Total newb here so apologies in advance for anything stupid I type or ask.
I am trying to build a 200 lb transport vehicle powered by a 12V car battery/12V 27A DC motor and controlled with a Andrino Uno and Victor 884.
Prior to connecting the 884 I verified that the motor worked by directly connecting the battery to the motor. The motor powered and ran fine.
I then followed the wiring diagram for the 884 and believe I have 'electrically' wired up everything correctly from the battery, thru the 884, to the DC motor. I've verified I have 12V on the output of the 884.
I then wired the Uno to the 884 (again following the 884 diagram). I started with a sketch given to me by a friend who was sure it would work (meaning I don't really understand what it does) but with one very brief exception (for which I can't tell you what I did) the motor will not power up. I've reviewed the Servo Library for example sketches and have tried several variations - all with no success.
I really believe I'm not doing something right with the Uno because the examples in the Servo libary are for smaller DC motors and because I'm missing some fundamental knowledge to determine/calculate what values I need to program into the Uno - although I'm open to other suggestions if something jumps out that I've missed - but assuming for a moment that I am missing some fundamental knowledge, I would be very appreciative if someone could provide me advise or a sketch to just get my 12V 27A DC motor running....I'll worry about the next steps of actually controlling my transport vehicle after I get past this first hurdle.
Total newb here so apologies in advance for anything stupid I type or ask.
I am trying to build a 200 lb transport vehicle powered by a 12V car battery/12V 27A DC motor and controlled with a Andrino Uno and Victor 884.
Prior to connecting the 884 I verified that the motor worked by directly connecting the battery to the motor. The motor powered and ran fine.
I then followed the wiring diagram for the 884 and believe I have 'electrically' wired up everything correctly from the battery, thru the 884, to the DC motor. I've verified I have 12V on the output of the 884.
I then wired the Uno to the 884 (again following the 884 diagram). I started with a sketch given to me by a friend who was sure it would work (meaning I don't really understand what it does) but with one very brief exception (for which I can't tell you what I did) the motor will not power up. I've reviewed the Servo Library for example sketches and have tried several variations - all with no success.
I really believe I'm not doing something right with the Uno because the examples in the Servo libary are for smaller DC motors and because I'm missing some fundamental knowledge to determine/calculate what values I need to program into the Uno - although I'm open to other suggestions if something jumps out that I've missed - but assuming for a moment that I am missing some fundamental knowledge, I would be very appreciative if someone could provide me advise or a sketch to just get my 12V 27A DC motor running....I'll worry about the next steps of actually controlling my transport vehicle after I get past this first hurdle.
Thanks in advance to all that reply !!
Jeff
Code and picture of your setup would help; oh, and a link to the controller, docs, etc...
The attached picture is the same configuration/setup I am using except I have a 12V car battery and I am trying to power a 12V 27A 1/3rd HP DC motor...I also started with the sample code shown in this picture.
I'm thinking part of my problem is that I'm not sending the PWM at the correct frequency...I've guessed various frequencies but with no luck. Can anyone help me determine what is the correct/optimum frequency to control this particular motor with PWM ?
On page 2 of the PDF you posted, it mentions a calibration procedure; it says it is "pre-calibrated" for the "IFI Control System", which would seem to me to indicate that it isn't calibrated for the control system of R/C servos (which the Servo library uses). So - you should calibrate for that; you'll need to write a program or something to allow you to send a maximum servo position and then a minimum position, then a "neutral" (center) position. Once you have that programmed, hook up the controller, press and hold the CAL button, and run your program (while keeping the CAL button pressed). The program would look something like the following:
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservo;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600); // set up Serial library at 9600 bps
myservo.attach(9); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
Serial.println("Maximum position...");
myservo.write(180); // maximum position
delay(2000); // wait 2 seconds
Serial.println("Minimum position...");
myservo.write(0); // minimum position
delay(2000); // wait 2 seconds
Serial.println("Neutral position...");
myservo.write(90); // "neutral"/"middle" position
}
void loop() {
}
It seems like you only have to do this calibration procedure once; just to be sure, follow the instructions to reset the calibration back to factory settings on page 2, then follow the calibration procedure on that page (running the above program, with the controller hooked to pin 9); you should get a flashing green LED in the end if it works properly.
Afterwards, you should be able to perform further Servo.write(value) commands, where value is "180" (being full speed in one direction), "0" being full speed in the opposite direction, and "90" being "neutral"; values in between should be varying speeds...
