Powering Propeller Servo Controller via USB or BEC from Motor Controller?
honor_the_ways
Posts: 3
Hey Everyone,
The robot I'm working on now will have 2 12VCD windshield wiper motors driven by a Sabertooth 2X12 motor controller. That motor controller will then be controlled by a Propeller Servo Controller USB (28830).
I'd like to avoid having a separate 5V power supply just for the Propeller as that will increase the weight and cost of the robot and the only things the servo controller is running, apart from the motor controller which has its own power supply, are two PING))) Ultrasound sensors. I am interested in the possibility of using either the BEC (Battery Eliminating Circuit) feature of the Sabertooth 2X12 or the USB cable (the Parallax will constantly be plugged into a Windows laptop) to power the Propeller. I dont expect that either the BEC from the Sabertooth 2X12 or USB could provide much current but since there will never be any servos attached to the Propeller it shouldnt be drawing much current and the amount of current it will be using should be pretty constant.
I have not read anything about being able to power the Propeller through USB so I do not know if that is even a possibility. In regards to BEC, it seems that many ppl on these forums discourage the use of BEC for the logic but in most of those cases the Propeller also had servos and plenty of other sensors plugged in. I would like to try BEC out in any case. Would I just plug in channel 1 and channel 2 from the motor controller into the appropriate pins on the Propeller just and get the power that way? Or, should the red power cables be removed from the channel 1 and channel 2 connections and plugged in elsewhere?
Thoughts?
The robot I'm working on now will have 2 12VCD windshield wiper motors driven by a Sabertooth 2X12 motor controller. That motor controller will then be controlled by a Propeller Servo Controller USB (28830).
I'd like to avoid having a separate 5V power supply just for the Propeller as that will increase the weight and cost of the robot and the only things the servo controller is running, apart from the motor controller which has its own power supply, are two PING))) Ultrasound sensors. I am interested in the possibility of using either the BEC (Battery Eliminating Circuit) feature of the Sabertooth 2X12 or the USB cable (the Parallax will constantly be plugged into a Windows laptop) to power the Propeller. I dont expect that either the BEC from the Sabertooth 2X12 or USB could provide much current but since there will never be any servos attached to the Propeller it shouldnt be drawing much current and the amount of current it will be using should be pretty constant.
I have not read anything about being able to power the Propeller through USB so I do not know if that is even a possibility. In regards to BEC, it seems that many ppl on these forums discourage the use of BEC for the logic but in most of those cases the Propeller also had servos and plenty of other sensors plugged in. I would like to try BEC out in any case. Would I just plug in channel 1 and channel 2 from the motor controller into the appropriate pins on the Propeller just and get the power that way? Or, should the red power cables be removed from the channel 1 and channel 2 connections and plugged in elsewhere?
Thoughts?
Comments
check out the prop c3. It can be powered through the usb cable. You can download the schematics direct from the Parallax main website.
Jim