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Dc motor driver advice

Discussion in 'Motor actuators and drivers' started by Gadget999, Jan 8, 2020.

  1. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, 6DOF
    I have started building a 6dof

    From what i can make out the options for a dc motor driver are

    Mmo - lots of them fail
    Sabretooth - good reviews
    Jrk from pololu - good reviews
    Ibt-2 - i use them for a Dc dd ffb wheel with no issues


    Any suggestions greatly appreciated, I dont want the drivers to be a headache or overly expensive

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EDIT

    in the end i ended up using these - very powerful easy 100 amps

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-A-Hi...371961?hash=item1c46b55039:g:WB4AAOSwPe1UI4ao
    Last edited: May 9, 2020
  2. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Sabertooth have until now been the most common in 6DOF builds, but of late there has been a move to servo powered actuators and rigs, using @Thanos controller.
  3. cgodwin

    cgodwin Active Member

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    Love my JRK's, but when you blow one (which I've done by overloading it with too extreme motion) it is an awfully expensive problem.

    For my next build I'm planning on going with MonsterMoto clones. They are so cheap that even if the quality control isn't great on some of them I can have a stack of spares ready to go and I would still save money. Plus I'm pretty comfortable working with Arduino's.

    I'm also planning on adding some current monitoring to my next build so I can see how hard I'm pushing my motor drivers.
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2020
  4. Thanos

    Thanos Building the Future one AC Servo at a time... or 6

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Thats right. because its cheaper to use servomotors now, considering the cost for similar power DC motors/ hbridges/powersupplies etc...

    If you are after a 6DOF platform build with rotary actuators, a good cheap combination will be these (can work on 110v/220v):

    -750W AC Servo Motor Drive Kits NEMA32 80mm, AASD-15A direct replacement: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32983137811.html
    -Matching 50:1 planetary gearbox: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32835293950.html


    Example 6DOF that is using these parts on the link above:

    • Like Like x 1
  5. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

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    i found a clone of them here -- https://hobbycomponents.com/shields/462-monstermoto-compatible-high-power-motor-shield

    i am thinking i may use 2x ibt-2 on each motor - again they are cheap

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    is it possible to blow a sabretooth driver ?
  6. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

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    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Right now i have DC gearmotors - do you have a solution to drive a DC brushed motor ?
  7. cgodwin

    cgodwin Active Member

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    It looks like those are over $350 USD for each motor/gear reduction. For a full set of 6 that is well over $2,000 USD. Not what I would consider cheap.

    The 1/4 HP 12Vdc geared motors I used were just $60 each, plus under $30 total for a power supply and MonsterMoto driver. Not as much power, but $90 instead of $350 is a big difference. Unfortunately the motors I used aren't available right now. I should have bought as many as I could get when I could. It does look like DC motor prices have gone up, so it would take some hunting to find something high powered and cheap.
  8. Thanos

    Thanos Building the Future one AC Servo at a time... or 6

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    Actually the price is right... you have 1/4hp power, the AC servomotors are about 1HP power... do the math. :nerd
  9. adgun

    adgun Active Member

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    To be honest
    You cant compare a brushed dc motor with a ac servo motor
    With luck you get a 3000 hour lifetime with a brushed dc motor and with a ac servo its all in the motorbearings EU brands talk about a 30000 hour lifetime and a 20000 hour lifetime for a planetary gearbox is nothing special
    • Agree Agree x 1
  10. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

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  11. Peter24

    Peter24 New Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, JRK
    In JRK we can easy control current parameters. Is it possible the same in Arduino+MM ? Please explain.
  12. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

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  13. cgodwin

    cgodwin Active Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    The MM has a current sense output that can be read by the Arduino. The current can then be shown on a display by the Arduino. I also have a stand-alone current display that could work with any motor drive. All stuff I've planned but not actually wired up yet. I haven't blown a JRK in a long time so I'll leave those alone for now.