Speed controller

hi guys, thinking of starting to build a bot. Am going to use to drill motors from argos. thing i want to know is what type of speed controller will i need and will the receiver over heat if i run them at 12v?

The reciever doesnt have any troubles overheating with the speedos. Those parts are seperate.

Speedos useable are
Electronises- http://www.technobots.co.ukwww.technobots.co.uk
IBC http://robowars.org/store.htmlhttp://robowars.org/store.html
or the sidewinder. (James baker sells these)
Other options are the M-tronics or the Schulzes you can buy in the RC shops. Take care and dont go for low amp ones or the ones without a reverse.
And of course the speedos Leo has. (contact me for more info)

would the Electronize 15A + 5v be good enough and would i need one or two?

The Electonize 15A + 5V would be good yes - thats part 1500-013 isnt it? If so, I would personally pay £3 extra and go for the 15A microprosser controlled one (with 5V reciver output), part number 1500-015. Ive not used them personally but they are meant to be much better than the non-microprocessor ones. And with Electonize controllers, you would need two - one per side of your robot. The IBC and Sidewinder controllers Mario mentioned control both sides from one board but they are more expensive (although I believe their performance is much better than Electronizes but again, I havent used either)

Good luck with the bot building :)

ok cheers mate

what do you think of these?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electronize-43HVR-Speedcontrollers_W0QQitemZ150080105920QQihZ005QQca tegoryZ34063QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemhttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electronize-43...150080105920QQ ihZ005QQcategoryZ34063QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

Those will be ok, both seem to have BECs on which is good, (you only need one to have a BEC but that doesnt matter). The seller is well known to most of us also.

Ive been keeping an eye on those :)

(EDIT: Ed pretty much said what I was gonna say, he just beat me to it :))

(Message edited by K_C_R on January 12, 2007)

ok might sound stupid but whats a BEC?

Battery Eliminator Circuit - it allows you to power the receiver from your main battery supply rather than have to worry about a receiver battery and keeping it charged etc

Battery Elimination Circuit

It means that the receiver can be powered from the controller and you wont need a seperate receiver battery.

oh k cheers. also is there any way to use the switch that was originaly on the drill? and if so does anyone know how?

http://www.teamonslaught.fsnet.co.uk/speedcnt.htmlhttp://www.teamonslaught.fsnet.co.uk/speedcnt.html
Worth a look

Or Dave Mac is selling some, look on the For Sale section 12 Volt Speedos

thing is im bit short on cash at the moment and i read somewhere that apparently you can use the switch

You can use the bang bang methord. Im sure some of the feather builders can enligten you. Or the site I posted above shows relays, micro switches, etc
The bit where it shows using a servo with mosfets, im sure the mosfets from your drill would be ok

You can use the drill trigger and reverse switch with some clever mounting and a r/c servo.

There was some information on the Australian Robowars site http://www.robowars.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=623http://www.robowars.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=623
But sadly all the pic links are defunct...making it fairly useless :uhoh:.

Dave, one of my old featherweights used the bang band method that Simon mentioned. E mail me and ill find a couple of photos for you.

Will

Basically You need two servos, one per motor, and 4 micro switches (avaliable from maplins or other for about 20p each) two per servo. Set up the switches so that one is normal polarity to the motor and the other is reverse. So when the servo moves one way the motor goes forwards and vice versa. But obviously there is no speed control.

This is how we and many other builder started.

Personnally I would go down the electronize route as you will have proper control over your robot and I can see you spending a good long while trying to put something together which may not be reliable enough for combat.

Just my 2 cents.

I may have another option for you, I am currently evaluating the robot power scorpion XL

see http://www.robotpower.comwww.robotpower.com for info on this controller. You will need just one of them, no reciever battery, no mixer, just plug between the reciever and motors, plug in your battery, and away.

Ive been stunned by the quality of this controller so far, and it is SO SMALL!!

Not sure on cost yet, but certainly cheaper than 2 electronize 15A.

If anyone would be interested in this product, drop me an email.

james@xbotz.com

Heres a link to some bang bang type controllers.

http://www.rctankcombat.com/articles/speed-control/http://www.rctankcombat.com/articles/speed-control/

Likewise to James check out this all-in-one speed controller solution (youll only need one! Simply plug it into the battery, motors, and reciever and youll be ready to go! Ideal for drills in particular and cheaper than electronizes while offering better control by being all solid state (no relays which can cause switching delays etc).

http://www.gimsonrobotics.com/shop_rc-speed-controllers-sabertooth.htmlhttp://www.gimsonrobotics.com/shop_r...abertooth.html

All the best, Ewan

ok thanks guys but think i will do it eds way for now and then save up for one of those sabretooth controllers.

(Message edited by citsaxovtr on January 13, 2007)

Ill be buying a speed controller for my featherweight in the not-too-distant future. Im currently looking at the Scorpian XXL as recommended by Marco. The best other 2 options seem to be electrolize or sabretooth. Anyone have pointers/comments/debates, or is the scorpian the best way to go?
Cheers, Dave.

The Scorpion XXL is an excellent speed controller (I have 2 of them, and 1 XL in my raptor), as is the Sabretooth 2x25A version.

The Electronizes are fine, but very big for my taste, and i dont like the relays.

I have yet to have a problem with the electronize. Granted they are very big but very reliable.

I would go for either the scorpian or sabertooth if I had the choice now though.

Compared to Scorpions and Sabretooth ESCs electronizes are huge. And you would not be the first to have robot driving around in circles because a relay got stuck again.

Again, for the most part Electronizes are ok. But there are newer and better products available now.

Ive just spotted this 75 Amp controller on Ebay.... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Speed-Control-Motor-RC-Radio-Boats-75-AMP-NEW_W0QQitemZ280168040603QQihZ018QQcategoryZ140972 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemhttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Speed...75-AMP-NEW_W0Q QitemZ280168040603QQihZ018QQcategoryZ140972QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Looks interesting, they say 5 - 10 cells, then 5 -16.8 Volts, wonder how they work that one out.

When you receive it you can let us us all know what the voltages are ...:)

(Message edited by woody on November 08, 2007)

My blue RCsmart ones were also supposed to be 12V max, but ive heard of teams using them on 14.4V. Still the numbers on this one dont make sense.

But it might be worth a gamble, who knows.

I expect someone will take a chance and order a couple...

Tsk ...John.
Follow the ebay link ...note the buyer...
then match it to a Forum user name.

Ah yes- all too easy...
:wink:

...but I was hinting that someone else has ordered a couple!

(Message edited by Lex on November 10, 2007)

What diabolical device have you got planned now John!!:rofl:

How do people usually enclose their Scorpion controllers?

they do a nifty blue box from maplin...2.99... fits in almost perfect. thats what i have done anyway :)

Philip:

http://members.home.nl/pjmmaas/speedo/speedo1.JPGhttp://members.home.nl/pjmmaas/speedo/speedo1.JPG
http://members.home.nl/pjmmaas/speedo/speedo2.JPGhttp://members.home.nl/pjmmaas/speedo/speedo2.JPG
http://members.home.nl/pjmmaas/speedo/speedo3.JPGhttp://members.home.nl/pjmmaas/speedo/speedo3.JPG

Thank you, both.

Is that plate for cooling in the third picture?