motor control News - Page 3 of 3 - CNX Software

June 14, 2024June 19, 2024 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

Serial Bus Servo Driver HAT (A) can drive up to 253 servos simultaneously

Waveshare has recently introduced the Serial Bus Servo Driver HAT (A) ESP32-powered servo motor controller for the Raspberry Pi designed to drive up to 253 serial servos simultaneously. The servos can be controlled via UART or USB through the Pi SBC or used as a standalone controller for a robotics project. The board has a wide input voltage range of 9 to 25 volts and features an onboard XT60 connector, a screw terminal, and a DC barrel jack any of which can be used as power input. Besides that, the board features an RS485 port a TTL Servo header, and a UART control switch for convenience. Previously we have written about the Suptronics X200 HAT multifunction expansion board for the Pi with servo support, as well as the ELECFREAKS Wukong 2040 which can also be used to drive servos. Waveshare Serial Bus Servo Driver HAT specifications CPU – Espressif ESP32-WROOM-32 dual-core […]

May 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Maker Uno RP2040 review with Arduino IDE using micro servo, soil moisture sensor, ultrasonic sensor, and I2C OLED modules

Today, We will review the Cytron Maker Uno RP2040 development board combining the Arduino UNO form factor with the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller that makes it programmable with the Arduino IDE (C/C++), Micropython, or CircuitPython. The board is suitable for both beginners and advanced users with a convenient port layout that includes a “Maker” connector plus six Grove connectors for sensor modules and a header for four servos besides the Arduino UNO headers. The board offers two power options: USB (5V) via the USB-C connector or a single-cell LiPo/Li-Ion battery via the LiPo connector. Cytron Maker Uno RP2040 specifications SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ processor @ up to 133 MHz with 264 KB SRAM Storage – 2MB flash USB – USB-C port for power and programming Expansion Arduino UNO headers for shields 6x Grove Ports (Digital I/O, PWM Output, UART, I2C, Analog Input) 1x Maker port compatible […]

April 22, 2024April 21, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 1 Comment

FOCn ESP32-S3-based, medium-power BLDC driver module supports SimpleFOC

European engineer, Matej Planinšek of PLab, has developed the FOCn — a medium-power BLDC driver module based on ESP32-S3 WiSoC capable of delivering up to 10A of continuous current. It is compatible with the SimpleFOC Arduino library making it easier to control BLDC (brushless direct current) and stepper motors with the field-oriented control algorithm. The developer was inspired to create the FOCn module when their search for a custom-made, SimpleFOC-compatible driver module that met all their requirements failed. The name is related to field-oriented control (FOC) and also means “face slap” in Slovenian, Matej’s native language. The driver module is based on the ESP32-S3 dual-core XTensa LX7 microcontroller which provides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The microcontroller further supports ESP-NOW, a low-power and low-latency communication protocol, which makes it possible for multiple FOCn boards to talk to one another. FOCn driver module specifications: MCU – ESP32-S3 dual-core XTensa LX7 microcontroller @ […]

March 28, 2024March 28, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - No Comments

Toshiba M4K Group microcontrollers for motor control get expanded flash & memory capacity

Toshiba has included eight new products with 512KB/1MB flash storage capacity and four packages in its M4K Group of Arm Cortex-M4-powered microcontrollers. The M4K Group is part of Toshiba’s TXZ+ Family Advanced Class, consisting of five groups of low-power, high-performance 32-bit microcontrollers. The new microcontrollers expand code flash memory to 512KB/1MB from the 256KB maximum supported by current products, and RAM capacity to 64KB from 24KB. They retain the Arm Cortex-M4 core, integrated code flash, and 32KB data flash memory (with 100K program/erase cycles). With different motor control options such as advanced programmable motor circuits, advanced 32-bit encoders, advanced vector engine plus, and three units of high-speed, high-resolution 12-bit analog/digital converters, these class of microcontrollers are quite capable of 3-motor control, even in small scale applications (64-pin). The new products with 1MB code flash separate the memory into two distinct 512KB areas, enabling memory swap and seamless over-the-air firmware updates, […]