We have been using Spark Motor Controllers in most of our builds. I see that Rev Robotics lists them as out of stock currently, and we have two wild things that lack only that part to be completed. Does anyone have a suggestion for a direct replacement?
Thank you!
have you heard of the Sabertooth from Dimension Engineering? We use the 32amp version and it seems to work pretty well
I just looked into those. Thank you for the suggestion. I am going to order one and let the team try it out.
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Hey Pete, I am currently constructing two more vehicles based on wild things. We had good luck with the motherbox design using the sabertooth 2x32 as you suggested with the 4 button controllers. On one of the new ones, we have been asked to use a joyustick controller. We have a code that worked with the Spark Motor controllers using PMW output, but I wasn’t sure if that would work for the sabertooth. Have you tried joystick control on the sabertooth controller?
Thanks again, Matt
The times i’ve used a joystick control w the Sabertooth i’ve just wired it directly into the sabertooth. Once the dip switches are set correctly you should be ready to rock. But that assumes you’ve got a decent’ish driver who can control speed via the proportionality of the joystick. I’ve never done it myself, but perhaps there’s a way to wire a seperate speed control (? PWM) into the mix too
I guess it would help if I actually read the documentation that comes with the controllers. I did wire directly to the sabertooth, and the A1 and A2 connections can be used to adjust ramp rate and Top speed. I used a 100K Pot on the A2 and that seems to give enough fine control for setting the top speed. I’m going to experiment with the A1 today to see if I like the ramp rates I can get directly, or else I’ll play around with the DEScribe software as there is a way to set ramp rate in there as well. Thank you for the help!
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We used to use the Hobbywing QUICRUN 1060 60A Waterproof Brushed ESC until they changed the BEC voltage without documenting it from 5V to 6V (this burned up a bunch of Arduino Nanos). We have since changed to the New Rain 320A Brushed ESC and the New Rain 480A Brushed ESC. We can get them from AliExpress for $8 to $15 and they have been stunningly reliable and you literally can’t beat the price!!!
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