pounds in weight should work.
While two rotary encoders are utilized, there are three
motors used in this project. The third motor — a 116 RPM
By using only three motors, this project still has room
for expansion with a fourth motor control function. For
example, a camera rotation actuator could be added to the
remaining fourth RoboClaw channel, along with a third
potentiometer board A rotary encoder.
Taking a quick tour of the completed project
demonstrates the simplicity in this design. The 24 inch
channel provides an ideal amount of travel for the pan and
tilt trolley. While the 116 RPM gearmotor with built-in
encoder drives the linear slide, the two 26 RPM gearmotors
with external encoders move the camera mount about two
pan and tilt axes. The generous amount of travel and
control in this project makes it well suited for remote
filming via a mobile device app.
As for wiring up this project, the power wire for the
potentiometer boards requires a 7.5K ohm resistor in series
(multiple resistors can be used to get close enough to 7.5K
ohms). The primary RoboClaw will be used to control the
slider using the 116 RPM gearmotor with attached encoder.
It will be set up to relay control commands to the
secondary RoboClaw (the “slave” controller) which controls
the pan and tilt motors you can see in Figure 5. In this
configuration, the S1/S2 pins of the primary RoboClaw will
connect to the S2/S1 pins of the secondary RoboClaw.
Finally, there is a home sensor end-stop switch as shown in
Figure 6 that is triggered for indicating the initial starting
point for proper operation of this camera mount.
Controlling Your Motor
Controllers
All RoboClaw motor controllers can be operated in
three modes: radio control (RC); analog; and serial
(standard and packet). Prior to using any of these modes,
however, the firmware needs to be updated on the
RoboClaw. Special Ion Motion software along with a
Windows PC is used for this update. The initial setup
routine is as follows: Download and install Ion Motion
software from www.ionmc.com and install the needed
44 SERVO 03.2016
Figure 6.
The Home
sensor
end-stop
switch.
Figure 5. Wiring the second “slave” motor controller for driving
the pan/tilt motors.
Figure 7. Enable the
Figure 4. The “master” RoboClaw motor controller
attached to the Linear Slide motor.
