Best way to divide voltage- without a voltage divider?

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi!

I'll get right to it: I wanted to make a little go kart running on a 24V battery. I was thinking that in order to control speeds, I would use a potentiometer, but it seems very inefficient to bring all of that current really low with a single potentiometer, so I thought, why not use voltage dividers that I can switch between, then have a potentiometer for fine-tuning the speed? Well, after researching them, they're still just a bunch of resistors and won't fix my inefficiency problem. Does anyone know of a way t o divide the voltage, without a voltage divider? :o

Thanks in advance!

2

Do not use a voltage divider or a bank of voltage dividers like you mentioned.

There are easier ways of doing what you want to do. Unfortunately, you didn't give any details as to the equipment you are using, so I'm just going to take a shot in the dark:

Use string potentiometers (powered by the 5V supply of the Arduino) on the pedals and then correlate the analog voltage to some throttle speed (like travis_farmer spoke of in the earlier post). The 24V batteries(s) would power the Arduino using a 7-12V linear voltage regulator.

3

Power_Broker:
The 24V batteries(s) would power the Arduino using a 7-12V linear voltage regulator.

That voltage drop is better with a buck converter.
A $1 buck converter from ebay is easier to use, cheaper (no heatsink and caps), and has less drain on the battery.
Leo..

4

Hi,

I wanted to make a little go kart running on a 24V battery.

How big is little?
What size is the project?
Can you post a link to the specifications of the motor please?

Thanks.. Tom.. :slight_smile:

5

You can probably get an Electronic Speed Control (ESC) that can handle 24v and lots of amps. Have a look, for example, on the HobbyKing website. ESCs are usually controlled by the Arduino servo library.

...R

6

KitsundBlade, we are constrained by little things like Ohm's Law and have to size devices based on the power they have to carry. that is why resistors are listed at 1/4 watt and such.

As you can see there is lots of speculaiton without any facts as all we know your "little go kart" runs in circles on your kitchen table.

you have probably gathered that there is a device called a DRIVER that handles the POWER for the MOTOR.
the Arduino CONTROLS the DRIVER.

what you need to do is either find a driver that is matched to the motor or post the link to the motor with make and model and we will find the driver for you and then we can offer alternatives for you.

but as was posted, you need a driver to control the power.