Author Topic: is this too much for the arduino uno board?  (Read 2024 times)

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Offline DimitrisTopic starter

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is this too much for the arduino uno board?
« on: December 22, 2013, 02:01:38 AM »
Hi,
I'm thinking of trying to make an arduino robot that can find its way out of maze.

Apart from the chassis, I'm planning to use a dual controller for 2 stepper motors (wheels), a servo motor and an ultrasonic sensor.

I'm wondering, is this too much to connect directly on the arduino uno board or am I going to need a shield or something of the sort? My concern is more on whether the board can give power by itself to all these different parts.

thnx  :)
« Last Edit: December 30, 2013, 08:57:48 AM by Dimitris »

Offline dirkwillem

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Re: is this to much for the arduino uno board?
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2013, 09:26:07 AM »
You can always power your motors and sensors directly from your battery, as they mostly just have one pin for power, and the other for signals

Offline jwatte

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Re: is this to much for the arduino uno board?
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2013, 11:59:42 AM »
For communications (servo pulses, stepper pulses, ultrasonic sensor pulses,) the Uno can do it just fine.
For power, no, you do not want to power motors or servos from the +5V of the Arduino, because it does not have enough amperage capacity. Hook the motor controller and servo VCC directly to your battery (meaning, your battery needs to be the proper voltage for your servo) or an UBEC.

Finally, stepper motors are not generally very good for propulsion, for various reasons. I'd recommend a regular gearmotor with an H-bridge to control it.

Offline DimitrisTopic starter

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Re: is this to much for the arduino uno board?
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2013, 02:27:39 PM »
I gather, stepper motors are the thing to use in small arduino robots, aren't they?

What do you think is the best approach if I'm going to use multiple batteries?
« Last Edit: December 22, 2013, 04:02:36 PM by Dimitris »

Offline jwatte

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Re: is this to much for the arduino uno board?
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2013, 11:59:19 AM »
I disagree on the stepper motors. Gear motors are easier to drive, and can run faster and smoother. Gear motors with encoders is the preferred solution. There are some very small ones you can get from places like pololu.

Stepper motors can probably work, if you can generate the appropriate acceleration curves etc.

Offline DimitrisTopic starter

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Re: is this to much for the arduino uno board?
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2013, 03:39:01 PM »
Is there a difference between "stepper motors" and "gear motors"?

I thought they were the same.. no?
« Last Edit: December 23, 2013, 03:56:01 PM by Dimitris »

Offline waltr

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Re: is this to much for the arduino uno board?
« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2013, 05:47:17 PM »
Well, the two terms or a bit ambiguous.

The three basic types of motor uses for robots and hobbies are: brushed DC , Brushless DC  (BLDC), and stepper. Any of these could be connected through a gear box, typically to reduce RPM and increase torque.

Commonly, a "gear motor" means a brushed DC motor with a reduction gear box.
 
And on the subject of stepper motors there are two types, Uni-polar and bi-polar.
Look up these different types of motor in Wikipedia for a more in depth explanation.
Also click on "Robot Tutorials" on the upper right corner of this web page to read more about using these to build robots.

 


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