Sabertooth alternative
Moderators: BeligerAnt, petec, administrator
Sabertooth alternative
Good Afternoon,
Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative to the Sabertooth 2 x 5a ESC? I am looking to control 2 x 300 RPM brushed gear motors for drive.
I have found the below.
http://dx.com/p/brushed-electronic-spee ... een-218621
...so I guess I could use 2 off these.
I have now spent so long looking for a cheaper alternative I could have earned the money to buy the real thing but at $59.99 it seems like a lot of money for something so small.
Any help is appreciated.
Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative to the Sabertooth 2 x 5a ESC? I am looking to control 2 x 300 RPM brushed gear motors for drive.
I have found the below.
http://dx.com/p/brushed-electronic-spee ... een-218621
...so I guess I could use 2 off these.
I have now spent so long looking for a cheaper alternative I could have earned the money to buy the real thing but at $59.99 it seems like a lot of money for something so small.
Any help is appreciated.
Re: Sabertooth alternative
See my post in your other thread. Baby O is probably the best cheap speedo I've used, only £17. Alternatively the botbitz ones look pretty good, but you're going to have to pay for postage from down under
Re: Sabertooth alternative
I think it's worth mentioning that both Andy and I have had some weird issues with Baby Os. I know many people have used them without issue - as have I on occasion - but Andy and I had a few particularly bad ones where the driver IC just popped, seemingly without reason (this is what put Void out of AWS40 - it popped two Baby Os in 24 hours).
I also havn't seen anyone mention Peter Waller's boards yet - information about them can be found here.
I also havn't seen anyone mention Peter Waller's boards yet - information about them can be found here.
Scott Fyfe-Jamieson, Captain of Epic Robotics. Champion of AWS38/41/42.
http://www.epicrobotics.co.uk
http://www.epicrobotics.co.uk
- peterwaller
- Posts: 3213
- Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2002 12:00 am
- Location: Aylesbury Bucks
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Re: Sabertooth alternative
Because of the high cost of approvals I can't offer them for general sale.
Also because hand making the boards is very time consuming I only make them for people I know to try and keep the numbers down.
Also because hand making the boards is very time consuming I only make them for people I know to try and keep the numbers down.
Re: Sabertooth alternative
I can't say I've had any problems with mine. I've got 5 of them so far, and the only issue was caused by me shorting the motor terminals. You and Andy both run them on 3 cells though, don't you? Do you think that might have anything to do with it? They are supposed to be rated to 13.5v though, so maybe not...
- peterwaller
- Posts: 3213
- Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2002 12:00 am
- Location: Aylesbury Bucks
- Contact:
Re: Sabertooth alternative
Three cells could well be the problem.
If you are using them with HP motors they have a stall current of 1.6 A at 6 V.
This goes up to 2.24 A at 8.4 V (2 cells) and 3.36 A at 12.6 V (3 cells).
The TB6612 driver chip is only rated at 1.2 A continuous.
I found on my controllers doubling up the TB6612 giving a continuous current of 2.4 A and only rateing the HP's for two cells was the answer.
If you are using them with HP motors they have a stall current of 1.6 A at 6 V.
This goes up to 2.24 A at 8.4 V (2 cells) and 3.36 A at 12.6 V (3 cells).
The TB6612 driver chip is only rated at 1.2 A continuous.
I found on my controllers doubling up the TB6612 giving a continuous current of 2.4 A and only rateing the HP's for two cells was the answer.
- BeligerAnt
- Posts: 1872
- Joined: Wed May 15, 2002 12:00 am
- Location: Brighton
- Contact:
Re: Sabertooth alternative
The Baby O uses the same TB6612 drive chip that Peter uses. The problem is that they don't like any more than 2 cells. I killed one quite quickly running on just 9-10V. Fortunately I was able to replace the driver chip.
Gary, Team BeligerAnt
Re: Sabertooth alternative
Thanks for the info, I will order a baby O and have a look. I am happy to do some basic soldering as long as I know what to do.
That's the final component then; now I just need to figure out how to wire it all up, programme the transmitter and build the chassis....easy
That's the final component then; now I just need to figure out how to wire it all up, programme the transmitter and build the chassis....easy
Re: Sabertooth alternative
Don't forget though, you will need to buy an AVR programmer too. The official pololu ones are about £14, but you can get knock-off versions from hobby king for under $4. I've only used the official ones, but lots of people on the Australian antweight forums have used the hobbyking ones just fine. But once you have the programmer you can quickly and easily programme as many boards as you like.
The soldering is very simple and there's lots of guides online for how to get the board programmed. I'm pretty useless at soldering and programming, but I've never failed to get the baby o working.
The soldering is very simple and there's lots of guides online for how to get the board programmed. I'm pretty useless at soldering and programming, but I've never failed to get the baby o working.