Very new and need some help please

Hi,
I am very new to robotics and was looking to get some help from the knowledgeable people on this forum. I’ve been browsing this site for the past two hours trying to find what it is I need.

Simplified, what I want to do is control a motor from my PC via USB. Preferably, i would like to do this wirelessly, but its not necessary. So what do I need to do this? Ive seen Pololu’s “USB-to-Serial Adapter” and also their “Micro Dual Serial Motor Controller.”

Besides a motor, what else do i need to accomplish my goal? Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Aaron

I forgot to mention that the motor needs to turn gears.

Thank you very very much.
Aaron

Hello,

The USB-to-serial adapter and the micro motor controller can be used together to control a motor from a PC via USB. However, you would need to make sure that the motor controller can handle the size of motor you have, and you would have to write a program on the PC to send commands to the motor controller. What kind of motor do you need to run? Can you write a program that writes to a serial port?

- Jan

thanks for the reply jan.
the motor i need to control would be no bigger that this one here pololu.com/products/tamiya/0070/

and i can easily handle the writing of the program

The motor in the planetary gearbox has a stall current close to 3A (depending on what voltage you use), which is beyond the limit of the micro motor controller. However, if you will not be putting a heavy load on the motor, the micro motor controller could be used in single-motor mode. You will also need to put a heat sink on the motor driver chip to get as much power out of the controller as possible.

- Jan

i honestly have no idea what you said. i guess i just need to know what to buy.

public.iastate.edu/~elvis/8m … anner.html

that is what i am trying to do. so i need a motor, and…? please help. I bought a robotics book and got nowhere. im starting to get frustrated with my lack of progress.

thanks again,
aaron francis

Hello,

I am afraid that your questions and requirements are getting a bit too general to get a good answer here. Unless you find some kind of complete motor-and-USB-controller set, you will always have to have some idea about the basic requirements of the motor you are using.

I recommend looking at a basic electronics book or at the electricity section of a physics book to get a little understanding of at least some basic terms.

- Jan