Wild Thumper long term edu project motor controller question

Lynxmotion Rovers, Sumo, and Tracked
1

Hello,

I am purchasing several (6-8) Wild Thumper 6WD vehicles for a new Applied Technology High School Program.

I’m very active in the UAS/Drone world and have knowledge of rc systems but no experience with Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

My goal is to use the Wild Thumper as a platform that my high school students can grow with- I initially want to start them off with RC operation and then introduce the Pixhawk motion control board from 3DRObotics to have them run autonomous missions later in the year, adding arms or other devices to their individual team’s liking.

I’m confused about the DC Motor controllers I’m seeing and want to ensure I’m purchasing the proper ones as they are pretty expensive.

I initially assumed I could just use an appropriately rated DC ESC on each motor side (l and r) and then use a bec to power the RC system but I haven’t found any online documentation to support it.

I see that the Sabertooth dual controller is recommended along with another, less powerful one:

robotshop.com/en/dimension-e … -2x25.html
robotshop.com/en/sabertooth- … river.html

Having never built a robot of this kind before, I want to ensure I’m giving myself the upgrade path needed to introduce rc and pixhawk to operate autonomously and to continue to build in features.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

2

The Thumper’s motors are 6V nominal and the no load current is 350mA with a stall current of 5.5A.
The 6WD thumper has three motors on either side, therefore you should choose a controller which can handle at least 2x5A, such as the Sabertooth.
The Sabertooth 2x5A is a great choice because of its quality, features and versatility.

3

thank you. Upon further research, I see the versatility it offers with onboard bec to power the rc system.