bluetooth dongle receiver, and use the JD1 remote as a motor controller.

This needs to be a small wireless one-handed controller, because I will need one free hand for balance while on the hoverboard. I think that two handed controllers will be too big for what I need.

I would love to be able to use the Zeemote JD1 as they are very nice looking controllers. :slight_smile:

6

I have been looking more into this option. If MicroBasic is not directly compatible with Java, than I thought that I might have to get another microcontroller that runs Java that could hook up to a Bluetooth receiver and send signals to the MDC2250. One option would be the Intellibrain2 Robotics controller from RidgeSoft or the Genesi EFIKA MX Open Client Micro Computer.

This use of the Bluetooth JD1 remote as a motor controller for the MDC2250 is just a test propulsion project for my hoverboard project. If I can figure out how to get the Bluetooth connection up and running, than I would also need to get another RobteQ MDC2250, and a HDC2450 motor controller and do the same Bluetooth interface.

I would still need help with the Java program itself, but this at least would give me an option if the two languages are not compatible.

7

Thank you very much Coleman!

Your help and advice is always very good. Do you think I am doing the right choice with the motor controllers for this part? Would one MDC2250 controller be good for four 18A fans, should I switch to another controller or more controllers?

Much appreciated!

8
9

Excellent Coleman,

I appreciate that. I will make sure to include a fuse system and failsafe switches as well.

Thanks for your help

10

The controller you suggest should be able to control the four motors just fine. or course, it will be able to control the in pairs since it has only two more ports.

11

Hi nelsontechnical,

Welcome to the RobotShop Forum. You raise a lot of questions on your post:

  1. It seems you want wireless control using a joystick - why not simply use just that? The Sabertooth accepts R/C input and you would not have to develop anything. Plug and play. Other versions of R/C controllers are available.

  2. The Sabertooth is intended to be used at up to 50A continuous, but if your fans operate at 18A each, they can easily spike to well above that… you should add several resettable fuses.

  3. Your approach with the Joystick + XBee + Uno is fine, although it will be bulky and uncomfortable.

  4. The bluetooth controller looks fine, but may not be the easiest to setup.

Hope this helps,

12

Take a look at this controller: it’s a lot smaller: GWS 4-Channel 2.4GHz Radio Control System
https://www.robotshop.com/Images/big/en/gws-radio-control-system.jpg[LEFT] [/LEFT]

Bluetooth is an option, and although the receiver is small, making the transmitter setup with joystick, Arduino etc… would likely be larger than the above handheld unit. At just $24 USD, it’s just a bit more expensive than the Arduino itself and seems to have everything you need.

13

Hi,

It should be possible, but keep in mind that both the remote and the motor controller are fairly “dumb” systems. The Genesi may be overkill since it’s a full computer, but an inexpensive one at that - if you have the budget, get that and don’t buy other microcontrollers; it will be far easier to program, debug and add items.

Sincerely,

14

The current rating is the maximum continuous, and it can handle spikes. A 60A should be fine so long as the motors are not pushed beyond their design specs. The controller does have a level of built in protection and we encourage you to add fuses and failsafes.

Sincerely,