Hey TJ Thanks for the response. I went to the link you posted. But only got your online store. Couldn't find an email for you. I'd like to talk to you about using the Sabertooth, etc. Please email me at: [email protected] Lloyd

TJ, I was looking at your web site. What do you use for charging the 12 volt batteries on those beasts? I am building a fairly hefty robot and planned to use a 17Amp Hour 12 volt battery from a B&D electric lawnmower that I bought before discovering it was not the battery but the control circuit on the mower that was dead. (I can also split the battery into 2 6v, so lots of flexibility, but heavy). Since the lawnmower circuit is dead though, I don't have a regulated charger for it so I am trying to find something suitable without spending too much.

Any ideas?

Alan

my email is [email protected] my cell to text me is 5026827777 i'm in usa.

my so called bots are currently just remote controlled electric wheelchairs, but as soon as i get the ez-b and sabertooth motor controller to talk to each other, it will be a smart bot.

i skip the built in motor controller and microprocesser. if you are remote controlling, you dont need the joystick or the microprocessor/motor controller.

MAKE SURE YOU DISENGAGE THE 24 VOLT BRAKES if you use an electric wheelchair, or you can burn EVERYTHING up, like the brakes, the wheelchair, the sabertooth and maybe the ez-b!!!!

the electric wheelchairs have 2 12volt batteries and they are run series to make 24 volt. i use a standard 24 volt electric wheelchair battery charger and it hooks into the standard charging port, usually on the joystick console. you temporarily hook the joystick to the wheelchair's microprocessor, then plug this battery charger in the joystick, or plug it anywhere you normally charge the wheelchair.

i think these are 2 35amp hour 12 volts, run in series to make 70amp hours at 24 volt (if i remember correctly.) these batteries are $125 new. they are sealed gel batteries you get at a home medical store.

i'm updating thegoodrobot.com sorry its just a sample shopping cart website showing pics of some of the r/c bots i'm making.

more to come! email or text if you need anything specifically, or post here so everyone can see! TJ

ps: search youtube for robots4sale or smartstuff2buy or thegoodrobot to see my videos. add as a friend, subscribe, rate, etc etc http://youtu.be/xT2WtVC9wjo

KKEAST, you say my sabertooth needs 5volt? actually that is a 5volt output to power something like my airplane receiver that i had hooked up. the board gets powered by the 24volts coming in from the high voltage side. i think i would be short circuiting it if i put the ez-b's power supply hot wire into the 5volt low voltage place of the sabertooth. [email protected]

TJ

TJ,

Thanks for the correction TJ... I see that now. Are you using that port to power the EZB-B and/or your R/C receiver or are are you adding an additional voltage source? Seems quite a bit different from the lower AMP H bridges I have been looking at but loaded with options. Looking forward to getting your input when you get EZB talking to it. Great vid btw.

Kevin

TJ,

Thanks for the great info on wheelchair motors. I was planning on using windshield wiper motors, but if there is anything good about the delivery problems DJ has had and the delay in my order, it is that I have had more design time, and also landed a good deal on a pair of wheelchair motors. So, now I am thinking my steampunk K9 may be more like a steampunk pony and is going to need flip down foot stands on the side and a plug in handle bar so I can ride it. (gonna need bigger batteries, bigger "steam tank", bigger car to transport it... Damn you DJ, your inexpensive little board is going to send me to the poor house... ).

Alan

Alan I bought a fully functioning electric wheelchair and good batteries for $150 and another for $100. When two motors costs $60 and one battery costs $125 (usd) then you need to just buy whole used unit like I did.

Kevin After I unplugged the receiver from my sabertooth so my transmitter wouldn't work, I then hooked up the ez-b. I left the settings on r/c mode on sabertooth. I have the battery pack that Dj gives with the ez-b since I only connect to the sabertooth with d0 and d1. I connect d0 and d1 grounds to low output ground on sabertooth, but not sure if that is required. I don't connect hot (red) wires from ez-b, and I connect d0 to s1, and d1 to s2. (s1 & s2 are signal 1 & 2 inputs). I only need that power to send signals to motor controller, no servos yet. I use two 12 volt batteries (24 volt total in series) on the electric wheelchair to power the sabertooth, it has a built in step down to power it's own circuit board.

Update: 8pm on 1-18-12 Using everyone's advice, and used dj's wall-E example file, I edited the arm slider bars to move d0 &d1. I deleted all the other junk like speech recognition and camera stuff because I'm not ready to test that.

Good news: I moved slider 1 and slider 2, it moves wheels different directions. Finally!

Bad news: when I use up, down, left & right Movement Panel in ARC the wheels don't turn at all. I made sure it was configured correctly d0 & d1. Only horizontal or vertical panels work, why does the arrows not work if the slider does??? TJ

I thought I replied but maybe my iPhone messed up. The 24 volts power the sabertooth and it has optional out put if 5 volts for receivers and things by using a built in step down transformer. I have the battery pack that Dj sent with the ez-b but later I will put some 7.2volt rechargeable batteries in parallel to get me a longer lasting battery pack for the ez-b.

Testing my sabertooth in a few hours. I got the slider to control the sabertooth motor controller and motors but why does the Movement Panel not control it?

I chose the correct pins in the config.