so i want to make a 3-axis gimbal and i know i need an ESC but all the ESCs ive found are for high speed can i get a recommendation for an ESC for gimbals and how would i go about attaching this to the arduino?
Are normal ESCs able to go at these low speeds?
cameroneeeee:
so i want to make a 3-axis gimbal and i know i need an ESC but all the ESCs ive found are for high speed can i get a recommendation for an ESC for gimbals and how would i go about attaching this to the arduino?Are normal ESCs able to go at these low speeds?
I am also wondering this, I am working on something similar with servos instead and would be curious to see how the code looks. I would imagine that it also just uses PWM but i could be wrong.
Gimbal motors won't work with standard ESCs at all, they rely on an encoder/IMU feedback loop.
MarkT:
Gimbal motors won't work with standard ESCs at all, they rely on an encoder/IMU feedback loop.
That's not true - the motors are controlled via ESCs, but in order to make a stabilized gimbal, you do need the feedback loop.
cameroneeeee:
Are normal ESCs able to go at these low speeds?
What do you have against high speed? Also, what is your application? What are you using for feedback?
"Normal" ESC's for traction motors (propellers on quadcopters or wheels on car models) absolutely won't work for this application.
Dedicated drivers are used to control the brushless motors more like stepper motors than traction motors. Find a kit for a "gimbal driver" or something and use that. Usually the feedback loops are so important for the correct operation of the gimbal that you usually put the processor and drivers on the same board. I expect that it will be difficult to find an off-the-shelf driver that can be operated by and off-the-shelf Arduino.
Last time I was shopping for this sort of thing, goodluckbuy.com was the best place.
A standard ESC cannot operate any gimbal motor as a gimbal motor.
You can spin it rapidly, but that's not what this thread is about. Gimbal motors have no hall sensors, note.
A 3-phase driver is needed to drive the motor, position feedback via encoder or IMU is needed, and control loop to drive the drivers amplitude/phase. You need to know a bit about field-oriented-control techniques really to see how this all works.
You can drive a gimbal motor open-loop via a 3-phase driver, but it will basically be hopeless having no position authority (ie be floppy as anything).
Unlike RC motors for props/traction a gimbal motor's windings are high resistance designed for sustained maximum current without needing aggressive cooling.