I’m using a tic 249 to control a stepper motor. The tic is controlled via RC input using an 18 channel Maestro. It works fabulously. The problem is that I have limited power on an ROV and I want to de-energize the stepper when it isn’t in use.
How can I do this so the stepper won’t draw current when it’s idle?
Hello.
You can disable a servo channel output on the Maestro by sending a set target command with a target of 0. When the Tic loses the signal, it will trigger the “Required input invalid” command, which you can configure to behave in a few different ways, including de-energizing the stepper motor. Alternatively, you could set it to “halt and hold” or “decelerate to hold”, and set a much lower current limit for it to use during the soft error. All of this can be configured in the “Advanced settings” tab of the Tic Control Center.
Alternatively, you could configure a separate channel on the Maestro as an output and connect it to one of the pins on the Tic that you configure as a kill switch. This will also trigger the configured soft error response.
Brandon
