MovieMaker
USA
Asked
— Edited
Resolved by thetechguru!
I cannot afford a 60A Sabertooth.
I just figured it out. It is only one. And, it is a Speed Controller.
I have a Jazzy wheelchair ready to hook up. But, I don't want the whole thing to explode.
As you said, it's a speed controller. You have power in and power out, nothing (much) more.
If you want an alternative to a sabertooth there are a few out there, robo claw for example. But, 1) I think the robo claw is discontinued now and 2) The robo claw on Amazon is $199 which may be more expensive anyway.
Unfortunately there isn't a cheap, reliable 60A controller. You can pick 2 of the three key points, cheap/60A wont be reliable, cheap/reliable wont be 60A and reliable/60A wont be cheap.
what exactly is a job of a sabertooth
Sabertooth is a brushed DC motor controller... you'll need a motor controller for your mobile robot unless you are using continuous rotation servos... in which case you can drive them straight from most micro controllers including the EZB (meaning no motor controller needed for continuous rotating servos)...
Do you really need to pull up to 60 amps?
I don't know. It is for my Jazzy wheelchair. I saw one made for dual 12A, dual 25A. Then of course the 60A.
can this controll motor too. motorcontroller
Find out the max current draw of the motors before you look for a motor controller/driver. Then pick a motor controller/driver to suit the load.
If you don't want to blow things up or spend more than you need to it is a very important step to take. I always either look up or measure the current draw on any item I am using, it's just good practice and common sense to be honest.
@nomad18.08 that is a basic 2A L298n based H-Bridge, it's what many use for Omnibot and smaller motors. Wheelchair motors are more than likely going to be more than 2A so that wouldn't work in this case.
thank you for explaining rich.lesson learn
Most wheelchair motors draw 20 amps at stall, so a 2x25 is appropriate, but if the rating isn't written on the motors, then Rich is right, the best option is to measure. Just hook up your multimeter and bench test them. Understand that they'll draw more under load, and much more if they stall (are firced to stop spinning while power supplied by too much load), but it shouldn't be more than double the no-load draw. So, if in a bench test, you see 10 amps, get a 2x25. If they draw 20, get a 2x60.
Alan
@Alan, Thank for the response and you too, Rich!