Anyone ever use this type of motor controller
Just wondering if anyone has ever used one of these RC car electronic speed controls (ESC) for a robotics project ?
http://www.endurance-robotics.com/product.aspx?id=60
Just curious as to how it would perform and how to interface to a stamp or propeller chip. Thanks!
CP
http://www.endurance-robotics.com/product.aspx?id=60
Just curious as to how it would perform and how to interface to a stamp or propeller chip. Thanks!
CP
Comments
ESC motor controllers work fine, but they are often limited to high RPM, constant speed 3 phase, brushless motors. So they are not the first choice in many robotic projects. Your particular item seems to lack documentation, which would make it useless to me.
In most cases, the ESC motor controllers are ideal for R/C airplanes and R/C boats as the main drive of a propeller. In a rolling robot, you usually need to gear down to about 300RPM or less, while propellers can are driven at thousands of RPM.
Also, they are often not set up for reversing direction or variable speed. And a lot of robotic applications prefer stepper motors or hobby servo motors as a better positioning device.
In sum, there are a lot of different motor choices and each suits a particular range of activities. For electric R/C airplanes, an ESC motor controller is the best way to go if you can afford the matching brushless or brushed motor and batteries. These must be matched to it.
The one you show, might be used with brushed motors. But the fact that the vendor doesn't sell the matching motors and doesn't post any documentation makes me feel uncomfortable buying their product.
A Propeller or BasicStamp is likely to have no problem with interface as the usual method is PWM. But again that must be clearly revealed in the documentation. It appears the vendor is just starting out with their website and doesn't have a complete line of products. They might eventually get better or they might quickly go out of business. So you are taking a bit of risk in buying from them.
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Post Edited (Kramer) : 10/26/2008 6:31:17 AM GMT