Encoder Question regarding my skid-steer

Bill Chennault

All--

I have Banebot gearmotors on my skid-steer robot. The motors have two connectors, each. One connector is labeled "0-5v" and the other connector is labeled "A-B". Now, this is fairly obvious, even to a newbie like me. The "A-B" connector is the quadrature output. (I plan to use only "A", at first.)

However, the "0-5v" connector has me a tiny bit confused. I plan to power the LED inside the encoder with a Stamp's 5vdc from either VDD or with a Stamp-identical regulator I will build for that purpose. I suppose my question is this: Can I power the encoder LED directly off VDD or do I need a 470 ohm resistor between the regulator and the anode of the LED?

Thanks!

--Bill

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You are what you write.

Steve Joblin

You always need to limit the current flowing into a LED,·so yes, you need to use a resistor.

Bill Chennault

Steve--

Thank you very much!

I got it up and running under Stamp control today! The HB-25s are great little machines. I imagine I ran it either on the bench (blocked up) or on the carpet for about an hour, total. The 12vdc system only dropped about 0.05 volts. Speaking of which, I am about to start another thread concerning the 12vdc system and would appreciate your thoughts.

--Bill

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You are what you write.

Steve Joblin

No probs Bill... unfortunately, I can't help with the "Bringing Up the HB-25 After the Stamp" post... I don't know the answer to that one.

RDL2004

Assuming that you're talking about the Banebot encoders pre-installed on one of their gearmotors, the data sheet just says to connect 5 volts for power. I would think that they would put any current limiting resistors needed on the encoder board. It would be silly not to.

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- Rick

Whit

Bill,

It's been wonderful to follow all your progress. The photos in you other post look great. Glad you're up and running. Can't wait to hear the "approved" name.

Whit+

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Whit+


"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

Bill Chennault

RDL2004--

You are right . . . I took the resistor out and it worked fine.

A little progress report: The robot works fine; runs straight (veers approximately two inches to the right in about eight feet), turns very well on the carpet, batteries last a long time, etc.

The encoders are up and running and I am in the process of implementing the code for one Stamp to control the HB-25s and another Stamp to simply watch the encoders. As it turns out, this is not a trivial process. You have to re-think a lot of things.

I am going to place the entire 12vdc system under Stamp control with a 74HC595 and a 12vdc relay that will handle 24 amps. There will be two modes of 12vdc control; automatic via Stamp and manual via a pushbutton that tells the Stamp to turn on and off·the 12vdc system. I imagine the latter will see far more use than the former!

I am having fun!

Whit, more photos soon!

--Bill

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You are what you write.

Steve Joblin

Sorry for taking you off track Bill... i didn't realize that the encoders were part of the motor units and that they already contained the current limiting resistor... sorry for my bad advice causing you a bit of frustration... Any chance you can post some videos of the bot moving?

Bill Chennault

Steve--

Hey! Not a problem whatsoever! I figured that either the resistor was not necessary or the unit was defective and I could not hurt it either way.

I got caught up making it move forward and backward and turn and move fast and slow and . . . didn't take videos. But, I will tomorrow.

--Bill

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You are what you write.