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Basic robot help


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#1 johnnyb

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Posted 19 February 2012 - 03:52 AM

Hi All,

I'm new to the world of microcontrollers, so please excuse any of my stupid questions :)

I'd like to build a simple small wheel robot with my kids, and after a bit of web research I've purchased a netduino as a starting point (just waiting for the postman to bring it). I do have some electronics experience from my uni days (many years ago!), and I'm not afraid of leaning something new and making mistakes, so once I get back into it I'm sure we're going to have some fun.

For now I have a (hopefully) simple question. I've worked out that I need a separate chip/circuit to drive the motors (i.e., netduino to control the logic, but something else to manage the currents to the motors). Can anyone tell me if something like this motor driver from sparkfun is OK as a starting point: Motor Driver 1A Dual TB6612FNG? If not, can you give me some pointers to something else that would be OK. Since I'm just starting out I don't think I need any super performing system, just something basic to turn a couple of small motors.

Thanks.

John.

#2 Arron Chapman

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Posted 19 February 2012 - 06:21 AM

For now I have a (hopefully) simple question. I've worked out that I need a separate chip/circuit to drive the motors (i.e., netduino to control the logic, but something else to manage the currents to the motors). Can anyone tell me if something like this motor driver from sparkfun is OK as a starting point: Motor Driver 1A Dual TB6612FNG? If not, can you give me some pointers to something else that would be OK. Since I'm just starting out I don't think I need any super performing system, just something basic to turn a couple of small motors.


Instead of purchasing the bare chip, I would recommend something like the Adafruit Motor Shield, with it you can control up to 4 DC motors and there is already a driver for it.

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#3 johnnyb

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Posted 20 February 2012 - 11:26 AM

Thanks for the pointer Aaron (and for your driver code!). That does look like a better solution for starting out with, and it will also provide some extra capabilities for when we get more adventurous. John.

#4 DanA

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Posted 20 February 2012 - 03:32 PM

Hi, I used that breakout board to build a very cheap/simple "robot". I documented it here: http://diabolicalws....uino-robot.html There is a driver for this board here: http://forums.netdui...ndpost__p__3665 Dan

#5 johnnyb

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Posted 21 February 2012 - 04:11 AM

Hi,

I used that breakout board to build a very cheap/simple "robot".

I documented it here: http://diabolicalws....uino-robot.html

There is a driver for this board here: http://forums.netdui...ndpost__p__3665

Dan

Cool, thanks Dan. I think I came across your blog at some point early on in my searching. You've pretty much done what I want to do as a starting project, so I'll take a closer look at what you've done.

John.

#6 flkendall

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Posted 03 March 2013 - 05:27 AM

I've built 4 robots using the Netduino and the "Motor Driver 1A Dual TB6612FNG" with success.

When I upgraded to the Netduino 2, the motor driver no longer works. I've repeated the following configuration on all units.  

PWMA - DIO10 AIN2 - DIO11 AIN1 - DIO12 STBY - DIO13 VIN - VM 3.3V - VCC GND - GND A01 - DC Motor + A02 - DC Motor -

I've ensured that the Netduino 2 has the current 4.2 firmware ClrInfo.targetFrameworkVersion: 4.2.0.0 SolutionReleaseInfo.solutionVersion: 4.2.2.0 SolutionReleaseInfo.solutionVendorInfo: Netduino 2 (v4.2.2.0) by Secret Labs LLC SoftwareVersion.BuildDate: Jan 9 2013 SoftwareVersion.CompilerVersion: 410894

I've migrated the harness hardware and TB6612FNG between the multiple Netduino and the Netduino 2 board with the same results.  Works perfectly with the Netduino, yet fails on the Netduino 2. 

 

Has anybody also experienced this issue?



#7 flkendall

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Posted 03 March 2013 - 04:25 PM

I resolved the issue by removeing the DIO13 to STBY connection and shorting STBY with VCC (5v) on the TB6612FNG.  This forces STBY high and the motor control continued to work.  I an can assume that the Netduino defaulted DIO13 high and the Netduino 2 now defaults DIO13 as low.

 

I hope this helps others.



#8 c2rosa

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Posted 27 May 2014 - 03:06 PM

I went to:

https://www.adafruit.com/products/81

 

and see that the adafruit motor shield referenced above has been discontinued.

What are you recommending now for motor shields?  Is the upgrade that they now have a workable solution?

What libraries will I need to use the combination of Netduino and this motor shield?






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