Hello,
I have a pololu usb 6 channel servo controller, that I am powering through a power supply and controlling through the maestrocontrolcentre in linux.
How should I go about controlling a dc motor using that servo controller (or is it not possible)
I have set one of the servos to ‘output’, but when i connect signal and ground to motor, nothing happens
connecting ground and power makes the motor rotate regardless if it is enabled or not.
Please advise
Hello.
You cannot control a DC motor with a servo controller alone. Servos have built-in motor controllers that drive the servo’s motor based on the signals received from the servo controller or RC receiver. In your set-up, the piece you are lacking is the motor controller (motor controllers that respond to servo signals are often called “electronic speed controllers”, or ESCs). I recommend you consider one of our motor controllers. Any of our controllers that have an RC interface can be controlled with outputs from your Maestro, or you could get one of our Simple Motor Controllers, which have USB interfaces, and eliminate the Maestro entirely.
By the way, connecting a motor to the signal line of your Maestro could permanently damage the Maestro (you are effectively shorting the digital output to ground through the motor). In general, electronic components like this are fragile, and making connections without a firm grasp of what you’re doing is just asking to break something.
- Ben
Hi Ben,
Thank you for your reply.
I am using the standard dc motor from vexrobotics -> http://www.vexrobotics.com/products/accessories/motion/276-2181.html
Do you think attaching http://www.vexrobotics.com/276-2193.html to the motor will allow the motor to be driven by the servo controller?
Thanks a lot
It looks like that would work.
- Ben
