Darathian
Resolved by Dunning-Kruger!
Since I know some of you have used the Sabertooth and Kangaroo I figured I would ask opinions.
I have decided on the Parralax Arlo base for my next robot chassis. I will use the caster's from parralax.
I will most likely be using the Sabertooth and kangaroo combination for motor controller/PID but I am not decided on this and open to suggestions.
I also find myself in a heated mental debate between the wheel/motor combination from parralax or the Zagros Rex motors and wheels combined with the Sabertooth/Kangaroo.
Item 1:
One of the key items for me is how well the encoders between the two different motor/wheel sets works with the Sabertooth and kangaroo.
Item 2:
The other item floating in my mind is the ground clearance between the two motor/wheel sets. It seems at least to me that the Zagros wheels would provide more ground clearing but since the base plate of the chassis provides stability to the base platform I am not really sure if using the Zagros motors are feasible.
Item 3:
Since I am going to build a body, arms and head on top of the base the torque and weight carrying ability is important.
Item 4:
I need to be able to control both the position and speed of the motors at the same time. For example example I should be able to have to robot move lets say 1 feet at a certain speed.
I know this is kind of an open ended questions but if anyone have used any of these wheel/motor combinations please provide your 2 cents as it relates to the items listed above.
I appreciate any comments or insights you guys can provide.
I couldn't find anything in their documentation indicating what the speed of the chip is that they are using. It looks like an ATmega8 chip but my eyes aren't good enough to read the markings on it. if it is, it would be either 8 or 16 Mhz
Are you using the code from post #28 ?
If yes, is not good enough, there are two issues: digitalRead (arduino default libraries) are 50% more slow than atmel native implementation arduino loop function is another dead horse
Let me know your arduino model, and i'll adapt some of my code, and you can hook the arduino directly to the encoders and try to measure the ticks at different speeds.
That would be awesome. Im using the Arduino mini pro ATMega328 16Mhz 5V. Posting it here to help others who want to do this would be wonderful!
motor control are you controlling the motors via Arduino too ? To measure the encoders, is important to control the PWM, to verify if can keep up with different speeds.
Right, no, it is direct connected to a 12v battery for the test. Full speed run. I haven't hooked up the sabertooth yet again, but I will if needed to limit speed. I would control the sabertooth from a pc that is sending serial commands for this test.
ATMega328 16hmz 5V
Not the 3.3 v ? Is not your idea to interface the arduino with the EZB UART ?
Do you have the FTDI module ?
All of my robot runs off of 12v or 5v by design.
I do have many of them (FTDI module)