I need to control the position of a brushed DC motor (12V input volotage, 1.5A rated current, geared & has encoder on it). The input command is from a microcontroller (0-10V) which also receives the position feedback from the encoder. I found the Sabertooth Dual 12A 6V-24V Regenerative Motor Driver seems to be suitable (Sabertooth Dual 12A 6V-24V Regenerative Motor Driver - RobotShop), but I am not sure whether this driver can be used for this purpose given that I need to control the bi-directional position of the motor. The motion direction of the motor needs to be changed frequently.
Any other recommendations of motor drivers are also welcome.
Hello @LinRobot and welcome to the RobotShop forum,
I am not sure whether this driver can be used for this purpose given that I need to control the bi-directional position of the motor
Yes, the Sabertooth will allow you to change the direction of the motor.
The input command is from a microcontroller (0-10V)
The Sabertooth offers many control options that support input from a microcontroller, however, 0-10V analog is not an option, but 0-5V analog will work, as well as Simplified serial mode (TTL level RS-232), R/C input.
For example:
Mode 1: Analog Input
Analog input mode takes one or two analog inputs and uses those to set the speed and direction of the motor. The valid input range is 0v to 5v. This makes the Sabertooth easy control using a potentiometer, the PWM output of a microcontroller (with an RC filter) or an analog circuit. Major uses include joystick or foot-pedal controlled vehicles, speed and direction control for pumps and machines, and analog feedback loops.
Any other recommendations of motor drivers are also welcome.
As you only need to control one motor, and the current rating isn’t very high I would suggest checking the Analog Voltage DC Controllers section of the store. Some good options:
Unfortunately no, most of the Analog Voltage DC Controllers take 0-5V as input, some say that take higher voltages, however, they need external circuits (similar to the ones I posted), for example, this driver:
States that accepts up to 30V as input but the user manual (page 49) explains:
