RoboClaw Series Brushed DC Motor Controllers
BASICMICRO
RoboClaw Solo
RoboClaw 2x5A
RoboClaw 2x7A
RoboClaw 2x15A
RoboClaw 2x30A
RoboClaw 2x45A
RoboClaw 2x45A ST
RoboClaw 2x60A
Roboclaw 2x60HV
Roboclaw 2x120A
Roboclaw 2x160A
Roboclaw 2x200A
User Manual
Firmware 4.1.20 and Newer
Hardware V3, V4, V5 and V6
User Manual Revision 5.6
(c) 2014, 2015 Ion Motion Control. All Rights Reserved
RoboClaw Series
BASICMICRO
Brushed DC Motor Controllers
Contents
Firmware History ................................................................................................ 8
Warnings ............................................................................................................ 9
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 10
Motor Selection ........................................................................................... 10
Stall Current ............................................................................................... 10
Running Current .......................................................................................... 10
Shut Down .................................................................................................. 10
Run Away ................................................................................................... 10
Wire Lengths ............................................................................................... 10
Power Sources ............................................................................................. 10
Logic Power ................................................................................................ 11
Encoders .................................................................................................... 11
Getting Started ................................................................................................. 12
Initial Setup ................................................................................................ 12
Encoder Setup ............................................................................................. 12
Hardware Overview .......................................................................................... 13
I/O ............................................................................................................ 13
Headers ...................................................................................................... 13
Control Inputs ............................................................................................. 13
Encoder Inputs ............................................................................................ 13
Logic Battery (LB IN) .................................................................................... 13
BEC Source (LB-MB) .................................................................................... 13
Encoder Power (+ -) ..................................................................................... 14
Main Battery Screw Terminals ........................................................................ 14
Main Battery Disconnect ............................................................................... 14
Motor Screw Terminals ................................................................................. 14
Easy to use Libraries .................................................................................... 14
Ion Studio Overview ......................................................................................... 15
Ion Studio................................................................................................... 15
Connection ................................................................................................. 15
Device Status .............................................................................................. 16
Device Status Screen Layout ......................................................................... 16
Status Indicator (4) ..................................................................................... 17
General Settings .......................................................................................... 18
Conguration Options ................................................................................... 18
PWM Settings .............................................................................................. 19
Velocity Settings .......................................................................................... 21
Position Settings .......................................................................................... 23
Firmware Updates ............................................................................................. 26
Ion Studio Setup ......................................................................................... 26
Firmware Update ......................................................................................... 26
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Control Modes ................................................................................................... 28
Setup ......................................................................................................... 28
USB Control ................................................................................................ 28
RC ............................................................................................................. 28
Analog ....................................................................................................... 28
Simple Serial ............................................................................................... 28
Packet Serial ............................................................................................... 28
Conguration Using Ion Studio ......................................................................... 29
Mode Setup................................................................................................. 29
Control Mode Setup ...................................................................................... 30
Control Mode Options ................................................................................... 31
Conguration with Buttons ............................................................................... 35
Mode Setup................................................................................................. 35
Modes ........................................................................................................ 35
Mode Options .............................................................................................. 36
RC and Analog Mode Options ......................................................................... 36
Standard Serial and Packet Serial Mode Options ............................................... 36
Battery Cut Off Settings ................................................................................ 37
Battery Options ........................................................................................... 37
Battery Settings ................................................................................................ 38
Automatic Battery Detection on Startup .......................................................... 38
Manual Voltage Settings................................................................................ 38
Wiring ..............................................................................................................39
Basic Wiring ................................................................................................ 39
Safety Wiring .............................................................................................. 40
Encoder Wiring ............................................................................................ 40
Logic Battery Wiring ..................................................................................... 41
Logic Battery Jumper.................................................................................... 41
Status LEDs ....................................................................................................... 42
Status and Error LEDs .................................................................................. 42
Message Types ............................................................................................ 42
LED Blink Sequences .................................................................................... 43
Inputs ..............................................................................................................44
S3, S4 and S5 Setup .................................................................................... 44
Limit / Home / E-Stop Wiring ......................................................................... 45
Regenerative Voltage Clamping ........................................................................ 46
Voltage Clamp ............................................................................................ 46
Voltage Clamp Circuit ................................................................................... 46
Voltage Clamp Setup and Testing ................................................................... 47
Bridge Mode ...................................................................................................... 48
Bridging Channels ........................................................................................ 48
Bridged Channel Wiring ................................................................................ 48
Bridged Motor Control .................................................................................. 48
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USB Control ...................................................................................................... 49
USB Connection ........................................................................................... 49
USB Power .................................................................................................. 49
USB Comport and Baudrate ........................................................................... 49
RC Control ......................................................................................................... 50
RC Mode ..................................................................................................... 50
RC Mode With Mixing .................................................................................... 50
RC Mode with feedback for velocity or position control ...................................... 50
RC Mode Options ......................................................................................... 50
Pulse Ranges ............................................................................................... 50
RC Wiring Example ...................................................................................... 51
RC Control - Arduino Example ....................................................................... 52
Analog Control .................................................................................................. 53
Analog Mode ............................................................................................... 53
Analog Mode With Mixing .............................................................................. 53
Analog Mode with feedback for velocity or position control ................................. 53
Analog Mode Options .................................................................................... 53
Analog Wiring Example ................................................................................. 54
Stand Serial Control .......................................................................................... 55
Standard Serial Mode ................................................................................... 55
Serial Mode Baud Rates ................................................................................ 55
Standard Serial Command Syntax .................................................................. 55
Standard Serial Wiring Example ..................................................................... 56
Standard Serial Mode With Slave Select .......................................................... 57
Standard Serial - Arduino Example ................................................................. 58
Packet Serial ..................................................................................................... 59
Packet Serial Mode ....................................................................................... 59
Address ...................................................................................................... 59
Packet Modes .............................................................................................. 59
Packet Serial Baud Rate ................................................................................ 59
Serial Mode Options ..................................................................................... 59
Packet Timeout ............................................................................................ 60
Packet Acknowledgement .............................................................................. 60
CRC16 Checksum Calculation ........................................................................ 60
CRC16 Checksum Calculation for Received data ............................................... 60
Easy to use Libraries .................................................................................... 60
Handling values larger than a byte ................................................................. 61
Packet Serial Wiring ..................................................................................... 62
Multi-Unit Packet Serial Wiring ....................................................................... 63
Commands 0 - 7 Compatibility Commands ...................................................... 64
0 - Drive Forward M1 .................................................................................... 64
1 - Drive Backwards M1 ................................................................................ 64
2 - Set Minimum Main Voltage (Command 57 Preferred) .................................. 64
3 - Set Maximum Main Voltage (Command 57 Preferred) .................................. 65
4 - Drive Forward M2 .................................................................................... 65
5 - Drive Backwards M2 ................................................................................ 65
6 - Drive M1 (7 Bit) ..................................................................................... 65
7 - Drive M2 (7 Bit) ..................................................................................... 65
Commands 8 - 13 Mixed Mode Compatibility Commands ................................... 66
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8 - Drive Forward ......................................................................................... 66
9 - Drive Backwards ..................................................................................... 66
10 - Turn right ............................................................................................. 66
11 - Turn left ............................................................................................... 66
12 - Drive Forward or Backward (7 Bit) ........................................................... 66
13 - Turn Left or Right (7 Bit) ........................................................................ 66
Packet Serial - Arduino Example .................................................................... 67
Advance Packet Serial ....................................................................................... 69
Commands ................................................................................................. 69
21 - Read Firmware Version .......................................................................... 70
24 - Read Main Battery Voltage Level ............................................................. 70
25 - Read Logic Battery Voltage Level ............................................................. 70
26 - Set Minimum Logic Voltage Level ............................................................. 70
27 - Set Maximum Logic Voltage Level ............................................................ 71
48 - Read Motor PWM values ......................................................................... 71
49 - Read Motor Currents .............................................................................. 71
57 - Set Main Battery Voltages ...................................................................... 71
58 - Set Logic Battery Voltages ...................................................................... 71
59 - Read Main Battery Voltage Settings ......................................................... 71
60 - Read Logic Battery Voltage Settings ......................................................... 72
68 - Set M1 Default Duty Acceleration ............................................................ 72
69 - Set M2 Default Duty Acceleration ............................................................ 72
74 - Set S3, S4 and S5 Modes ....................................................................... 72
75 - Get S3, S4 amd S5 Modes ...................................................................... 73
76 - Set DeadBand for RC/Analog controls ...................................................... 73
77 - Read DeadBand for RC/Analog controls .................................................... 73
80 - Restore Defaults ................................................................................... 73
81 - Read Default Duty Acceleration Settings ................................................... 73
82 - Read Temperature ................................................................................. 73
83 - Read Temperature 2 .............................................................................. 73
90 - Read Status.......................................................................................... 74
91 - Read Encoder Mode ............................................................................... 74
92 - Set Motor 1 Encoder Mode ...................................................................... 74
93 - Set Motor 2 Encoder Mode ...................................................................... 74
94 - Write Settings to EEPROM ...................................................................... 75
95 - Read Settings from EEPROM ................................................................... 75
98 - Set Standard Cong Settings .................................................................. 76
99 - Read Standard Cong Settings ................................................................ 77
100 - Set CTRL Modes .................................................................................. 77
101 - Read CTRL Modes ................................................................................ 77
102 - Set CTRL1 .......................................................................................... 78
103 - Set CTRL2 .......................................................................................... 78
104 - Read CTRL Settings ............................................................................. 78
133 - Set M1 Max Current Limit ..................................................................... 78
134 - Set M2 Max Current Limit ..................................................................... 78
135 - Read M1 Max Current Limit ................................................................... 78
136 - Read M2 Max Current Limit ................................................................... 79
148 - Set PWM Mode .................................................................................... 79
149 - Read PWM Mode .................................................................................. 79
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Encoders ........................................................................................................... 80
Cloose Loop Modes....................................................................................... 80
Encoder Tunning .......................................................................................... 80
Quadrature Encoders Wiring .......................................................................... 80
Absolute Encoder Wiring ............................................................................... 81
Encoder Tuning ............................................................................................ 82
Auto Tuning ................................................................................................ 82
Manual Velocity Calibration Procedure ............................................................. 83
Manual Position Calibration Procedure ............................................................. 83
Encoder Commands ..................................................................................... 85
16 - Read Encoder Count/Value M1 ................................................................ 85
17 - Read Quadrature Encoder Count/Value M2 ................................................ 86
18 - Read Encoder Speed M1 ......................................................................... 86
19 - Read Encoder Speed M2 ......................................................................... 86
20 - Reset Quadrature Encoder Counters ........................................................ 86
22 - Set Quadrature Encoder 1 Value .............................................................. 87
23 - Set Quadrature Encoder 2 Value .............................................................. 87
30 - Read Raw Speed M1 .............................................................................. 87
31 - Read Raw Speed M2 .............................................................................. 87
78 - Read Encoder Counters .......................................................................... 87
79 - Read ISpeeds Counters .......................................................................... 87
Advance Motor Control ...................................................................................... 88
Advanced Motor Control Commands ............................................................... 88
28 - Set Velocity PID Constants M1 ................................................................ 89
29 - Set Velocity PID Constants M2 ................................................................ 89
32 - Drive M1 With Signed Duty Cycle ............................................................ 89
33 - Drive M2 With Signed Duty Cycle ............................................................ 90
34 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Duty Cycle ..................................................... 90
35 - Drive M1 With Signed Speed ................................................................... 91
36 - Drive M2 With Signed Speed ................................................................... 91
37 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed ........................................................... 91
38 - Drive M1 With Signed Speed And Acceleration ........................................... 91
39 - Drive M2 With Signed Speed And Acceleration ........................................... 92
40 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Acceleration ................................... 92
41 - Buffered M1 Drive With Signed Speed And Distance ................................... 92
42 - Buffered M2 Drive With Signed Speed And Distance ................................... 93
43 - Buffered Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Distance ........................... 93
44 - Buffered M1 Drive With Signed Speed, Accel And Distance .......................... 93
45 - Buffered M2 Drive With Signed Speed, Accel And Distance .......................... 94
46 - Buffered Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed, Accel And Distance................... 94
47 - Read Buffer Length ................................................................................ 94
50 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Individual Acceleration ..................... 95
51 - Buffered Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed, Individual Accel And Distance .... 95
52 - Drive M1 With Signed Duty And Acceleration ............................................. 95
53 - Drive M2 With Signed Duty And Acceleration ............................................. 96
54 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Duty And Acceleration ..................................... 96
55 - Read Motor 1 Velocity PID and QPPS Settings............................................ 96
56 - Read Motor 2 Velocity PID and QPPS Settings............................................ 96
61 - Set Motor 1 Position PID Constants .......................................................... 96
62 - Set Motor 2 Position PID Constants .......................................................... 97
63 - Read Motor 1 Position PID Constants ....................................................... 97
64 - Read Motor 2 Position PID Constants ....................................................... 97
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65 - Buffered Drive M1 with signed Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position ................. 97
66 - Buffered Drive M2 with signed Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position ................. 97
67 - Buffered Drive M1 & M2 with signed Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position ......... 98
Reading Quadrature Encoder - Arduino Example............................................... 99
Speed Controlled by Quadrature Encoders - Arduino Example ...........................101
Warranty ........................................................................................................ 104
Copyrights and Trademarks ............................................................................ 104
Disclaimer ....................................................................................................... 104
Contacts .......................................................................................................... 104
Discussion List ................................................................................................ 104
Technical Support ........................................................................................... 104
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BASICMICRO
Brushed DC Motor Controllers
Firmware History
RoboClaw is an actively maintained product. New rmware features will be available from time
to time. The table below outlines key revisions that could affect the version of RoboClaw you
currently own.
Revision Description
4.1.20 • Added Default Deceleration setting
• Added Forward/Reverse Limit support
• Added Forward Limit/Reverse Home support
• Fixed power up Home switch state(now reads the initial state if HOME/Manual Home is enabeld
• Home/Limit switch now supports on the y changes
• Fixed short PWM glitch on power up
• Resets internal position counter when encoder is reset(xes position movement glitches after
Encoder Reset)
• Fixed sign magnitude on HV units
4.1.19 • Adjusted deadtime on MC5,7,15,30,60
4.1.18 • Fixed invalid conditional in MC120-160 A/D sample timer
• Fixed Set/Zero Encoders
• Added RC Encoder Mode selection Option using RC/TTL signal on S3
4.1.17 • Adjusted RC/Analog deadband ltering
• Changed A/D sampling to prevent PWM noise
• Added GetDefaultAccel commands
• Changed RC/Analog w/ Encoder modes to use DefaultAccel for Accel/Deccel
• Added MC60A V5
• Added MC160A
• Removed Sign Magnitude mode on HV models(cant do noise free A/D sampling in Sign Magnitude
mode on HV boards)
• Fixed power on zero position movement in RC w/ Encoder mode.
4.1.16 • Adjusted RC/Analog controlled Velocity and Position Control functions.
• Fixed Sync Motor option in Position Settings window.
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BASICMICRO
Brushed DC Motor Controllers
Warnings
There are several warnings that should be noted before getting started. Damage can easily result
by not properly wiring RoboClaw. Harm can also result by not properly planning emergency
situations. Any time mechanical movement is involved the potential for harm is present. The
following information can help avoid damage to RoboClaw, connected devices and help reduce
the potential for harm or bodily injury.
Disconnecting the negative power terminal is not the proper way to shut down a
motor controller. Any connected I/O to RoboClaw will create a ground loop and
!
!
cause damage to RoboClaw and attached devices.
Brushed DC motors are generators when spun. A robot being pushed or coasting can
create enough voltage to power RoboClaws logic intermittenly creating an unsafe
state. Always stop the motors before powering down RoboClaw.
!
!
!
RoboClaw has a minimum power requirement. Under heavy loads, without a logic
battery and, brownouts can happen. This will cause erratic behavior. A logic battery
should be used in these situations.
Never reverse the main battery wires Roboclaw will be permenantly damaged.
Never disconnect the motors from RoboClaw when under power. Damage will result.
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BASICMICRO
Brushed DC Motor Controllers
Introduction
Motor Selection
When selecting a motor controller several factors should be considered. All DC brushed motors
will have two current ratings, maximum stall current and continuous current. The most important
rating is the stall current. Choose a model that can support the stall current of the motor
selected to insure the motor can be driven properly without damage to the motor controller.
Stall Current
A motor at rest is in a stall condition. This means during start up the motors stall current will be
reached. The loading of the motor will determine how long maximum stall current is required. A
motor that is required to start and stop or change directions rapidly but with light load will still
require maximum stall current often.
Running Current
The continuous current rating of a motor is the maximum current the motor can run without
overheating and eventually failing. The average running current of the motor should not excede
the continuous current rating of the motor.
Shut Down
To shut down a motor controller the positive power connections should be removed rst after the
motors have stopped moving. Powering off in an emergency, a properly sized switch or contactor
can be used. A path to ground for regeneration energy to return to the battery should always be
provided. This can be accomplish by using a power diode with proper ratings to provide a path
across the switch or contactor when in an open circuit state.
Run Away
During development of your project caution should be taken to avoid run away conditions. The
wheels of a robot should not be in contact with any surface until all development is complete.
If the motor is embedded, ensure you have a safe and easy method to remove power from
RoboClaw as a fail safe.
Wire Lengths
Wire lengths to the motors and from the battery should be kept as short as possible. Longer
wires will create increased inductance which will produce undesirable effects such as electrical
noise or increased current and voltage ripple. The power supply/battery wires must be as short
as possible. They should also be sized appropriately for the amout of current being drawn.
Increased inductance in the power source wires will increase the ripple current/voltage at the
RoboClaw which can damage the lter caps on the board or even causing voltage spikes over the
rated voltage of the Roboclaw, leading to board failure.
Power Sources
A battery is recommended as the main power source for the motor controller. Some power
supplies can also be used without additional hardware if they have built in voltage clamps or if
used with very low current motors. Most Linear and Switching power supplies are not capable
of handling the regeneration energy generated by DC motors. Switching power supplies will
momentarily reduce voltage and/or shut down, causing brown outs which will leave the controller
in an unsafe state. The MCPs minimum and maximum voltage levels can be set to prevent some
of these voltage spikes, however this will cause the motors to brake when slowing down in an
attempt to reduce the over voltage spikes. This will also limit power output when accelerating
motors or when the load changes to prevent undervoltage conditions. Voltage clamp solutions
may be required for higher power motors when using power supplies.
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Logic Power
When powering external devices from RoboClaw ensure the maximum BEC output rating is not
exceeded. This can cause RoboClaw to suffer logic brown out which will cause erratic behavior.
Some low quality encoders can cause excessive noise being put on the +5VDC rail of the
RoboClaw. This excessive noise will cause unpredictable behavior.
Encoders
RoboClaw features dual channel quadrature/absolute decoding. When wiring encoders make sure
the direction of spin is correct to the motor direction. Incorrect encoder connections can cause a
run away state. Refer to the encoder section of this user manual for proper setup.
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Brushed DC Motor Controllers
Getting Started
Initial Setup
RoboClaw offers several methods of control. Each control scheme has several conguration
options. The following is quick start guide which will cover the basic initialization of RoboClaw.
Most control schemes require very little conguration. The control options are covered in detail in
this manual. The following is a basic setup procedure.
1. Read the Introduction and Hardware Overview sections of this manual. It is important to
ensure the RoboClaw model chosen is rated to drive the selected motors. RoboClaw must be
paired by the motor stall current ratings. Not running current.
2. Before conguring RoboClaw. Make sure a reliable power source is available such as a fully
charged battery. See Wiring section of this manual for proper wiring instructions.
3. The RoboClaw main modes can be congured using Ion Studio or on-board buttons. Ion
Studio is the preferred method of conguration with additional options not available using the
on-board buttons. However these additional options are not critical to RoboClaw's operation. This
manual covers both conguration methods.
4. Once the conguration is complete see Wiring section of this manual. The basic wiring diagram
should only be used for basic for testing purposes. The Safety Wiring diagram is recommended
for safe and reliable operation.
Encoder Setup
RoboClaw supports several encoder types. All encoders require tunning to properly pair with
the selected motors. The auto tune function can automatically tune for most all combinations.
However some manual adjustment maybe required. The nal auto tune settings can be adjusted
for optimal performance.
1. Once Initial Setup is complete. Attached an encoder to your motor and wire as shown in the
encoder section of this manual. Make sure the encoder can be powered from a 5VDC power
source.
2. After the encoder is wired double check the wiring. Then proceed to the auto tune function in
the Encoder section of this manual.
3. Auto tune will work in most all cases. Some manual tweaks may be necessary. If additional
assistance is required contact support at support@ionmc.com
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Hardware Overview
I/O
RoboClaw's I/O is setup to interface to both 5V and 3.3V logic. This is accomplished by internally
current limiting and clipping any voltages over 3.3V. RoboClaw outputs 3.3V which will work with
any 5V or 3.3V logic. This is also done to protect the I/O from damage.
Headers
RoboClaw's share the same header and screw terminal pinouts accross models in this user
manual. The main control I/O are arranged for easy connectivity to control devices such as
R/C controllers. The headers are also arranged to provide easy access to ground and power for
supplying power to external controllers. see the specic model of RoboClaw's data sheet for
pinout details.
Control Inputs
S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5 are setup for standard servo style headers I/O(except on ST models),
+5V and GND. S1 and S2 are the control inputs for serial, analog and RC modes. S3 can be
used as a ip switch input when in RC or Analog modes. In serial mode S3, S4 and S5 can be
used as emergency stop inputs or as voltage clamp control outputs. When set as E-Stop inputs
they are active when pulled low and have internal pullups so they will not accidentally trip when
left oating. S4 and S5 can also optionally be used as home signal inputs. The pins closest to
the board edge are the I/0s, center pin is the +5V and the inside pins are ground. Some RC
receivers have their own supply and will conict with the RoboClaw’s 5v logic supply. It may be
necessary to remove the +5V pin from the RC receivers cable in those cases.
Encoder Inputs
EN1 and EN2 are the inputs from the encoders on pin header versions of RoboClaw. 1B, 1A, 2B
and 2A are the encoders inputs on screw terminal versions of RoboClaw. Channel A of both EN1
and EN2 are located at the board edge on the pin header. Channel B pins are located near the
heatsink on the pin header. The A and B channels are labeled appropriately on screw terminal
versions.
When connecting the encoder make sure the leading channel for the direction of rotation is
connected to A. If one encoder is backwards to the other you will have one internal counter
counting up and the other counting down. Refer to the data sheet of the encoder you are using
for channel direction. Which encoder is used on which motor can be swapped via a software
setting.
Logic Battery (LB IN)
The logic side of RoboClaw can be powered from a secondary battery wired to LB IN. The
positive (+) terminal is located at the board edge and ground (-) is the inside pin closest to the
heatsink. Remove the LB-MB jumper if a secondary battery for logic will be used.
BEC Source (LB-MB)
RoboClaw logic requires 5VDC which is provided from the on board BEC circuit. The BEC source
input is set with the LB-MB jumper. Install a jumper on the 2 pins labeled LB-MB to use the
main battery as the BEC power source. Remove this jumper if using a separate logic battery. On
models without this jumper the power source is selected automatically.
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Encoder Power (+ -)
The pins labeled + and - are the source power pins for encoders. The positive (+) is located at
the board edge and supplies +5VDC. The ground (-) pin is near the heatsink. On ST models all
power must come from the single 5v screw terminal and the single GND screw terminal
Main Battery Screw Terminals
The main power input can be from 6VDC to 34VDC on a standard RoboClaw and 10.5VDC to
60VDC on an HV (High Voltage) RoboClaw. The connections are marked + and - on the main
screw terminal. The plus (+) symbol marks the positive terminal and the negative (-) marks the
negative terminal. The main battery wires should be as short as possible.
!
Do not reverse main battery wires. Roboclaw will be permenantly damaged.
Main Battery Disconnect
The main battery should have a disconnect in case of a run away situation and power needs to
be cut. The switch must be rated to handle the maximum current and voltage from the battery.
This will vary depending on the type of motors and or power source you are using. A typically
solution would be an inexpensive contactor which can be sourced from sites like Ebay. A power
diode rated for the maximum current the battery will deliver should be placed across the
switch/contactor to provide a path back to the battery when disconnected while the motors are
spinning. The diode will provice a path back to the battery for regenerative power even if the
switch is opened.
Motor Screw Terminals
The motor screw terminals are marked with M1A / M1B for channel 1 and M2A / M2B for channel
2. For both motors to turn in the same direction the wiring of one motor should be reversed from
the other in a typical differential drive robot. The motor and battery wires should be as short
as possible. Long wires can increase the inductance and therefore increase potentially harmful
voltage spikes.
Easy to use Libraries
Source code and Libraries are available on the Ion Motion Control website. Libraries are available
for Arduino(C++), C# on Windows(.NET) or Linux(Mono) and Python(Raspberry Pi, Linux, OSX,
etc).
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Ion Studio Overview
Ion Studio
The Ion Studio software suite is design to congure, monitor and maintain RoboClaw. It's used
to congure all the available RoboClaw modes and options. Ion Studio can be used to monitor
and control RoboClaw. It can be download from http://www.ionmc.com. Once installed, each
time Ion Studio is ran it will check for the latest version online.
Connection
This is the rst screen shown when rst running Ion Studio. From this screen you can select a
detected RoboClaw and connect (1). More than one RoboClaw can be connected at a time. Box
(1) is where the desired RoboClaw is selected.
After the RoboClaw is detected and it's rmware version is checked (2). If a newer rmware
version is available it can be updated by clicking the Update Firmware button (2).
Fields (3,4,5) display current values and status. The feilds at the top of the screen (3) show the
current value in each monitored parameter and are updated live once a RoboClaw is connected.
Status indicators (4,5) indicate the current condition of the named monitor parameter. Green
indicates operationing within the dened parameter. Yellow indicates a warning. Red indicates a
fault.
1
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Device Status
Once a RoboClaw is connected, the connection screen becomes active (1) and is now the Device
Status screen. All status indicators (3,4) and monitored parameter feilds (2) will update to
reect the current status and values of the connected RoboClaw.
When an RoboClaw is connected the Stop All (5) button becomes active. There is a small check
box to activate the Stop All function by using the space bar on the keyboard. This is safety
feature and is the quickest method to stop all motor movements when using Ion Studio.
2
1
3
5
4
Device Status Screen Layout
Label Function Description
1 Window Selection Used to select which settings or testing screen is currently displayed.
2 Monitored Parameters Displays continuously updated status parameters.
3 Status Indicators Displays current warnings and faults.
4 Status Indicators Displays abbreviated status of warnings and faults. Visible at all times.
5 Stop All Stops all motion. Can activate from keyboard space bar.
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Status Indicator (4)
The status indicators shown at the bottom of the screen are an abbreviated duplication of the
main status indicators shown on the device status screen.
Label Description
M1OC Motor 1 over current.
M2OC Motor 2 over current.
MBHI Main battery over voltage.
MBLO Main battery under voltage.
LBHI Logic battery over voltage.
LBLO Logic battery under voltage.
TMP1 Temperature 1
TMP2 Optional temperature 2 on some RoboClaw models.
M1DF Motor driver 1 fault.
M2DF Motor driver 2 fault.
ESTP Emergency stop. When active.
M1HM Motor 1 homed or limit switch active. When option in use.
M2HM Motor 2 homed or limit switch active. When option in use.
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General Settings
The general settings screen can be used to congure RoboClaw. This includes modes, mode
options and monitored parameters. For detailed explanations see the Conguration with Ion
Studio section of this manual.
1
4
2
5
3
6
Conguration Options
Each control mode will have several conguration options. Some options will appear grayed out
to indicate the option is not available for the selected mode. All setting changes will need to be
saved and the RoboClaw reset in order to take. Select Save Settings under File in the menu bar.
Label Function Description
1 Setup Main conrguration options and main control mode selection drop down.
2 Serial Settings for serial modes. Set packet address, baudrate and slave select.
3 Battery Voltage setting options for main battery and logic batteries.
4 RC/Analog Options Congure RC and Ananlog control options.
5 Motors Motor current, accel and deccel settings.
6 I/O Set encoder input type. Set S3, S4 and S5 conguration options. Enabling output
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pins on certain models of RoboClaw.
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PWM Settings
The PWM settings screen is used to control RoboClaw for testing. Slider are provided to control
each motor channel. This screen can also be used to determine the QPPS of attached encoders.
1
4
3
2
(1) Graph
Function Description
Grid Displays channel data with 100mS update rate and one second horizontal
divisions.
(2) PWM/Torque Settings
Function Description
L MCP only. Motor Inductance in Henries.
R MCP only. Motor resistance in Ohms.
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(3) Control
Function Description
Motor 1 Controls motor 1 duty percentage forward and reverse.
Motor 2 Controls motor 2 duty percentage forward and reverse.
Sync Motors Synchronises Motor 1 and Motor 2 Sliders.
Accel Acceleration rate used when moving the sliders.
Duty Displays the numberic value of the motor slider in 10ths of a Percent (0 to +/-
1000).
(4) Graph Channels
Function Description
Scale Sets vertical scale to t the range of the specied Channel.
Channels Select data to display on the channel. The channel is graphed in the color
shown. Channel options:
• M1 or M2 Setpoint - User input for channel
• M1 or M2 PWM - Motor PWM output
• M1 or M2 Velocity - Motors Encoder Velocity
• M1 or M2 Position - Motors Encoder Position
• M1 or M2 Current - Motor running current
• Temperature
• Main Battery Voltage
• Logic Battery Voltage
Clear Clears channels graphed line.
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Velocity Settings
The Velocity settings screen is used to set the encoder and PID settings for speed control. The
screen is also used for testing and plotting.
1
2
3
(1) Graph
Function Description
Grid Displays channel data with 100mS update rate and one second horizontal
divisions.
(2) Velocity Settings
Function Description
Velocity P Proportional setting for PID.
Velocity I Integral setting for PID.
Velocity D Differential setting for PID.
4
QPPS Maximum speed of motor using encoder counts per second.
L MCP only. Motor Inductance in Henries.
R MCP only. Motor resistance in Ohms.
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(3) Control
Function Description
Motor 1 Motor 1 velocity control (0 to +/- maximum motor speed).
Motor 2 Motor 2 velocity control (0 to +/- maximum motor speed).
Sync Motors Synchronises Motor 1 and Motor 2 Sliders.
On Release Will not update new speed until the slider is released.
Accel Acceleration rate used when moving the sliders.
Velocity Shows the numeric value for the sliders current position.
Tune M1 Start motor 1 velocity auto tune.
Level Adjust auto tune 1 values agressiveness. Sllide left for softer control.
Tune M2 Start motor 2 velocity auto tune.
Level Adjust auto tune 2 values agressiveness. Sllide left for softer control.
(4) Graph Channels
Function Description
Scale Sets vertical scale to t the range of the specied Channel.
Channels Select data to display on the channel. The channel is graphed in the color
shown. Channel options:
• M1 or M2 Setpoint - User input for channel
• M1 or M2 PWM - Motor PWM output
• M1 or M2 Velocity - Motors Encoder Velocity
• M1 or M2 Position - Motors Encoder Position
• M1 or M2 Current - Motor running current
• Temperature
• Main Battery Voltage
• Logic Battery Voltage
Clear Clears channels graphed line.
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Position Settings
The Position settings screen is used to set the encoder and PID settings for position control. The
screen is also used for testing and plotting.
1
2
3
4
(1) Graph
Function Description
Grid Displays channel data with 100mS update rate and one second horizontal
divisions.
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(2) Graph Channels
Function Description
Scale Sets vertical scale to t the range of the specied Channel.
Channels Select data to display on the channel. The channel is graphed in the color
shown. Channel options:
• M1 or M2 Setpoint - User input for channel
• M1 or M2 PWM - Motor PWM output
• M1 or M2 Velocity - Motors Encoder Velocity
• M1 or M2 Position - Motors Encoder Position
• M1 or M2 Current - Motor running current
• Temperature
• Main Battery Voltage
• Logic Battery Voltage
Clear Clears channels graphed line.
(3) Position Settings
Function Description
Velocity P Proportional setting for velocity PID.
Velocity I Integral setting for velocity PID.
Velocity D Differential setting for velocity PID.
QPPS Maximum speed of motor using encoder counts per second.
L MCP only. Motor Inductance in Henries.
R MCP only. Motor resistance in Ohms.
Position P Proportional setting for position PID.
Position I Integral setting for position PID.
Position D Differential setting for position PID.
Max I Maximum integral windup limit.
Deadzone Zero position deadzone. Increases the "stopped" range.
Min Pos Minimum encoder position.
Max Pos Maximum encoder position.
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(4) Control
Function Description
Motor 1 Motor 1 velocity control (0 to +/- maximum motor speed).
Motor 2 Motor 2 velocity control (0 to +/- maximum motor speed).
Sync Motors Synchronises Motor 1 and Motor 2 Sliders.
On Release Will not update new speed until the slider is released.
Accel Acceleration rate used when moving the sliders.
Deccel Decceleration rate used when moving the sliders.
Speed Speed to use with slide move.
Position Numeric value of slider motor position.
Autotune Method used. PD = Proportional and Differential. PID = Proportional
Differential and Integral. PIV = Cascaded Velocity PD + Position P.
Tune M1 Start motor 1 velocity auto tune.
Level Adjust auto tune 1 values agressiveness. Sllide left for softer control.
Tune M2 Start motor 2 velocity auto tune.
Level Adjust auto tune 2 values agressiveness. Sllide left for softer control.
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Firmware Updates
Ion Studio Setup
Download and install the Ion Studio application. Win7 or newer is required. When opening Ion
Studio, it will check for updates and search for a USB Windows Driver to verify installation. If the
USB driver is not found, Ion Studio will install it.
1. Open the Ion Studio application.
2. Apply a reliable power source such as a fully charge battery to power the motor controller.
3. Connect the powered motor controller to a USB port on your computer with Ion Studio already
open.
Firmware Update
Once Ion Studio detects the motor controller it will display the current rmware version in the
Firmware Version eld (1). Each time Ion Studio is started it will check for a new version of its
self which will always include new rmware. If an update is required Ion Studio will download the
latest version and display it in the rmware available eld (2).
1
2
3
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1. When a new version of rmware is shown click the update button (3) to start the process.
2. Ion Studio will begin to update the rmware. While the rmware update is in progress the
onboard LEDs will begin to ash. The onboard ash memory will rst be erased. It is important
power is not lost during this process or the motor controller will no longer function. There is no
recovery if power fails during the erase process.
3. Once the rmware update is complete the motor controller will reset. Click the "Connect
Selected Unit" button to re-connect.
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Control Modes
Setup
RoboClaw has several fucntional control modes. There are two methods to congure these
modes. Using the built-in buttons or Ion Studio. This manaul covers both methods of
conguration. Ion Studio offers greater options for each mode and can be easier to congure the
RoboClaw in several situations. However the built-in buttons are more than adequate in most all
modes. Refer to the conguration section of this manual for mode setup instructions using Ion
Studio or the built-in buttons.
There are 4 main modes with several variations. Each mode enables RoboClaw to be controlled in
a very specic way. The following list explains each mode and the ideal application.
USB Control
USB can be used in any mode. When RoboClaw is in packet serial mode and another device,
such as an Arduino, is connected commands from the USB and Arduino will be executed and
can potential over ride one another. However if Roboclaw is not in packet serial mode, motor
movement commands will not function. USB packet serial commands can then only be used to
read status information and set conguration settings.
RC
Using RC mode RoboClaw can be controlled from any hobby RC radio system. RC input mode
also allows low powered microcontrollers such as a Basic Stamp to control RoboClaw. RoboClaw
expects servo pulse inputs to control the direction and speed. Very similar to how a regular servo
is controlled. RC mode can use encoders if properly setup(See Encoder section).
Analog
Analog mode uses an analog signal from 0V to 2V to control the speed and direction of each
motor. RoboClaw can be controlled using a potentiometer or ltered PWM from a microcontroller.
Analog mode is ideal for interfacing RoboClaw with joystick positioning systems or other non
microcontroller interfacing hardware. Analog mode can use encoders if properly setup(See
Encoder section).
Simple Serial
In simple serial mode RoboClaw expects TTL level RS-232 serial data to control direction and
speed of each motor. Simple serial is typically used to control RoboClaw from a microcontroller or
PC. If using a PC, a MAX232 or an equivilent level converter circuit must be used since RoboClaw
only works with TTL level inputs. Simple serial includes a slave select mode which allows multiple
RoboClaws to be controlled from a signal RS-232 port (PC or microcontroller). Simple serial is a
one way format, RoboClaw can only receive data. Encoders are not supported in Simple Serial
mode.
Packet Serial
In packet serial mode RoboClaw expects TTL level RS-232 serial data to control direction and
speed of each motor. Packet serial is typically used to control RoboClaw from a microcontroller or
PC. If using a PC a MAX232 or an equivilent level converter circuit must be used since RoboClaw
only works with TTL level input. In packet serial mode each RoboClaw is assigned a unique
address. There are 8 addresses available. This means up to 8 RoboClaws can be on the same
serial port. Encoders are support in Packet Serial mode(See Encoder section).
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Conguration Using Ion Studio
Mode Setup
Download and install the Ion Studio application from http://www.ionmc.com. A PC with Windows
7 or newer is required. Ion Studio will check for a newer version each time it is ran. It will then
search for the USB RoboClaw Windows Driver to verify installation. If the USB driver is not found
Ion Studio will install it.
1. Open the Ion Studio application.
2. Apply a reliable power source such as a fully charge battery to power up RoboClaw.
3. Connect the powered RoboClaw to a USB port on your computer with Ion Studio already
open. The RoboClaw USB driver may need to be installed Ion Studio will automatically handling
installing the required driver.
4. When RoboClaw is detected, it will appear in the Attached Device window (1).
5. Once RoboClaw appears in the Attached Device window (1), click the connect button (2).
1
2
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Control Mode Setup
Select the Control Mode drop down (1). There are 4 main modes. See the Control Modes section
of this manual for a detailed explanation of each available mode.
1
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Control Mode Options
The general settings screen is used to congure RoboClaw. Each control mode will have several
conguration options. Grayed out options are not available for the selected mode. Once all
settings are congured they must be saved to RoboClaw. This is done by selecting Save Settings
from the File menu in the menu bar.
1
2
3
4
5
6
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(1) Setup
Main drop down for setting the control modes and conrguration options.
Function Description
Control Mode Drop down to set main control mode. Some options may grey out if not available
in the selected mode.
PWM Mode Drop down to set the main MOSFET driving scheme. This option should never be
change but in rare circumstances.
Bridge Channels Used to bridge motor channe 1 and 2. This option must be set before physically
bridging the channels. Or damage will result.
Button Layout Swaps Mode and LIPO button interface. Only affects hardware V5 and RoboClaw
2x15, 2x30 and 2x45.
Encoder Channels This option will swap encoder channels. Pair encoder 1 to motor channel 2 and
encoder 2 to motor channel 1.
Mulit-Unit Sets S2 pin to open drain. Allows multiple Roboclaws to be controlled from a
single serial port.
USB-TTL Relay Enables RoboClaw to pass data from USB through S1 (RX) and S2 (TX). Allows
several RoboClaws to be networked from one USB connection. All connected
RoboClaw's baud rates must be set to the same.
(2) Serial
Settings for serial modes. Set packet address, baudrate and slave select.
Function Description
Packet Serial Address Sets RoboClaw address for packet serial mode. Allows multiple Roboclaws to be
controlled from a single Serial port.
Baudrate Sets the baudrate in all serial modes.
Simple Serial Sets simple serial mode with slave select. Set pin S2 high to enable the attached
RoboClaw. Pull S2 low and all commands will be ignored.
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(3) Battery
Main and logic battery voltage settings. Sets cut off and protection limits.
Function Description
Battery Cut Off Sets main battery cut off based on LiPo cell count. Can also be set to auto
detect or User Settings for manual conguration. Auto detect requires a properly
charged battery. User Settings allows editing of the voltage values manually. See
Battery Settings.
Max Main Battery Sets main battery maximum voltage. If the main battery voltage goes above the
set maximum value running motors will go into brake mode.
Min Main Battery Sets main battery minimum voltage. If the main battery voltage falls below the
set minimum value running motors will go into freewheel.
Max Logic Battery Sets logic battery maximum voltage. If logic battery voltage goes above the
maximum set value RoboClaw will shut down until the voltage is corrected and a
reset.
Min Logic Battery Sets logic battery minimum voltage. If logic battery voltage goes below the
minimum set value RoboClaw will shut down until the voltage is corrected and a
reset.
(4) RC/Analog Options
Congure RC and Ananlog control options. Set control type in RC and Analog modes.
Function Description
Mixing Mixes S1 and S2 inputs for control of a differentially steered robot. S1 controls
direction (forward / reverse) and speed. S2 controls turning left or right with
speed. Simliar to how a RC car would be controlled. Turn this mode off for tank
style control.
Exponential Enable increased control range at slow speed.
MCU Disables auto calibrate. Allows slow MCU to send R/C pulses at lower than
normal R/C rates.
RC Flip/Mode Switch R/C pulse switched. Use radio channel to toggle and change all motor direction.
Used when a robot is ipped upside down to reverse steering control.
Enable Encoder 1 in RC/
AnalogMode
Enable Encoder 2 in RC/
AnalogMode
Max Deadband Sets maximum range of control signal seen as 0 (Stopped).
Min Deadband Sets minimum range of control signal seen as 0 (Stopped).
Enables encoder 1 to be used in RC or Analog mode. Will control motor by speed
or position depending on which PID control is set. The range of speed is mapped
to the RC control using the QPPS value as the maximum speed. The position
range is controlled by maximum and minimum position settings.
Enables encoder 1 to be used in RC or Analog mode. Will control motor by speed
or position depending on which PID control is set. The range of speed is mapped
to the RC control using the QPPS value as the maximum speed. The position
range is controlled by maximum and minimum position settings.
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(5) Motors
Motor current limit settings. The accel and deccel settings apply to RC, Analog and commands
with no Accel and Deccel arugements.
Function Description
M1 Max Current Sets maximum motor current for channel 1. Can not exceed RoboClaw rated
peak current.
M2 Max Current Sets maximum motor current for channel 2. Can not exceed RoboClaw rated
peak current.
M1 Default Accel Sets the ramp rate of acceleration for motor channel 1. A value of 1 to 655,360
can be used. Value of 0 sets the internal default for Accel and Deccel. Value of
655,360 equals 100mS full forward to reverse ramping rate.
M1 Default Deccel Sets the ramp rate of decceleration for motor channel 1. A value of 1 to 655,360
can be used. Value of 0 sets the internal default for Accel and Deccel. Value of
655,360 equals 100mS full forward to reverse ramping rate.
M2 Default Accel Sets the ramp rate of acceleration for motor channel 2. A value of 1 to 655,360
can be used. Value of 0 sets the internal default for Accel and Deccel. Value of
655,360 equals 100mS full forward to reverse ramping rate.
M2 Default Deccel Sets the ramp rate of decceleration for motor channel 2. A value of 1 to 655,360
can be used. Value of 0 sets the internal default for Accel and Deccel. Value of
655,360 equals 100mS full forward to reverse ramping rate.
(6) I/O
Set encoder input type. Set S3, S4 and S5 conguration options. Enabling output pins on certain
models of RoboClaw. Set limit, homing, voltage clamp, E-stop options.
Function Description
Encoder 1 Mode Sets encoder type for encoder 1.
Encoder 2 Mode Sets encoder type for encoder 2.
S3 Mode Sets the default function for S3.
S4 Mode Sets the default function for S4.
S5 Mode Sets the default function for S5.
CTRL1 Mode Enables output pins on certain models of RoboClaw. A value of 0 to 65535
can be used to set the pin's default PWM output. Value can be changed by
commands during run time.
CTRL2 Mode Enables output pins on certain models of RoboClaw. A value of 0 to 65535
can be used to set the pin's default PWM output. Value can be changed by
commands during run time.
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Conguration with Buttons
Mode Setup
The 3 buttons on RoboClaw are used to set the different conguration options. The MODE button
sets the interface method such as Serial or RC modes. The SET button is used to congure the
options for the mode. The LIPO button doubles as a save button and conguring the low battery
voltage cut out function of RoboClaw. To set the desired mode follow the steps below.
1. Press and release the MODE button to enter mode setup. The STAT2 LED will begin to
blink out the current mode. Each blink is a half second with a long pause at the end of the
count. Five blinks with a long pause equals mode 5 and so on.
2. Press SET to increment to the next mode. Press MODE to decrement to the previous
mode.
3. Press and release the LIPO button to save this mode to memory.
SETMODE
LIPO
Modes
Mode Function Description
1 R/C mode Control with standard R/C pulses from a R/C radio or MCU. Controls
a robot like a tank. S1 controls motor 1 forward or reverse and S2
controls motor 2 forward or reverse.
2 R/C mode with mixing Same as Mode 1 with mixing enabled. Channels are mixed for
differentially steered robots (R/C Car). S1 controls forward or reverse
and S2 controls left or right.
3 Analog mode Control using analog voltage from 0V to 2V. S1 controls motor 1 and
S2 controls motor 2.
4 Analog mode with mixing Same as Mode 3 with mixing enabled. Channels are mixed for
differentially steered robots (R/C Car). S1 controls forward or reverse
and S2 controls left or right.
5 Standard Serial Use standard serial communications for control.
6 Standard Serial with slave pin Same as Mode 5 with a select pin. Used for networking. RoboClaw will
ignore commands until pin goes high.
7 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x80 Control using packet serial mode with a specic address for
8 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x81
9 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x82
10 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x83
11 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x84
12 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x85
13 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x86
14 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x87
networking several motor controllers together.
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Mode Options
Each mode will have several possible conguration settings. The settings need to be setup after
the initial mode is selected. Follow the steps below.
1. After the desired mode is set and saved press and release the SET button for options
setup. The STAT2 LED will begin to blink out the current option setting.
2. Press SET to increment to the next option. Press MODE to decrement to the previous
option.
3. Once the desired option is selected press and release the LIPO button to save the option
to memory.
RC and Analog Mode Options
Option Function Description
1 TTL Flip Switch Logic level switch. Toggle to change all motor direction.
Used when a robot is ipped upside down to reverse
steering control.
2 TTL Flip and Exponential Enabled Option 1 combined with increased control range at slow
speed.
3 TTL Flip and MCU Enabled Disables auto calibrate. Allows slow MCU to send R/C
pulses at lower than normal R/C rates.
4 TTL Flip and Exp and MCU Enabled Option 2 and 3 combined.
5 RC Flip Switch R/C pulse switched. Use radio channel to toggle and
change all motor direction. Used when a robot is ipped
upside down to reverse steering control.
6 RC Flip and Exponential Enabled Option 5 combined with increased control range at slow
speed.
7 RC Flip and MCU Enabled Disables auto calibrate and auto stop due to R/C signal
loss. Allows slow MCU to send R/C pulses at lower than
normal R/C rates.
8 RC Flip and Exponential and MCU Enabled Option 6 and 7 combined.
Standard Serial and Packet Serial Mode Options
Option Baud Rate Description
1 2400bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
2 9600bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
3 19200bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
4 38400bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
5 57600bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
6 115200bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
7 230400bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
8 460800bps Standard RS-232 serial data rate.
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Battery Cut Off Settings
The RoboClaw is able to protect the main battery by utilizing a battery voltage cut off. The cut off
voltage will vary depending on the size of battery used. The table below shows the battery option
setting with the type of battery it will protect and at what voltage the cutoff will kick in. The
battery settings can be set by following the steps below.
1. Press and release the LIPO button. The STAT2 LED will begin to blink out the current
setting.
2. Press SET to increment to the next setting. Press MODE to decrement to the previous
setting.
3. Once the desired setting is selected press and release the LIPO button to save this setting
to memory.
Battery Options
Option Setting Description
1 Disabled 6VDC is the default cut off when disabled.
2 Auto Detect Battery must not be overcharged or undercharge! See Battery Settings.
3 3 Cell 9VDC is the cut off voltage.
4 4 Cell 12VDC is the cut off voltage.
5 5 Cell 15VDC is the cut off voltage.
6 6 Cell 18VDC is the cut off voltage.
7 7 Cell 21VDC is the cut off voltage.
8 8 Cell 24VDC is the cut off voltage.
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Battery Settings
Automatic Battery Detection on Startup
Auto detect will sample the main battery voltage on power up or after a reset. All Lipo batteries,
depending on cell count will have a minimum and maximum safe voltage range. The attached
battery must be within this acceptable voltage range to be correctly detected. Undercharged
or overcharged batteries will cause false readings and RoboClaw will not properly protect the
battery. If the automatic battery detection mode is enabled using the on-board buttons, the
Stat2 LED will blink to indicate the battery cell count that was detected. Each blink indicates the
number of LIPO cells detected. When automatic battery detection is used the number of cells
detected should be conrmed on power up.
Undercharged or overcharged batteries can cause an incorrect auto detection
!
voltage.
Manual Voltage Settings
The minimum and maximum voltage can be set using the Ion Studio application or packet serial
commands. Values can be set to any value between the boards minimum and maximum voltage
limits. This feature can be useful when using a power supply to power RoboClaw. A minimum
voltage just below the power supply voltage of 2VDC will prevent the power supply voltage
from dipping too low under heavy load. A maximum voltage set to just above the power supply
voltage 2VDC will help protect the power supply from regenerative voltage spikes if an external
voltage clamp circuit is not being used. However when the minimum or maximum voltages are
reached RoboClaw will go into either braking or freewheel mode. This feature will only help to
protect a power supply not correct regenerative voltages issues. A voltage clamping circuit is
required to correct any regenerative voltage issues when a power supply is used as the main
power source. See Voltage Clamping.
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Wiring
Basic Wiring
The MCP has many control modes and each mode may have unique wiring requirments to ensure
safe and reliable operation. The diagram below illustrates a very basic wiring conguration
used in a small motor system where safety concerns are minimal. This is the most basic wiring
conguration possible. Any wiring of RoboClaw should include a main battery shut off switch,
even when safety concerns are minimal. Never underestimate a motorized system in an
uncontrolled condition.
In addition, RoboClaw is a regenerative motor controller. If the motors are moved when the
system is off, it could cause potential erratic behavior due to the regenerative voltages powering
the system. A return path to the battery should always be supplied if the system can move when
main power is disconnected or a fuse is blown.
Channel 1
Channel 2
R/C
Receiver
S1
S2
ROBOCLAW
M1A
M1B
M2B
M2A
B+
B-
Motor 1
Motor 2
-
Battery
+
Never disconnect the negative battery lead before disconnecting the positive!
!
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Safety Wiring
In all system with movement, safety is a concern. The wiring diagram below illustrates a properly
wired system with several safety features. An external main power cut off is required for safety.
When the RoboClaw is switched off or the fuse is blown, a high current diode (D1) is required
to create a return path to the battery for any regenerative voltages. The use of a pre-charge
resistor (R1) is required to avoid high inrush currents and arcing. A pre-charge resistor (R1)
should be 1K, 1/2Watt for a 60VDC motor controller which will give a pre-charge time of about
15 seconds. A lower resistances can be used with lower voltages to decrease the pre-charge
time.
Encoder Wiring
A wide range of sensors are supported including quadrature encoders, absolute encoders,
potentiometers and hall effect sensors for closed loop operation. The encoder pins are not
exclusive to supporting encoders and have several functions available. See Encoder section of
this manual for additional information.
UART TX
UART RX
5VDC
GROUND
MCU
Encoder 1
Encoder 2
GND
+5V
GND
+5V
RX0
TX0
+5V
GROUND
M1A
Motor 1
R1
M1B
B+
A
B
A
B
EN1 A
EN1 B
GROUND
5VDC
EN2 A
EN2 B
GROUND
5VDC
M2B
M2A
B-
Motor 2
F1
-
Battery
D1
+
ROBOCLAW
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Logic Battery Wiring
An optional logic battery is supported. Under heavy loads the main power can suffer voltage
drops, causing potential logic brown outs which may result in uncontrolled behavior. A separate
power source for the motor controllers logic circuits, can remedy potential problems from main
power voltage drops. The logic battery maximum input voltage is 34VDC with a minimum input
voltage of 6VDC. The 5V regulated user output is supplied by the secondary logic battery if
supplied. The mAh of the logic battery should be determined based on the load of attached
devices powered by the regulated 5V user output.
Logic Battery Jumper
A logic battery is used in the congurtion below. Some models of RoboClaw have a jumper to set
the logic battery. On models where the LB-MB header is present the jumper must be removed
when a logic battery is used. If the header for LB-MB is not present, then the RoboClaw will
automatically set the logic battery power source.
R1
Motor 1
Motor 2
M1A
M1B
M2B
M2A
ROBOCLAW
B+
B-
LB+
GND
SW1
-
SW2
F1
Battery
D1
+
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Logic
Battery
F2
+
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Status LEDs
Status and Error LEDs
RoboClaw includes 3 LEDs to indicate status. Two green status LEDs labeled STAT1 and STAT2
and one red error LED labeled ERR. When the motor controller is rst powered on all 3 LEDs
should blink briey to indicate all LEDs are functional.
The LEDs will behave differently depending on the mode. During normal operation the status 1
LED will remain on continuously or blink when data is received in RC Mode or Serial Modes. The
status 2 LED will light when either drive stage is active.
STAT1
STAT2
ERR
Message Types
There are 3 types of message RoboClaw can indicate. The rst type is a fault. When a fault
occurs, both motor channel outputs will be disabled and RoboClaw will stop any further actions
until the unit is reset, or in the case of non-latching E-Stops, the fault state is cleared. The
second message type is a warning. When a warnings occurs both motor channel outputs will
be controlled automatically depending on the warning condition. As an example if an over
temperature of 85c is reach RoboClaw will reduce the maximum allowed current until a safe
temperature is reached. The nal message type is a notice. Currently there is only one notice
indicated.
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LED Blink Sequences
When a warning or fault occurs RoboClaw will use the LEDs to blink a sequence. The below table
details each sequence and the cause.
LED Status Condition Type Description
All three LEDs lit. E-Stop Fault Motors are stopped by braking.
Error LED lit while condition
is active.
Error LED blinks once with
short delay. Other LEDs off.
Error LED lit while condition
is active.
Error LED blinking twice.
STAT1 or STAT2 indicates
channel.
Error LED blinking three
times.
Error LED blinking four times. Logic Battery Low Fault Motors freewheel until reset.
Error LED blinking ve times. Main Battery High Fault Motors are stopped by braking until reset.
Over 85c Temperature Warning Motor current limit is recalculated based on
temperature.
Over 100c Temperature Fault Motors freewheel while condition exist.
Over Current Warning Motor power is automatically limited.
Driver Fault Fault Motors freewheel. Damage detected.
Logic Battery High Fault Motors freewheel until reset.
Error LED lit while condition
is active.
Error LED lit while condition
is active.
Error LED lit while condition
is active.
All 3 LED cycle on and off in
sequence after power up.
Main Battery High Warning Motors are stopped by braking while
condition exist.
Main Battery Low Warning Motors freewheel while condition exist.
M1 or M2 Home Warning Motor is stopped and encoder is reset to 0
RoboClaw is waiting for
new rmware.
Notice RoboClaw is in boot mode. Use IonMotion
PC setup utility to clear.
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Inputs
S3, S4 and S5 Setup
RoboClaw S3, S4 and S5 inputs support the use of home switches, limit switches, Voltage
Clamping and E-Stops. A limit switch is used to detect the travel limits. Travel limits are typically
used on a linear slide to detect when the assembly has reached the end of travel. A home switch
is used to create a known start position. In some situations both may be required.
Open Ion Studio and select the S3, S4 or S5 options drop down. There are several options
to choose from. Each option is explained below. After setting S3, S4 and S5 options save the
settings before exiting Ion Studio.
Option Description
Disable Disables S4 and S5. Set by default.
E-Stop(Latching) All stop until RoboClaw is reset.
E-Stop All stop until switch released.
Voltage Clamp Used to control a voltage clamp circuit. Dumps the regenerative voltages. For use with
power supplies.
Motor Home(Auto) Moves motor in reverse rotation until switch tripped.
Motor Home(User) User controls direction of motor to reach switch.
Limit(Forward) Motor moves forward rotation until switch tripped.
Limit(Reverse) Motor moves in reverse rotation until switch tripped.
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Limit / Home / E-Stop Wiring
S4 controls motor channel 1 and S5 controls motor channel 2. A pull-up resistor to 5VDC or
3.3VDC should be used if wire lengths exceed 6” (150mm). The circuit below shows a NO
(normally open) style switch. Connect the NO to S4 or S5 and the COM end to a power ground
shared with RoboClaw.
Motor 1
Motor 2
M1A
M1B
M2B
M2A
ROBOCLAW
S4
S5
B+
B-
5+
5+
SW2
R2
GND
SW3
R3
GND
R1
SW1
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-
Battery
D1
+
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Regenerative Voltage Clamping
Voltage Clamp
When using power supplies regenerative voltage spikes will need to be dissipated. This can be
done with a simple circuit shown below and using a V-Clamp pin to activate it. A solid state
switch (Q1) and large wattage resistor (R3) are required. The regenerative voltage will be
dissipated as heat. An example of a large resistor would be in the range of 10 Ohms at 50 watts
for small motors and down to 1 Ohms or lower for larger motors. 50 watts will likely cover most
situation smaller wattage resistor may work.
Voltage Clamp Circuit
Wire the circuit as shown below. Q1 should be a 3V logic level MOSFET. An example would be
FQP30N06L. Which is rated to a maximum voltage of 60VDC. You may need to change the
MOSFET used based on the application. R2 (10K) will keep the MOSFET off when not in use. R3
will need to be adjusted based on the initial test results. Start with a 10 Ohms 50 Watt. If after
testing the voltage spike is still too great reduce the resistor to a 5 Ohms and so on.
Motor 1
Motor 2
M1A
M1B
M2B
M2A
ROBOCLAW
S5
B+
B-
R2
Q1
D
G
S
B- B+
R1
SW1
F1
R3
D1
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Voltage Clamp Setup and Testing
Open Ion Studio and set S5 to the Voltage Clamp option in the drop down and save the setting
before exiting the application (see user manual).
The circuit shown will need to be tuned for each application to properly dissipate the
regenerative voltages. Testing should consist of a running the motor up to 25% of its speed and
then quickly slowing down without braking or e-stop while checking the voltage spike. Repeat,
by increasing the speed and power by 5% and checking the voltage spikes again. Repeat this
process until 100% power is achieved without a major spike or until the voltage clamp is not
dissipating the voltage spikes. If over voltages are not completely clamped, either a lower Ohm
resistor is required or additional capacitance is required. Add a capacitor of 5000uF to 10000uF
or more across B+ and B-.
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Bridge Mode
Bridging Channels
RoboClaws dual channels can be bridge to run as one channel, effectively doubling its current
capability for one motor. RoboClaw will be damaged if it is not set to bridged channel mode
before wiring.
Download and install Ion Studio application. Connect the motor controller to the computer
using an available USB port. Run Ion Studio and in general settings check the option to "Bridge
Channels". Then click “Save Settings” in the device menu at the top of the window.
When operating in bridged channel mode the total peak current output is combined from both
channels. The peak current run time is dependant on heat build up. Adequate cooling must be
maintained.
Bridged Channel Wiring
When bridged channel mode is active the internal driver scheme for the output stage is modied.
The output leads must be wired correctly or damage will result. Each RoboClaw varies on the
correct wiring. See each models data sheet for wiring schematic.
Bridged Motor Control
When RoboClaw is set to bridged mode all motor control commands for M1 will control the
attached motor. All commands for M2 will be ignored. In RC and Analog modes S1 will control the
motor and S2 will be ignored.
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USB Control
USB Connection
When RoboClaw is connected, it will automatically detect it has been connected to a powered
USB master and will enable USB communications. USB can be connected in any mode. When
the Roboclaw is not in packet serial mode USB packet serial commands can be used to read
status information and set conguration settings, however motor movement commands will not
function. When in packet serial mode if another device such as an Arduino is connected to S1
and S2 pins and sending commands to the RoboClaw, both those commands and USB packet
serial commands will execute.
USB Power
The USB RoboClaw is self powered. This means it receives no power from the USB cable. The
USB RoboClaw must be externally powered to function.
USB Comport and Baudrate
The RoboClaw will be detected as a CDC Virtual Comport. When connected to a Windows PC a
driver must be installed. The driver is available for download from our website. On Linux or OSX
the RoboClaw will be automatically detected as a virtual comport and an appropriate driver will
be automatically loaded.
Unlike a real comport the USB CDC Virtual Comport does not need a baud rate to be set. It
will always communicate at the fastest speed the master and slave device can reach. This will
typically be around 1mb/s.
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RC Control
RC Mode
RC mode is typically used when controlling RoboClaw from a hobby RC radio. This mode can also
be used to simplify driving RoboClaw from a microcontroller using servo pulses. In this mode S1
controls the direction and speed of motor 1 and S2 controls the direction and speed of motor 2.
RC Mode With Mixing
This mode is the same as RC mode with the exception of how S1 and S2 controls the attached
motors. When used with a differentially steered robot, mixing mode allows S1 to control the
speed forward and backward and S2 to control steering left and right.
RC Mode with feedback for velocity or position control
RC Mode can be used with encoders. Velocity and/or Position PID constants must be calibrated
for proper operation rst. Once calibrated values have been set and saved into Roboclaws
eeprom memory, encoder support using velocity or position PID control can be enabled. Use Ion
Studio control software or Packet Serial commands, enable encoders for RC/Analog modes (See
Conguration Using Ion Studio).
RC Mode Options
Option Function Description
1 TTL Flip Switch Flip switch triggered by low signal.
2 TTL Flip and Exponential Enabled Softens the center control position. This mode is ideal
with tank style robots. Making it easier to control from an
RC radio. Flip switch triggered by low signal.
3 TTL Flip and MCU Enabled Continues to execute last pulse received until new
pulse received. Disables Signal loss fail safe and auto
calibration. Flip switch triggered by low signal.
4 TTL Flip and Exponential and MCU Enabled Enables both options. Flip switch triggered by low signal.
5 RC Flip Switch Enabled Same as mode 1 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
6 RC Flip and Exponential Enabled Same as mode 2 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
7 RC Flip and MCU Enabled Same as mode 3 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
8 RC Flip and Exponential and MCU Enabled Same as mode 4 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
Pulse Ranges
The RoboClaw expects RC pulses on S1 and S2 to drive the motors when the mode is set to
RC mode. The center points are calibrated at start up(unless disabled by enabling MCU mode).
1250us is the default for full reverse and 1750us is the default for full forward. The RoboClaw will
auto calibrate these ranges on the y unless auto-calibration is disabled. If a pulse smaller than
1250us or larger than 1750us is detected the new pulse range will be set as the maximum.
Pulse MCU Mode Enabled MCU Mode Diabled
Stopped 1520μs Start Up Auto Calibration
Full Reverse 1120μs +400μs
Full Forward 1920μs -400μs
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RC Wiring Example
Connect the RoboClaw as shown below. Set mode 1 with option 1. Before powering up, center
the control sticks on the radio transmitter, turn the radio on rst, then the receiver, then
RoboClaw. It will take RoboClaw about 1 second to calibrate the neutral positions of the RC
controller. After RC pulses start to be received and calibration is complete the Stat1 LED will
begin to ash indicating signals from the RC receiver are being received.
Channel 1
Channel 2
R/C
Receiver
S1
S2
ROBOCLAW
M1A
M1B
M2B
M2A
B+
B-
Motor 1
Motor 2
-
Battery
+
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RC Control - Arduino Example
The example will drive a 2 motor 4 wheel robot in reverse, stop, forward, left turn and then
right turn. The program was written and tested with a Arduino Uno and P5 connected to S1, P6
connected to S2. Set mode 2 with option 4.
//RoboClaw RC Mode
//Control RoboClaw with servo pulses from a microcontroller.
//Mode settings: Mode 2(RC mixed mode) with Option 4(MCU with Exponential).
#include <Servo.h>
#dene MIN 1250
#dene MAX 1750
#dene STOP 1500
Servo myservo1; // create servo object to control a RoboClaw channel
Servo myservo2; // create servo object to control a RoboClaw channel
int pos = 0; // variable to store the servo position
void setup()
{
myservo1.attach(5); // attaches the RC signal on pin 5 to the servo object
myservo2.attach(6); // attaches the RC signal on pin 6 to the servo object
}
void loop()
{
myservo1.writeMicroseconds(STOP); //Stop
myservo2.writeMicroseconds(STOP); //Stop
delay(2000);
myservo1.writeMicroseconds(MIN); //full forward
delay(1000);
myservo1.writeMicroseconds(STOP); //stop
delay(2000);
myservo1.writeMicroseconds(MAX); //full reverse
delay(1000);
myservo1.writeMicroseconds(STOP); //Stop
delay(2000);
myservo2.writeMicroseconds(MIN); //full turn left
delay(1000);
myservo2.writeMicroseconds(STOP); //Stop
delay(2000);
myservo2.writeMicroseconds(MAX); //full turn right
delay(1000);
}
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Analog Control
Analog Mode
Analog mode is used when controlling RoboClaw from a potentiometer or a ltered PWM signal.
In this mode S1 and S2 are set as analog inputs. The voltage range is 0V = Full reverse, 1V =
Stop and 2V = Full forward.
Analog Mode With Mixing
This mode is the same as Analog mode with the exception of how S1 and S2 control the attached
motors. When used with a differentially steered robot, mixing mode allows S1 to control the
speed forward and backward and S2 to control steering left and right.
Analog Mode with feedback for velocity or position control
Analog Mode can be used with encoders. Velocity and/or Position PID constants must be
calibrated for proper operation. Once calibrated values have been set and saved into Roboclaws
eeprom, encoder support using velocity or position PID control can be enabled. Use Ion Studio
control software or PacketSerial commands to enable encoders for RC/Analog modes (see
Conguration Using Ion Studio).
Analog Mode Options
Option Function Description
1 TTL Flip Switch Flip switch triggered by low signal.
2 TTL Flip and Exponential Enabled Softens the center control position. This mode is ideal
with tank style robots. Making it easier to control from
an RC radio. Flip switch triggered by low signal.
3 TTL FLip and MCU Enabled Continues to execute last pulse received until new
pulse received. Disables Signal loss fail safe and auto
calibration. Flip switch triggered by low signal.
4 TTL FLip and Exponential and MCU
Enabled
5 RC Flip Switch Enabled Same as mode 1 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
6 RC Flip and Exponential Enabled Same as mode 2 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
7 RC Flip and MCU Enabled Same as mode 3 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
8 RC Flip and Exponential and MCU Enabled Same as mode 4 with ip switch triggered by RC signal.
Enables both options. Flip switch triggered by low
signal.
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Analog Wiring Example
RoboClaw uses a high speed 12 bit analog converter. Its range is 0 to 2V. The analog pins
are protected and 5V tolerant. The potentiometer range will be limited if 5V is utilized as the
reference voltage. A simple resistor divider circuit can be used to reduce the on board 5V to 2V
for use with a potentiometer(POT). See the below schematic. The POT acts as one half of the
resistor divider. If using a 5k potentiometer R1 / R2 = 7.5k, If using a 10k potentiometer R1 / R2
= 15k and if using a 20k potentiometer R1 / R2 = 30k.
Set mode 3 with option 1. Center the potentiometers before applying power. The S1
potentiometer will control the motor 1 direction and speed. The S2 potentiometer will control the
motor 2 direction and speed.
Pot 1
Pot 2
R1
R2
GROUND
S1 Signal
5VDC
GROUND
S2 Signal
5VDC
Negative -
RoboClaw
M1A
M1B
Positive +
M2B
M2A
Motor 1
Motor 2
D1
SW1
-
Battery
+
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Stand Serial Control
Standard Serial Mode
In this mode S1 accepts TTL level byte commands. Standard serial mode is one way serial data.
RoboClaw can receive only. A standard 8N1 format is used. Which is 8 bits, no parity bits and
1 stop bit. If you are using a microcontroller you can interface directly to RoboClaw. If you are
using a PC a level shifting circuit (eg: Max232) is required. The baud rate can be changed using
the SET button once a serial mode has been selected.
Standard Serial communications has no error correction. It is recommended to use
!
Serial Mode Baud Rates
Option Description
1 2400
2 9600
3 19200
4 38400
5 57600
6 115200
7 230400
8 460800
Packet Serial mode instead for more reliable communications.
Standard Serial Command Syntax
The RoboClaw standard serial is setup to control both motors with one byte sized command
character. Since a byte can be any value from 0 to 255(or -128 to 127) the control of each motor
is split. 1 to 127 controls channel 1 and 128 to 255(or -1 to -127) controls channel 2. Command
value 0 will stop both channels. Any other values will control speed and direction of the specic
channel.
Character Function
0 Shuts Down Channel 1 and 2
1 Channel 1 - Full Reverse
64 Channel 1 - Stop
127 Channel 1 - Full Forward
128 Channel 2 - Full Reverse
192 Channel 2 - Stop
255 Channel 2 - Full Forward
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Standard Serial Wiring Example
In standard serial mode the RoboClaw can only receive serial data. The below wiring diagram
illustrates a basic setup of RoboClaw for use with standard serial. The diagram below shows
the main battery as the only power source. Make sure the LB jumper is set correctly. The 5VDC
shown connected is only required if your MCU needs a power source. This is the BEC feature of
RoboClaw. If the MCU has its own power source do not the 5VDC.
UART TX
5VDC
GROUND
MCU
S1 Signal
5VDC
GROUND
Negative -
RoboClaw
M1A
M1B
Positive +
M2B
M2A
Motor 1
Motor 2
D1
SW1
-
Battery
+
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Standard Serial Mode With Slave Select
Slave select is used when more than one RoboClaw is on the same serial bus. When slave select
is set to ON the S2 pin becomes the select pin. Set S2 high (5V) and RoboClaw will execute the
next set of commands sent to S1 pin. Set S2 low (0V) and RoboClaw will ignore all received
commands.
Any RoboClaw connected to a bus must share a common signal ground (GND) shown by the
black wire. The S1 pin of RoboClaw is the serial receive pin and should be connected to the
transmit pin of the MCU. All RoboClaw’s S1 pins will be connected to the same MCU transmit
pin. Each RoboClaw S2 pin should be connected to a unique I/O pin on the MCU. S2 is used as
the control pin to activate the attached RoboClaw. To enable a RoboClaw hold its S2 pin high
otherwise any commands sent are ignored.
The diagram below shows the main battery as the only power source. Make sure the LB jumper
is set correctly. The 5VDC shown connected is only required if your MCU needs a power source.
This is the BEC feature of RoboClaw. If the MCU has its own power source do not connect the
5VDC.
UART TX
OUT 1
OUT 2
5VDC
GROUND
MCU
Connect to S2 of
next RoboClaw
Connect to S1 of
next RoboClaw
S1 Signal
S2 Signal
5VDC
GROUND
Negative -
RoboClaw
M1A
M1B
Positive +
M2B
M2A
Motor 1
Motor 2
D1
SW1
-
Battery
+
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Standard Serial - Arduino Example
The following example will start both channels in reverse, stop, forward, stop, turn left, stop turn
right stop. The program was written and tested with a Arduino Uno and Pin 11 connected to S1
and pin 10 connected to S2.
//Roboclaw simple serial example. Set mode to 5. Option to 4(38400 bps)
#include "BMSerial.h"
BMSerial mySerial(10,11);
void setup() {
mySerial.begin(38400);
}
void loop() {
mySerial.write(1);
mySerial.write(-127);
delay(2000);
mySerial.write(64);
delay(1000);
mySerial.write(127);
mySerial.write(-1);
delay(2000);
mySerial.write(-64);
delay(1000);
mySerial.write(1);
mySerial.write(-1);
delay(2000);
mySerial.write(0);
delay(1000);
mySerial.write(127);
mySerial.write(-127);
delay(2000);
mySerial.write(0);
delay(1000);
}
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Packet Serial
Packet Serial Mode
Packet serial is a buffered bidirectional serial mode. More sophisticated instructions can be sent
to RoboClaw. The basic command structures consist of an address byte, command byte, data
bytes and a CRC16 16bit checksum. The amount of data each command will send or receive can
vary.
Address
Packet serial requires a unique address when used with TTL serial pins(S1 and S2). With up
to 8 addresses available you can have up to 8 RoboClaws bussed on the same RS232 port
when properly wired. There are 8 packet modes 7 to 14. Each mode has a unique address. The
address is selected by setting the desired packet mode using the MODE button.
NOTE: When using packet serial commands via the USB connection the address byte can be any
value from 0x80 to 0x87 since each USB connection is already unique.
Packet Modes
Mode Description
7 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x80 (128)
8 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x81 (129)
9 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x82 (130)
10 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x83 (131)
11 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x84 (132)
12 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x85 (133)
13 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x86 (134)
14 Packet Serial Mode - Address 0x87 (135)
Packet Serial Baud Rate
When in serial mode or packet serial mode the baud rate can be changed to one of four different
settings in the table below. These are set using the SET button as covered in Mode Options.
Serial Mode Options
Option Description
1 2400
2 9600
3 19200
4 38400
5 57600
6 115200
7 230400
8 460800
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Packet Timeout
When sending a packet to RoboClaw, if there is a delay longer than 10ms between bytes being
received in a packet, RoboClaw will discard the entire packet. This will allow the packet buffer to
be cleared by simply adding a minimum 10ms delay before sending a new packet command in
the case of a communications error. This can usually be accomodated by having a 10ms timeout
when waiting for a reply from the RoboClaw. If the reply times out the packet buffer will have
been cleared automatically.
Packet Acknowledgement
RoboClaw will send an acknowledgment byte on write only packet commands that are valid. The
value sent back is 0xFF. If the packet was not valid for any reason no acknowledgement will be
sent back.
CRC16 Checksum Calculation
Roboclaw uses a CRC(Cyclic Redundancy Check) to validate each packet it receives. This is more
complex than a simple checksum but prevents errors that could otherwise cause unexpected
actions to execute on the Roboclaw.
The CRC can be calculated using the following code(example in C):
//Calculates CRC16 of nBytes of data in byte array message
unsigned int crc16(unsigned char *packet, int nBytes) {
for (int byte = 0; byte < nBytes; byte++) {
crc = crc ^ ((unsigned int)packet[byte] << 8);
for (unsigned char bit = 0; bit < 8; bit++) {
if (crc & 0x8000) {
crc = (crc << 1) ^ 0x1021;
} else {
crc = crc << 1;
}
}
}
return crc;
}
CRC16 Checksum Calculation for Received data
The CRC16 calculation can also be used to validate received data from the Roboclaw. The CRC16
value should be calculated using the sent Address and Command byte as well as all the data
received back from the Roboclaw except the two CRC16 bytes. The value calculated will match
the CRC16 sent by the Roboclaw if there are no errors in the data sent or received.
Easy to use Libraries
Source code and Libraries are available on the Ion Motion Control website that already
handle the complexities of using packet serial with the Roboclaw. Libraries are available for
Arduino(C++), C# on Windows(.NET) or Linux(Mono) and Python(Raspberry Pi, Linux, OSX, etc).
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Handling values larger than a byte
Many Packet Serial commands require values larger than a byte can hold. In order to send or
receive those values they need to be broken up into 2 or more bytes. There are two ways this
can be done, high byte rst or low byte rst. Roboclaw expects the high byte rst. All command
arguments and values are either single bytes, words (2 bytes) or longs (4 bytes). All arguments
and values are integers (signed or unsigned). No oating point values (numbers with decimal
places) are used in Packet Serial commands.
To convert a 32bit value into 4 bytes you just need to shift the bits around:
unsigned char byte3 = MyLongValue>>24; //High byte
unsigned char byte2 = MyLongValue>>16;
unsigned char byte1 = MyLongValue>>8;
unsigned char byte0 = MyLongValue; //Low byte
The same applies to 16bit values:
unsigned char byte1 = MyWordValue>>8; //High byte
unsigned char byte0 = MyWordValue; //Low byte
The oposite can also be done. Convert several bytes into a 16bit or 32bit value:
unsigned long MyLongValue = byte3<<24 | byte2<<16 | byte1<<8 | byte0;
unsigned int MyWordValue = byte1<<8 | byte0;
Packet Serial commands, when a value must be broken into multiple bytes or combined from
multple bytes it will be indicated either by (2 bytes) or (4 bytes).
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Packet Serial Wiring
In packet serial mode the RoboClaw can transmit and receive serial data. A microcontroller with
a UART is recommended. The UART will buffer the data received from RoboClaw. When a request
for data is made to RoboClaw the return data will have at least a 1ms delay after the command
is received if the baud rate is set at or below 38400. This will allow slower processors and
processors without UARTs to communicate with RoboClaw.
The diagram below shows the main battery as the only power source. Make sure the LB jumper
is set correctly. The 5VDC shown connected is only required if your MCU needs a power source.
This is the BEC feature of RoboClaw. If the MCU has its own power source do not connect the
5VDC.
UART TX
UART RX
5VDC
GROUND
MCU
S1 Signal
S2 Signal
5VDC
GROUND
Negative -
RoboClaw
M1A
M1B
Positive +
M2B
M2A
Motor 1
Motor 2
D1
SW1
-
Battery
+
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Multi-Unit Packet Serial Wiring
In packet serial mode up to eight Roboclaw units can be controlled from a single serial port. The
wiring diagram below illustrates how this is done. Each Roboclaw must have multi-unit mode
enabled and have a unique packet serial address set. This can be congured using Ion studio.
Wire the S1 and S2 pins directly to the MCU TX and RX pins. Install a pull-up resistor (R1) on
the MCU RX pin. A 1K to 4.7K resistor value is recommended.
R1
UART TX
UART RX
5VDC
GROUND
MCU
S1 Signal
S2 Signal
5VDC
GROUND
RoboClaw 1
S1 Signal
S2 Signal
5VDC
GROUND
RoboClaw 2
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S2 Signal
5VDC
GROUND
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Commands 0 - 7 Compatibility Commands
The following commands are used in packet serial mode. The command syntax is the same for
commands 0 thru 7:
Send: Address, Command, ByteValue, CRC16
Receive: [0xFF]
Command Description
0 Drive Forward Motor 1
1 Drive Backwards Motor 1
2 Set Main Voltage Minimum
3 Set Main Voltage Maximum
4 Drive Forward Motor 2
5 Drive Backwards Motor 2
6 Drive Motor 1 (7 Bit)
7 Drive Motor 2 (7 Bit)
8 Drive Forward Mixed Mode
9 Drive Backwards Mixed Mode
10 Turn Right Mixed Mode
11 Turn Left Mixed Mode
12 Drive Forward or Backward (7 bit)
13 Turn Left or Right (7 Bit)
0 - Drive Forward M1
Drive motor 1 forward. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 127 = full speed forward, 64 =
about half speed forward and 0 = full stop.
Send: [Address, 0, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
1 - Drive Backwards M1
Drive motor 1 backwards. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 127 full speed backwards, 64 =
about half speed backward and 0 = full stop.
Send: [Address, 1, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
2 - Set Minimum Main Voltage (Command 57 Preferred)
Sets main battery (B- / B+) minimum voltage level. If the battery voltages drops below the set
voltage level RoboClaw will stop driving the motors. The voltage is set in .2 volt increments. A
value of 0 sets the minimum value allowed which is 6V. The valid data range is 0 - 140 (6V 34V). The formula for calculating the voltage is: (Desired Volts - 6) x 5 = Value. Examples of
valid values are 6V = 0, 8V = 10 and 11V = 25.
Send: [Address, 2, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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3 - Set Maximum Main Voltage (Command 57 Preferred)
Sets main battery (B- / B+) maximum voltage level. The valid data range is 30 - 175 (6V 34V). During regenerative breaking a back voltage is applied to charge the battery. When using
a power supply, by setting the maximum voltage level, RoboClaw will, before exceeding it, go
into hard braking mode until the voltage drops below the maximum value set. This will prevent
overvoltage conditions when using power supplies. The formula for calculating the voltage is:
Desired Volts x 5.12 = Value. Examples of valid values are 12V = 62, 16V = 82 and 24V = 123.
Send: [Address, 3, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
4 - Drive Forward M2
Drive motor 2 forward. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 127 full speed forward, 64 = about
half speed forward and 0 = full stop.
Send: [Address, 4, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
5 - Drive Backwards M2
Drive motor 2 backwards. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 127 full speed backwards, 64 =
about half speed backward and 0 = full stop.
Send: [Address, 5, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
6 - Drive M1 (7 Bit)
Drive motor 1 forward or reverse. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = full speed reverse,
64 = stop and 127 = full speed forward.
Send: [Address, 6, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
7 - Drive M2 (7 Bit)
Drive motor 2 forward or reverse. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = full speed reverse,
64 = stop and 127 = full speed forward.
Send: [Address, 7, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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Commands 8 - 13 Mixed Mode Compatibility Commands
The following commands are mix mode commands used to control speed and turn for differential
steering. Before a command is executed, both valid drive and turn data packets are required
Once RoboClaw begins to operate the motors turn and speed can be updated independently.
8 - Drive Forward
Drive forward in mix mode. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = full stop and 127 = full
forward.
Send: [Address, 8, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
9 - Drive Backwards
Drive backwards in mix mode. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = full stop and 127 = full
reverse.
Send: [Address, 9, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
10 - Turn right
Turn right in mix mode. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = stop turn and 127 = full
speed turn.
Send: [Address, 10, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
11 - Turn left
Turn left in mix mode. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = stop turn and 127 = full speed
turn.
Send: [Address, 11, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
12 - Drive Forward or Backward (7 Bit)
Drive forward or backwards. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = full backward, 64 = stop
and 127 = full forward.
Send: [Address, 12, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
13 - Turn Left or Right (7 Bit)
Turn left or right. Valid data range is 0 - 127. A value of 0 = full left, 0 = stop turn and 127 = full
right.
Send: [Address, 13, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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Packet Serial - Arduino Example
The example will start the motor channels independently. Then start turns with mix mode
commands. The program was written and tested with an Arduno Uno with P11 connected to
S1 and P10 connected to S2. Set mode 7 and option 4. Additional example programs can be
downloaded from Ionmc.com.
//Set mode to 7(packet serial address 0x80) and option to 4(38400)
//Includes required to use Roboclaw library
#include "BMSerial.h"
#include "RoboClaw.h"
//Roboclaw Address
#dene address 0x80
//Setup communcaitions with roboclaw. Use pins 10 and 11 with 10ms timeout
RoboClaw roboclaw(10,11,10000);
void setup() {
//Communciate with roboclaw at 38400bps
roboclaw.begin(38400);
roboclaw.ForwardMixed(address, 0);
roboclaw.TurnRightMixed(address, 0);
}
void loop() {
//Using independant motor Forward and Backward commands
roboclaw.ForwardM1(address,64); //start Motor1 forward at half speed
roboclaw.BackwardM2(address,64); //start Motor2 backward at half speed
delay(2000);
roboclaw.BackwardM1(address,64);
roboclaw.ForwardM2(address,64);
delay(2000);
roboclaw.BackwardM1(address,0);
roboclaw.ForwardM2(address,0);
delay(2000);
//Using independant motor combined forward/backward commands
roboclaw.ForwardBackwardM1(address,96); //start Motor1 forward at half speed
roboclaw.ForwardBackwardM2(address,32); //start Motor2 backward at half speed
delay(2000);
roboclaw.ForwardBackwardM1(address,32);
roboclaw.ForwardBackwardM2(address,96);
delay(2000);
roboclaw.ForwardM1(address,0); //stop
roboclaw.BackwardM2(address,0); //stop
delay(2000);
//Using Mixed commands
roboclaw.ForwardMixed(address, 127); //full speed forward
roboclaw.TurnRightMixed(address, 0); //no turn
delay(2000);
roboclaw.TurnRightMixed(address, 64); //half speed turn right
delay(2000);
roboclaw.TurnLeftMixed(address, 64); //half speed turn left
delay(2000);
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roboclaw.TurnLeftMixed(address, 0); //stop turn
roboclaw.BackwardMixed(address, 127); //half speed backward
delay(2000);
roboclaw.TurnRightMixed(address, 64); //half speed turn right
delay(2000);
roboclaw.TurnLeftMixed(address, 64); //half speed turn left
delay(2000);
roboclaw.ForwardMixed(address, 0); //stop going backward
roboclaw.TurnRightMixed(address, 64); //half speed right turn
delay(2000);
roboclaw.TurnLeftMixed(address, 64); //half speed left turn
delay(2000);
roboclaw.TurnRightMixed(address, 0); //stop turn(full stop)
delay(2000);
}
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Advance Packet Serial
Commands
The following commands are used to read RoboClaw status information, version information and
to set or read conguration values. All commands sent to RoboClaw need to be signed with a
CRC16 (Cyclic Redundancy Check of 2 bytes) to validate each packet it received. This is more
complex than a simple checksum but prevents errors that could otherwise cause unexpected
actions to execute on the Roboclaw. See Packet Serial section of this manual for an explanation
on how to create the CRC16 values.
Command Description
21 Read Firmware Version
24 Read Main Battery Voltage
25 Read Logic Battery Voltage
26 Set Minimum Logic Voltage Level
27 Set Maximum Logic Voltage Level
48 Read Motor PWMs
49 Read Motor Currents
57 Set Main Battery Voltages
58 Set Logic Battery Voltages
59 Read Main Battery Voltage Settings
60 Read Logic Battery Voltage Settings
68 Set default duty cycle acceleration for M1
69 Set default duty cycle acceleration for M2
74 Set S3,S4 and S5 Modes
75 Read S3,S4 and S5 Modes
76 Set DeadBand for RC/Analog controls
77 Read DeadBand for RC/Analog controls
80 Restore Defaults
81 Read Default Duty Cycle Accelerations
82 Read Temperature
83 Read Temperature 2
90 Read Status
91 Read Encoder Modes
92 Set Motor 1 Encoder Mode
93 Set Motor 2 Encoder Mode
94 Write Settings to EEPROM
95 Read Settings from EEPROM
98 Set Standard Cong Settings
99 Read Standard Cong Settings
100 Set CTRL Modes
101 Read CTRL Modes
102 Set CTRL1
103 Set CTRL2
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Command Description
104 Read CTRLs
133 Set M1 Maximum Current
134 Set M2 Maximum Current
135 Read M1 Maximum Current
136 Read M2 Maximum Current
148 Set PWM Mode
149 Read PWM Mode
21 - Read Firmware Version
Read RoboClaw rmware version. Returns up to 48 bytes(depending on the Roboclaw model) and
is terminated by a line feed character and a null character.
Send: [Address, 21]
Receive: [“RoboClaw 10.2A v4.1.11”,10,0, CRC(2 bytes)]
The command will return up to 48 bytes. The return string includes the product name and
rmware version. The return string is terminated with a line feed (10) and null (0) character.
24 - Read Main Battery Voltage Level
Read the main battery voltage level connected to B+ and B- terminals. The voltage is returned in
10ths of a volt(eg 300 = 30v).
Send: [Address, 24]
Receive: [Value(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
25 - Read Logic Battery Voltage Level
Read a logic battery voltage level connected to LB+ and LB- terminals. The voltage is returned in
10ths of a volt(eg 50 = 5v).
Send: [Address, 25]
Receive: [Value.Byte1, Value.Byte0, CRC(2 bytes)]
26 - Set Minimum Logic Voltage Level
Note: This command is included for backwards compatibility. We recommend you use
command 58 instead.
Sets logic input (LB- / LB+) minimum voltage level. RoboClaw will shut down with an error if
the voltage is below this level. The voltage is set in .2 volt increments. A value of 0 sets the
minimum value allowed which is 6V. The valid data range is 0 - 140 (6V - 34V). The formula for
calculating the voltage is: (Desired Volts - 6) x 5 = Value. Examples of valid values are 6V = 0,
8V = 10 and 11V = 25.
Send: [Address, 26, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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27 - Set Maximum Logic Voltage Level
Note: This command is included for backwards compatibility. We recommend you use
command 58 instead.
Sets logic input (LB- / LB+) maximum voltage level. The valid data range is 30 - 175 (6V 34V). RoboClaw will shutdown with an error if the voltage is above this level. The formula for
calculating the voltage is: Desired Volts x 5.12 = Value. Examples of valid values are 12V = 62,
16V = 82 and 24V = 123.
Send: [Address, 27, Value, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
48 - Read Motor PWM values
Read the current PWM output values for the motor channels. The values returned are +/-32767.
The duty cycle percent is calculated by dividing the Value by 327.67.
Send: [Address, 48]
Receive: [M1 PWM(2 bytes), M2 PWM(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
49 - Read Motor Currents
Read the current draw from each motor in 10ma increments. The amps value is calculated by
dividing the value by 100.
Send: [Address, 49]
Receive: [M1 Current(2 bytes), M2 Currrent(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
57 - Set Main Battery Voltages
Set the Main Battery Voltage cutoffs, Min and Max. Min and Max voltages are in 10th of a volt
increments. Multiply the voltage to set by 10.
Send: [Address, 57, Min(2 bytes), Max(2bytes, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
58 - Set Logic Battery Voltages
Set the Logic Battery Voltages cutoffs, Min and Max. Min and Max voltages are in 10th of a volt
increments. Multiply the voltage to set by 10.
Send: [Address, 58, Min(2 bytes), Max(2bytes, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
59 - Read Main Battery Voltage Settings
Read the Main Battery Voltage Settings. The voltage is calculated by dividing the value by 10
Send: [Address, 59]
Receive: [Min(2 bytes), Max(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
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60 - Read Logic Battery Voltage Settings
Read the Logic Battery Voltage Settings. The voltage is calculated by dividing the value by 10
Send: [Address, 60]
Receive: [Min(2 bytes), Max(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
68 - Set M1 Default Duty Acceleration
Set the default acceleration for M1 when using duty cycle commands(Cmds 32,33 and 34) or
when using Standard Serial, RC and Analog PWM modes.
Send: [Address, 68, Accel(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
69 - Set M2 Default Duty Acceleration
Set the default acceleration for M2 when using duty cycle commands(Cmds 32,33 and 34) or
when using Standard Serial, RC and Analog PWM modes.
Send: [Address, 69, Accel(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
74 - Set S3, S4 and S5 Modes
Set modes for S3,S4 and S5.
Send: [Address, 74, S3mode, S4mode, S5mode, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
Mode S3mode S4mode S5mode
0 Default Disabled Disabled
1 E-Stop(latching) E-Stop(latching) E-Stop(latching)
2 E-Stop E-Stop E-Stop
3 Voltage Clamp Voltage Clamp Voltage Clamp
4 M1 Home M2 Home
Mode Description
Disabled: pin is inactive.
Default: Flip switch if in RC/Analog mode or E-Stop(latching) in Serial modes.
E-Stop(Latching): causes the Roboclaw to shutdown until the unit is power cycled.
E-Stop: Holds the Roboclaw in shutdown until the E-Stop signal is cleared.
Voltage Clamp: Sets the signal pin as an output to drive an external voltage clamp circuit
Home(M1 & M2): will trigger the specic motor to stop and the encoder count to reset to 0.
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75 - Get S3, S4 amd S5 Modes
Read mode settings for S3,S4 and S5. See command 74 for mode descriptions
Send: [Address, 75]
Receive: [S3mode, S4mode, S5mode, CRC(2 bytes)]
76 - Set DeadBand for RC/Analog controls
Set RC/Analog mode control deadband percentage in 10ths of a percent. Default value is
25(2.5%). Minimum value is 0(no DeadBand), Maximum value is 250(25%).
Send: [Address, 76, Reverse, Forward, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
77 - Read DeadBand for RC/Analog controls
Read DeadBand settings in 10ths of a percent.
Send: [Address, 77]
Receive: [Reverse, SForward, CRC(2 bytes)]
80 - Restore Defaults
Reset Settings to factory defaults.
Send: [Address, 80]
Receive: [0xFF]
81 - Read Default Duty Acceleration Settings
Read M1 and M2 Duty Cycle Acceleration Settings.
Send: [Address, 81]
Receive: [M1Accel(4 bytes), M2Accel(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
82 - Read Temperature
Read the board temperature. Value returned is in 10ths of degrees.
Send: [Address, 82]
Receive: [Temperature(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
83 - Read Temperature 2
Read the second board temperature(only on supported units). Value returned is in 10ths of
degrees.
Send: [Address, 83]
Receive: [Temperature(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
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90 - Read Status
Read the current unit status.
Send: [Address, 90]
Receive: [Status, CRC(2 bytes)]
Function Status Bit Mask
Normal 0x0000
M1 OverCurrent Warning 0x0001
M2 OverCurrent Warning 0x0002
E-Stop 0x0004
Temperature Error 0x0008
Temperature2 Error 0x0010
Main Battery High Error 0x0020
Logic Battery High Error 0x0040
Logic Battery Low Error 0x0080
M1 Driver Fault 0x0100
M2 Driver Fault 0x0200
Main Battery High Warning 0x0400
Main Battery Low Warning 0x0800
Termperature Warning 0x1000
Temperature2 Warning 0x2000
M1 Home 0x4000
M2 Home 0x8000
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91 - Read Encoder Mode
Read the encoder mode for both motors.
Send: [Address, 91]
Receive: [Enc1Mode, Enc2Mode, CRC(2 bytes)]
Encoder Mode bits
Bit 7 Enable RC/Analog Encoder support
Bit 6-1 N/A
Bit 0 Quadrature(0)/Absolute(1)
92 - Set Motor 1 Encoder Mode
Set the Encoder Mode for motor 1. See command 91.
Send: [Address, 92, Mode, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
93 - Set Motor 2 Encoder Mode
Set the Encoder Mode for motor 2. See command 91.
Send: [Address, 93, Mode, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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94 - Write Settings to EEPROM
Writes all settings to non-volatile memory. Values will be loaded after each power up.
Send: [Address, 94]
Receive: [0xFF]
95 - Read Settings from EEPROM
Read all settings from non-volatile memory.
Send: [Address, 95]
Receive: [Enc1Mode, Enc2Mode, CRC(2 bytes)]
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98 - Set Standard Cong Settings
Set cong bits for standard settings.
Send: [Address, 98, Cong(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
Function Cong Bit Mask
RC Mode 0x0000
Analog Mode 0x0001
Simple Serial Mode 0x0002
Packet Serial Mode 0x0003
Battery Mode Off 0x0000
Battery Mode Auto 0x0004
Battery Mode 2 Cell 0x0008
Battery Mode 3 Cell 0x000C
Battery Mode 4 Cell 0x0010
Battery Mode 5 Cell 0x0014
Battery Mode 6 Cell 0x0018
Battery Mode 7 Cell 0x001C
Mixing 0x0020
Exponential 0x0040
MCU 0x0080
BaudRate 2400 0x0000
BaudRate 9600 0x0020
BaudRate 19200 0x0040
BaudRate 38400 0x0060
BaudRate 57600 0x0080
BaudRate 115200 0x00A0
BaudRate 230400 0x00C0
BaudRate 460800 0x00E0
FlipSwitch 0x0100
Packet Address 0x80 0x0000
Packet Address 0x81 0x0100
Packet Address 0x82 0x0200
Packet Address 0x83 0x0300
Packet Address 0x84 0x0400
Packet Address 0x85 0x0500
Packet Address 0x86 0x0600
Packet Address 0x87 0x0700
Slave Mode 0x0800
Relay Mode 0X1000
Swap Encoders 0x2000
Swap Buttons 0x4000
Multi-Unit Mode 0x8000
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99 - Read Standard Cong Settings
Read cong bits for standard settings See Command 98.
Send: [Address, 99]
Receive: [Cong(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
100 - Set CTRL Modes
Set CTRL modes of CTRL1 and CTRL2 output pins(available on select models).
Send: [Address, 20, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
On select models of Roboclaw, two Open drain, high current output drivers are available, CTRL1
and CTRL2.
Mode Function
0 Disable
1 User
2 Voltage Clamp
3 Brake
User Mode - The output level can be controlled by setting a value from 0(0%) to 65535(100%).
A variable frequency PWM is generated at the specied percentage.
Voltage Clamp Mode - The CTRL output will activate when an over voltage is detected and
released when the overvoltage disipates. Adding an external load dump resistor from the CTRL
pin to B+ will allow the Roboclaw to disipate over voltage energy automatically(up to the 3amp
limit of the CTRL pin).
Brake Mode - The CTRL pin can be used to activate an external brake(CTRL1 for Motor 1 brake
and CTRL2 for Motor 2 brake). The signal will activate when the motor is stopped(eg 0 PWM).
Note acceleration/default_acceleration settings should be set appropriately to allow the motor to
slow down before the brake is activated.
101 - Read CTRL Modes
Read CTRL modes of CTRL1 and CTRL2 output pins(available on select models).
Send: [Address, 101]
Receive: [CTRL1Mode(1 bytes), CTRL2Mode(1 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Reads CTRL1 and CTRL2 mode setting. See 100 - Set CTRL Modes for valid values.
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102 - Set CTRL1
Set CTRL1 output value(available on select models)
Send: [Address, 102, Value(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
Set the output state value of CTRL1. See 100 - Set CTRL Modes for valid values.
103 - Set CTRL2
Set CTRL2 output value(available on select models)
Send: [Address, 103, Value(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
Set the output state value of CTRL2. See 100 - Set CTRL Modes for valid values.
104 - Read CTRL Settings
Read CTRL1 and CTRL2 output values(available on select models)
Send: [Address, 104]
Receive: [CTRL1(2 bytes), CTRL2(2 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Reads currently set values for CTRL Settings. See 100 - Set CTRL Modes for valid values.
133 - Set M1 Max Current Limit
Set Motor 1 Maximum Current Limit. Current value is in 10ma units. To calculate multiply current
limit by 100.
Send: [Address, 134, MaxCurrent(4 bytes), 0, 0, 0, 0, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
134 - Set M2 Max Current Limit
Set Motor 2 Maximum Current Limit. Current value is in 10ma units. To calculate multiply current
limit by 100.
Send: [Address, 134, MaxCurrent(4 bytes), 0, 0, 0, 0, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
135 - Read M1 Max Current Limit
Read Motor 1 Maximum Current Limit. Current value is in 10ma units. To calculate divide value
by 100. MinCurrent is always 0.
Send: [Address, 135]
Receive: [MaxCurrent(4 bytes), MinCurrent(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
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136 - Read M2 Max Current Limit
Read Motor 2 Maximum Current Limit. Current value is in 10ma units. To calculate divide value
by 100. MinCurrent is always 0.
Send: [Address, 136]
Receive: [MaxCurrent(4 bytes), MinCurrent(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
148 - Set PWM Mode
Set PWM Drive mode. Locked Antiphase(0) or Sign Magnitude(1).
Send: [Address, 148, Mode, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
149 - Read PWM Mode
Read PWM Drive mode. See Command 148.
Send: [Address, 149]
Receive: [PWMMode, CRC(2 bytes)]
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Encoders
Cloose Loop Modes
RoboClaw supports a wide range of encoders for close loop modes. Encoders are used in velocity,
position or a cascaded velocity with position control mode. This manual mainly deals with
Quadrature and Absolute encoders. However additional types of encoders are supported.
Encoder Tunning
All encoders will require tuning to properly function. Ion Studio incorperates an Auto Tune
function which can automatically tune the PID and editable elds for manual tuning of the PID.
Encoders can also be tunned using Advance Control Commands which can be sent by a MCU or
other control devices.
Quadrature Encoders Wiring
RoboClaw is capable of reading two quadrature encoders, one for each motor channel. The main
header provides two +5VDC connections with dual A and B input signals for each encoder.
Quadrature encoders are directional. In a simple two motor robot, one motor will spin clock
wise (CW) and the other motor will spin counter clock wise (CCW). The A and B inputs for one
of the encoders must be reversed to allow both encoders to count up when the robot is moving
forward. If both encoder are connected with leading edge pulse to channel A one will count up
and the other down. This will cause commands like Mix Drive Forward to not work as expected.
All motor and encoder combinations will need to be tuned.
UART TX
UART RX
5VDC
GROUND
MCU
Encoder 1
Encoder 2
GND
+5V
GND
+5V
RX0
TX0
+5V
GROUND
M1A
Motor 1
R1
M1B
B+
A
B
A
B
EN1 A
EN1 B
GROUND
5VDC
EN2 B
EN2 A
GROUND
5VDC
M2B
M2A
B-
Motor 2
F1
-
Battery
D1
+
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Absolute Encoder Wiring
RoboClaw is capable of reading absolute encoders that output an analog voltage. Like the Analog
input modes for controlling the motors, the absolute encoder voltage must be between 0v and
2v. If using standard potentiometers as absolute encoders the 5v from the RoboClaw can be
divided down to 2v at the potentiometer by adding a resistor from the 5v line on the RoboClaw
to the potentiometer. For a 5k pot R1 / R2 = 7.5k, for a 10k pot R1 / R2 = 15k and for a 20k
pot R1 / R2 = 30k.
The diagram below shows the main battery as the only power source. Make sure the LB jumper
is installed. The 5VDC shown connected is only required if your MCU needs a power source. This
is the BEC feature of RoboClaw. If the MCU has its own power source do not connect the 5VDC.
UART TX
UART RX
GROUND
Pot 1
Pot 2
5VDC
GND
+2V
GND
+2V
S1 Signal
S2 Signal
M1A
5VDC
GROUND
Motor 1
M1B
SW1
Positive +
A
EN1 A
GROUND
5VDC
D1
Negative -
R1
A
EN2 A
M2B
-
+
GROUND
5VDC
Motor 2
Battery
R2
M2A
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Encoder Tuning
To control motor speed and or position with an encoder the PID must be calibrated for the
specic motor and encoder being used. Using Ion Studio the PID can be tuned manually or by
the auto tune fucntion. Once the encoders are tuned the settings can be saved to the onboard
eeprom and will be loaded each time the unit powers up.
The Ion Studio window for Velocity Settings will auto tune for velocity. The window for Position
Settings can tune a simple PD position controller, a PID position controller or a cascaded Position
with Velocity controller(PIV). The cascaded tune will determine both the velocity and position
values for the motor but still requires the QPPS be manually set for the motor before starting.
Auto tune functions usually return reasonable values but manually adjustments may be required
for optimum performance.
Auto Tuning
Ion Studio provides the option to auto tune velocity and position control. To use the auto tune
option make sure the encoder and motor are running in the desired direction and the basic
PWM control of the motor works as expected. It is recommend to ensure the motor and encoder
combination are functioning properly before using the auto tune feature.
1. Go to the PWM Settings screen in Ion Studio.
2. Slide the motor slider up to start moving the motor forward. Check the encoder is increasing
in value. If it is not either reverse the motor wires or the encoder wires. The recheck.
Before using auto tune you must rst set the motors and encoders maximum speed. For the
purpose of auto tune the maximum quadrature pulse per second (QPPS) is the maximum speed
the motor and encoder can acheive. When using an absolute encoder the QPPS will be the
maximum rotational speed of the absolute encoder. Check the encoders data sheet to ensure the
maximum rotational speed is not exceeded. Auto tune for position control can not automatically
measure the maximum QPPS due to most position control systems having a limited range of
movement.
3. To determine the maximum QPPS value, use the PWM settings screen to run the motor and
encoder at 100% duty by moving the slider bar full up or down. Record the value from M1 Speed
or M2 Speed elds at the top of the window. This is your maximum QPPS speed. If the motor
can not be ran at full speed due to physical constraints, then an estimated maximum speed in
encoder counts is required.
4. Enter the QPPS speed obtained from step 3 into the QPPS elds under settings. Ensure the
correct QPPS is entered for the corresponding motor channel. Two identical motors and encoders
may not function exactly the same so the maximum QPPS may vary.
5. To start auto tune click the auto tune button for the motor channel that is will be tuned rst.
The auto tune function will try to determine the best settings for that motor channel.
If the motor or encoder are wired incorrectly, the auto tune function can lock
up and the motor controller will become unresponsive. Correct the wiring
!
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Manual Velocity Calibration Procedure
1. Determine the quadrature pulses per second(QPPS) value for your motor. The simplest
method to do this is to run the Motor at 100% duty using Ion Studio and read back the speed
value from the encoder attached to the motor. If you are unable to run the motor like this due to
physical constraints you will need to estimate the maximum speed in encoder counts the motor
can produce.
2. Set the initial P,I and D values in the Velocity control window to 1,0 and 0. Try moving the
motor using the slider controls in IonMotion. If the motor does not move it may not be wired
correctly or the P value needs to be increased. If the motor immediately runs at max speed
when you change the slider position you probably have the motor or encoder wires reversed.
The motor is trying to go at the speed specied but the encoder reading is coming back in the
opposite direction so the motor increases power until it eventually hits 100% power. Reverse the
encoder or motor wires(not both) and test again.
3. Once the motor has some semblance of control you can set a moderate speed. Then start
increasing the P value until the speed reading is near the set value. If the motor feels like it is
vibrating at higher P values you should reduce the P value to about 2/3rds that value. Move on
to the I setting.
4. Start increasing the I setting. You will usually want to increase this value by .1 increments.
The I value helps the motor reach the exact speed specied. Too high an I value will also cause
the motor to feel rough/vibrate. This is because the motor will over shoot the set speed and then
the controller will reduce power to get the speed back down which will also under shoot and this
will continue oscillating back and forth form too fast to too slow, causing a vibration in the motor.
5. Once P and I are set reasonably well usually you will leave D = 0. D is only required if you are
unable to get reasonable speed control out of the motor using just P and I. D will help dampen
P and I over shoot allowing higher P and I values, but D also increases noise in the calculation
which can cause oscillations in the speed as well.
Manual Position Calibration Procedure
1. Position mode requires the Velocity mode QPPS value be set as described above. For simple
Position control you can set Velocity P, I and D all to 0.
2. Set the Position I and D settings to 0. Set the P setting to 2000 as a reasonable starting
point. To test the motor you must also set the Speed argument to some value. We recommend
setting it to the same value as the QPPS setting(eg maximum motor speed). Set the minimum
and maximum position values to safe numbers. If your motor has no dead stops this can be +-2
billion. If your motor has specic dead stops(like on a linear actuator) you will need to manually
move the motor to its dead stops to determine these numbers. Leave some margin infront of
each deadstop. Note that when using quadrature encoders you will need to home your motor on
every power up since the quadrature readings are all relative to the starting position unless you
set/reset the encoder values.
3. At this point the motor should move in the appropriate direction and stop, not necessarily
close to the set position when you move the slider. Increase the P setting until the position
is over shooting some each time you change the position slider. Now start increasing the D
setting(leave I at 0). Increasing D will add dampening to the movement when getting close
to the set position. This will help prevent the over shoot. D will usually be anywhere from 5 to
20 times larger than P but not always. Continue increasing P and D until the motor is working
reasonably well. Once it is you have tuned a simple PD system.
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4. Once your position control is acting relatively smoothly and coming close to the set position
you can think about adjusting the I setting. Adding I will help reach the exact set point specied
but in most motor systems there is enough slop in the gears that instead you will end up causing
an oscillation around the specied position. This is called hunting. The I setting causes this when
there is any slop in the motor/encoder/gear train. You can compensate some for this by adding
deadzone. Deadzone is the area around the specied position the controller will consider to be
equal to the position specied.
5. One more setting must be adjusted in order to use the I setting. The Imax value sets the
maximum wind up allowed for the I setting calculation. Increasing Imax will allow I to affect a
larger amount of the movement of the motor but will also allow the system to oscillate if used
with a badly tuned I and/or set too high.
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Encoder Commands
The following commands are used with the encoders both quadrature and absolute. The Encoder
Commands are used to read the register values for both encoder channels.
Command Description
16 Read Encoder Count/Value for M1.
17 Read Encoder Count/Value for M2.
18 Read M1 Speed in Encoder Counts Per Second.
19 Read M2 Speed in Encoder Counts Per Second.
20 Resets Encoder Registers for M1 and M2(Quadrature only).
22 Set Encoder 1 Register(Quadrature only).
23 Set Encoder 2 Register(Quadrature only).
30 Read Current M1 Raw Speed
31 Read Current M2 Raw Speed
78 Read Encoders Counts
79 Read Motor Speeds
16 - Read Encoder Count/Value M1
Read M1 encoder count/position.
Send: [Address, 16]
Receive: [Enc1(4 bytes), Status, CRC(2 bytes)]
Quadrature encoders have a range of 0 to 4,294,967,295. Absolute encoder values are converted
from an analog voltage into a value from 0 to 2047 for the full 2v range.
The status byte tracks counter underow, direction and overow. The byte value represents:
Bit0 - Counter Underow (1= Underow Occurred, Clear After Reading)
Bit1 - Direction (0 = Forward, 1 = Backwards)
Bit2 - Counter Overow (1= Underow Occurred, Clear After Reading)
Bit3 - Reserved
Bit4 - Reserved
Bit5 - Reserved
Bit6 - Reserved
Bit7 - Reserved
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17 - Read Quadrature Encoder Count/Value M2
Read M2 encoder count/position.
Send: [Address, 17]
Receive: [EncCnt(4 bytes), Status, CRC(2 bytes)]
Quadrature encoders have a range of 0 to 4,294,967,295. Absolute encoder values are
converted from an analog voltage into a value from 0 to 2047 for the full 2v range.
The Status byte tracks counter underow, direction and overow. The byte value represents:
Bit0 - Counter Underow (1= Underow Occurred, Cleared After Reading)
Bit1 - Direction (0 = Forward, 1 = Backwards)
Bit2 - Counter Overow (1= Underow Occurred, Cleared After Reading)
Bit3 - Reserved
Bit4 - Reserved
Bit5 - Reserved
Bit6 - Reserved
Bit7 - Reserved
18 - Read Encoder Speed M1
Read M1 counter speed. Returned value is in pulses per second. RoboClaw keeps track of how
many pulses received per second for both encoder channels.
Send: [Address, 18]
Receive: [Speed(4 bytes), Status, CRC(2 bytes)]
Status indicates the direction (0 – forward, 1 - backward).
19 - Read Encoder Speed M2
Read M2 counter speed. Returned value is in pulses per second. RoboClaw keeps track of how
many pulses received per second for both encoder channels.
Send: [Address, 19]
Receive: [Speed(4 bytes), Status, CRC(2 bytes)]
Status indicates the direction (0 – forward, 1 - backward).
20 - Reset Quadrature Encoder Counters
Will reset both quadrature decoder counters to zero. This command applies to quadrature
encoders only.
Send: [Address, 20, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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22 - Set Quadrature Encoder 1 Value
Set the value of the Encoder 1 register. Useful when homing motor 1. This command applies to
quadrature encoders only.
Send: [Address, 22, Value(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
23 - Set Quadrature Encoder 2 Value
Set the value of the Encoder 2 register. Useful when homing motor 2. This command applies to
quadrature encoders only.
Send: [Address, 23, Value(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
30 - Read Raw Speed M1
Read the pulses counted in that last 300th of a second. This is an unltered version of command
18. Command 30 can be used to make a independent PID routine. Value returned is in encoder
counts per second.
Send: [Address, 30]
Receive: [Speed(4 bytes), Status, CRC(2 bytes)]
The Status byte is direction (0 – forward, 1 - backward).
31 - Read Raw Speed M2
Read the pulses counted in that last 300th of a second. This is an unltered version of command
19. Command 31 can be used to make a independent PID routine. Value returned is in encoder
counts per second.
Send: [Address, 31]
Receive: [Speed(4 bytes), Status, CRC(2 bytes)]
The Status byte is direction (0 – forward, 1 - backward).
78 - Read Encoder Counters
Read M1 and M2 encoder counters. Quadrature encoders have a range of 0 to 4,294,967,295.
Absolute encoder values are converted from an analog voltage into a value from 0 to 2047 for
the full 2V analog range.
Send: [Address, 78]
Receive: [Enc1(4 bytes), Enc2(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
79 - Read ISpeeds Counters
Read M1 and M2 instantaneous speeds. Returns the speed in encoder counts per second for the
last 300th of a second for both encoder channels.
Send: [Address, 79]
Receive: [ISpeed1(4 bytes), ISpeed2(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
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Advance Motor Control
Advanced Motor Control Commands
The following commands are used to control motor speeds, acceleration distance and position
using encoders. The PID can also be manually adjusted using Advance Motor Control Commands.
Command Description
28 Set Velocity PID Constants for M1.
29 Set Velocity PID Constants for M2.
32 Drive M1 With Signed Duty Cycle. (Encoders not required)
33 Drive M2 With Signed Duty Cycle. (Encoders not required)
34 Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Duty Cycle. (Encoders not required)
35 Drive M1 With Signed Speed.
36 Drive M2 With Signed Speed.
37 Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed.
38 Drive M1 With Signed Speed And Acceleration.
39 Drive M2 With Signed Speed And Acceleration.
40 Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Acceleration.
41 Drive M1 With Signed Speed And Distance. Buffered.
42 Drive M2 With Signed Speed And Distance. Buffered.
43 Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Distance. Buffered.
44 Drive M1 With Signed Speed, Acceleration and Distance. Buffered.
45 Drive M2 With Signed Speed, Acceleration and Distance. Buffered.
46 Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed, Acceleration And Distance. Buffered.
47 Read Buffer Length.
50 Drive M1 / M2 With Individual Signed Speed and Acceleration
51 Drive M1 / M2 With Individual Signed Speed, Accel and Distance
52 Drive M1 With Signed Duty and Accel. (Encoders not required)
53 Drive M2 With Signed Duty and Accel. (Encoders not required)
54 Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Duty and Accel. (Encoders not required)
55 Read Motor 1 Velocity PID Constants
56 Read Motor 2 Velocity PID Constants
61 Set Position PID Constants for M1.
62 Set Position PID Constants for M2
63 Read Motor 1 Position PID Constants
64 Read Motor 2 Position PID Constants
65 Drive M1 with Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position
66 Drive M2 with Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position
67 Drive M1 / M2 with Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position
68 Set default duty cycle acceleration for M1
69 Set default duty cycle acceleration for M2
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28 - Set Velocity PID Constants M1
Several motor and quadrature combinations can be used with RoboClaw. In some cases the
default PID values will need to be tuned for the systems being driven. This gives greater
exibility in what motor and encoder combinations can be used. The RoboClaw PID system
consist of four constants starting with QPPS, P = Proportional, I= Integral and D= Derivative.
The defaults values are:
QPPS = 44000
P = 0x00010000
I = 0x00008000
D = 0x00004000
QPPS is the speed of the encoder when the motor is at 100% power. P, I, D are the default
values used after a reset. Command syntax:
Send: [Address, 28, D(4 bytes), P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), QPPS(4 byte), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
29 - Set Velocity PID Constants M2
Several motor and quadrature combinations can be used with RoboClaw. In some cases the
default PID values will need to be tuned for the systems being driven. This gives greater
exibility in what motor and encoder combinations can be used. The RoboClaw PID system
consist of four constants starting with QPPS, P = Proportional, I= Integral and D= Derivative.
The defaults values are:
QPPS = 44000
P = 0x00010000
I = 0x00008000
D = 0x00004000
QPPS is the speed of the encoder when the motor is at 100% power. P, I, D are the default
values used after a reset. Command syntax:
Send: [Address, 29, D(4 bytes), P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), QPPS(4 byte), CRC(2 bytes)]Re-
ceive: [0xFF]
32 - Drive M1 With Signed Duty Cycle
Drive M1 using a duty cycle value. The duty cycle is used to control the speed of the motor
without a quadrature encoder.
Send: [Address, 32, Duty(2 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The duty value is signed and the range is -32767 to +32767 (eg. +-100% duty).
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33 - Drive M2 With Signed Duty Cycle
Drive M2 using a duty cycle value. The duty cycle is used to control the speed of the motor
without a quadrature encoder. The command syntax:
Send: [Address, 33, Duty(2 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The duty value is signed and the range is -32768 to +32767 (eg. +-100% duty).
34 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Duty Cycle
Drive both M1 and M2 using a duty cycle value. The duty cycle is used to control the speed of
the motor without a quadrature encoder. The command syntax:
Send: [Address, 34, DutyM1(2 Bytes), DutyM2(2 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The duty value is signed and the range is -32768 to +32767 (eg. +-100% duty).
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35 - Drive M1 With Signed Speed
Drive M1 using a speed value. The sign indicates which direction the motor will turn. This
command is used to drive the motor by quad pulses per second. Different quadrature encoders
will have different rates at which they generate the incoming pulses. The values used will differ
from one encoder to another. Once a value is sent the motor will begin to accelerate as fast as
possible until the dened rate is reached.
Send: [Address, 35, Speed(4 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
36 - Drive M2 With Signed Speed
Drive M2 with a speed value. The sign indicates which direction the motor will turn. This
command is used to drive the motor by quad pulses per second. Different quadrature encoders
will have different rates at which they generate the incoming pulses. The values used will differ
from one encoder to another. Once a value is sent, the motor will begin to accelerate as fast as
possible until the rate dened is reached.
Send: [Address, 36, Speed(4 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
37 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed
Drive M1 and M2 in the same command using a signed speed value. The sign indicates which
direction the motor will turn. This command is used to drive both motors by quad pulses per
second. Different quadrature encoders will have different rates at which they generate the
incoming pulses. The values used will differ from one encoder to another. Once a value is sent
the motor will begin to accelerate as fast as possible until the rate dened is reached.
Send: [Address, 37, SpeedM1(4 Bytes), SpeedM2(4 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
38 - Drive M1 With Signed Speed And Acceleration
Drive M1 with a signed speed and acceleration value. The sign indicates which direction the
motor will run. The acceleration values are not signed. This command is used to drive the motor
by quad pulses per second and using an acceleration value for ramping. Different quadrature
encoders will have different rates at which they generate the incoming pulses. The values used
will differ from one encoder to another. Once a value is sent the motor will begin to accelerate
incrementally until the rate dened is reached.
Send: [Address, 38, Accel(4 Bytes), Speed(4 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The acceleration is measured in speed increase per second. An acceleration value of 12,000
QPPS with a speed of 12,000 QPPS would accelerate a motor from 0 to 12,000 QPPS in 1
second. Another example would be an acceleration value of 24,000 QPPS and a speed value of
12,000 QPPS would accelerate the motor to 12,000 QPPS in 0.5 seconds.
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39 - Drive M2 With Signed Speed And Acceleration
Drive M2 with a signed speed and acceleration value. The sign indicates which direction the
motor will run. The acceleration value is not signed. This command is used to drive the motor
by quad pulses per second and using an acceleration value for ramping. Different quadrature
encoders will have different rates at which they generate the incoming pulses. The values used
will differ from one encoder to another. Once a value is sent the motor will begin to accelerate
incrementally until the rate dened is reached.
Send: [Address, 39, Accel(4 Bytes), Speed(4 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The acceleration is measured in speed increase per second. An acceleration value of 12,000
QPPS with a speed of 12,000 QPPS would accelerate a motor from 0 to 12,000 QPPS in 1 second.
Another example would be an acceleration value of 24,000 QPPS and a speed value of 12,000
QPPS would accelerate the motor to 12,000 QPPS in 0.5 seconds.
40 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Acceleration
Drive M1 and M2 in the same command using one value for acceleration and two signed speed
values for each motor. The sign indicates which direction the motor will run. The acceleration
value is not signed. The motors are sync during acceleration. This command is used to drive
the motor by quad pulses per second and using an acceleration value for ramping. Different
quadrature encoders will have different rates at which they generate the incoming pulses. The
values used will differ from one encoder to another. Once a value is sent the motor will begin to
accelerate incrementally until the rate dened is reached.
Send: [Address, 40, Accel(4 Bytes), SpeedM1(4 Bytes), SpeedM2(4 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The acceleration is measured in speed increase per second. An acceleration value of 12,000
QPPS with a speed of 12,000 QPPS would accelerate a motor from 0 to 12,000 QPPS in 1 second.
Another example would be an acceleration value of 24,000 QPPS and a speed value of 12,000
QPPS would accelerate the motor to 12,000 QPPS in 0.5 seconds.
41 - Buffered M1 Drive With Signed Speed And Distance
Drive M1 with a signed speed and distance value. The sign indicates which direction the motor
will run. The distance value is not signed. This command is buffered. This command is used to
control the top speed and total distance traveled by the motor. Each motor channel M1 and M2
have separate buffers. This command will execute immediately if no other command for that
channel is executing, otherwise the command will be buffered in the order it was sent. Any
buffered or executing command can be stopped when a new command is issued by setting the
Buffer argument. All values used are in quad pulses per second.
Send: [Address, 41, Speed(4 Bytes), Distance(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The Buffer argument can be set to a 1 or 0. If a value of 0 is used the command will be buffered
and executed in the order sent. If a value of 1 is used the current running command is stopped,
any other commands in the buffer are deleted and the new command is executed.
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42 - Buffered M2 Drive With Signed Speed And Distance
Drive M2 with a speed and distance value. The sign indicates which direction the motor will run.
The distance value is not signed. This command is buffered. Each motor channel M1 and M2
have separate buffers. This command will execute immediately if no other command for that
channel is executing, otherwise the command will be buffered in the order it was sent. Any
buffered or executing command can be stopped when a new command is issued by setting the
Buffer argument. All values used are in quad pulses per second.
Send: [Address, 42, Speed(4 Bytes), Distance(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The Buffer argument can be set to a 1 or 0. If a value of 0 is used the command will be buffered
and executed in the order sent. If a value of 1 is used the current running command is stopped,
any other commands in the buffer are deleted and the new command is executed.
43 - Buffered Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Distance
Drive M1 and M2 with a speed and distance value. The sign indicates which direction the motor
will run. The distance value is not signed. This command is buffered. Each motor channel M1
and M2 have separate buffers. This command will execute immediately if no other command for
that channel is executing, otherwise the command will be buffered in the order it was sent. Any
buffered or executing command can be stopped when a new command is issued by setting the
Buffer argument. All values used are in quad pulses per second.
Send: [Address, 43, SpeedM1(4 Bytes), DistanceM1(4 Bytes),
SpeedM2(4 Bytes), DistanceM2(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The Buffer argument can be set to a 1 or 0. If a value of 0 is used the command will be buffered
and executed in the order sent. If a value of 1 is used the current running command is stopped,
any other commands in the buffer are deleted and the new command is executed.
44 - Buffered M1 Drive With Signed Speed, Accel And Distance
Drive M1 with a speed, acceleration and distance value. The sign indicates which direction the
motor will run. The acceleration and distance values are not signed. This command is used to
control the motors top speed, total distanced traveled and at what incremental acceleration value
to use until the top speed is reached. Each motor channel M1 and M2 have separate buffers. This
command will execute immediately if no other command for that channel is executing, otherwise
the command will be buffered in the order it was sent. Any buffered or executing command can
be stopped when a new command is issued by setting the Buffer argument. All values used are
in quad pulses per second.
Send: [Address, 44, Accel(4 bytes), Speed(4 Bytes), Distance(4 Bytes),
Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The Buffer argument can be set to a 1 or 0. If a value of 0 is used the command will be buffered
and executed in the order sent. If a value of 1 is used the current running command is stopped,
any other commands in the buffer are deleted and the new command is executed.
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45 - Buffered M2 Drive With Signed Speed, Accel And Distance
Drive M2 with a speed, acceleration and distance value. The sign indicates which direction the
motor will run. The acceleration and distance values are not signed. This command is used to
control the motors top speed, total distanced traveled and at what incremental acceleration
value to use until the top speed is reached. Each motor channel M1 and M2 have separate
buffers. This command will execute immediately if no other command for that channel is
executing, otherwise the command will be buffered in the order it was sent. Any buffered
or executing command can be stopped when a new command is issued by setting the Buffer
argument. All values used are in quad pulses per second.
Send: [Address, 45, Accel(4 bytes), Speed(4 Bytes), Distance(4 Bytes),
Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The Buffer argument can be set to a 1 or 0. If a value of 0 is used the command will be buffered
and executed in the order sent. If a value of 1 is used the current running command is stopped,
any other commands in the buffer are deleted and the new command is executed.
46 - Buffered Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed, Accel And Distance
Drive M1 and M2 with a speed, acceleration and distance value. The sign indicates which
direction the motor will run. The acceleration and distance values are not signed. This command
is used to control both motors top speed, total distanced traveled and at what incremental
acceleration value to use until the top speed is reached. Each motor channel M1 and M2 have
separate buffers. This command will execute immediately if no other command for that channel
is executing, otherwise the command will be buffered in the order it was sent. Any buffered
or executing command can be stopped when a new command is issued by setting the Buffer
argument. All values used are in quad pulses per second.
Send: [Address, 46, Accel(4 Bytes), SpeedM1(4 Bytes), DistanceM1(4 Bytes),
SpeedM2(4 bytes), DistanceM2(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The Buffer argument can be set to a 1 or 0. If a value of 0 is used the command will be buffered
and executed in the order sent. If a value of 1 is used the current running command is stopped,
any other commands in the buffer are deleted and the new command is executed.
47 - Read Buffer Length
Read both motor M1 and M2 buffer lengths. This command can be used to determine how many
commands are waiting to execute.
Send: [Address, 47]
Receive: [BufferM1, BufferM2, CRC(2 bytes)]
The return values represent how many commands per buffer are waiting to be executed. The
maximum buffer size per motor is 64 commands(0x3F). A return value of 0x80(128) indicates
the buffer is empty. A return value of 0 indiciates the last command sent is executing. A value of
0x80 indicates the last command buffered has nished.
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50 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed And Individual Acceleration
Drive M1 and M2 in the same command using one value for acceleration and two signed speed
values for each motor. The sign indicates which direction the motor will run. The acceleration
value is not signed. The motors are sync during acceleration. This command is used to drive
the motor by quad pulses per second and using an acceleration value for ramping. Different
quadrature encoders will have different rates at which they generate the incoming pulses. The
values used will differ from one encoder to another. Once a value is sent the motor will begin to
accelerate incrementally until the rate dened is reached.
Send: [Address, 50, AccelM1(4 Bytes), SpeedM1(4 Bytes), AccelM2(4 Bytes),
SpeedM2(4 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The acceleration is measured in speed increase per second. An acceleration value of 12,000
QPPS with a speed of 12,000 QPPS would accelerate a motor from 0 to 12,000 QPPS in 1 second.
Another example would be an acceleration value of 24,000 QPPS and a speed value of 12,000
QPPS would accelerate the motor to 12,000 QPPS in 0.5 seconds.
51 - Buffered Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Speed, Individual Accel And Distance
Drive M1 and M2 with a speed, acceleration and distance value. The sign indicates which
direction the motor will run. The acceleration and distance values are not signed. This command
is used to control both motors top speed, total distanced traveled and at what incremental
acceleration value to use until the top speed is reached. Each motor channel M1 and M2 have
separate buffers. This command will execute immediately if no other command for that channel
is executing, otherwise the command will be buffered in the order it was sent. Any buffered
or executing command can be stopped when a new command is issued by setting the Buffer
argument. All values used are in quad pulses per second.
Send: [Address, 51, AccelM1(4 Bytes), SpeedM1(4 Bytes), DistanceM1(4 Bytes),
AccelM2(4 Bytes), SpeedM2(4 bytes), DistanceM2(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The Buffer argument can be set to a 1 or 0. If a value of 0 is used the command will be buffered
and executed in the order sent. If a value of 1 is used the current running command is stopped,
any other commands in the buffer are deleted and the new command is executed.
52 - Drive M1 With Signed Duty And Acceleration
Drive M1 with a signed duty and acceleration value. The sign indicates which direction the motor
will run. The acceleration values are not signed. This command is used to drive the motor by
PWM and using an acceleration value for ramping. Accel is the rate per second at which the duty
changes from the current duty to the specied duty.
Send: [Address, 52, Duty(2 bytes), Accel(2 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The duty value is signed and the range is -32768 to +32767(eg. +-100% duty). The accel value
range is 0 to 655359(eg maximum acceleration rate is -100% to 100% in 100ms).
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53 - Drive M2 With Signed Duty And Acceleration
Drive M1 with a signed duty and acceleration value. The sign indicates which direction the motor
will run. The acceleration values are not signed. This command is used to drive the motor by
PWM and using an acceleration value for ramping. Accel is the rate at which the duty changes
from the current duty to the specied dury.
Send: [Address, 53, Duty(2 bytes), Accel(2 Bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The duty value is signed and the range is -32768 to +32767 (eg. +-100% duty). The accel value
range is 0 to 655359 (eg maximum acceleration rate is -100% to 100% in 100ms).
54 - Drive M1 / M2 With Signed Duty And Acceleration
Drive M1 and M2 in the same command using acceleration and duty values for each motor.
The sign indicates which direction the motor will run. The acceleration value is not signed. This
command is used to drive the motor by PWM using an acceleration value for ramping. The
command syntax:
Send: [Address, CMD, DutyM1(2 bytes), AccelM1(4 Bytes), DutyM2(2 bytes),
AccelM1(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
The duty value is signed and the range is -32768 to +32767 (eg. +-100% duty). The accel value
range is 0 to 655359 (eg maximum acceleration rate is -100% to 100% in 100ms).
55 - Read Motor 1 Velocity PID and QPPS Settings
Read the PID and QPPS Settings.
Send: [Address, 55]
Receive: [P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), D(4 bytes), QPPS(4 byte), CRC(2 bytes)]
56 - Read Motor 2 Velocity PID and QPPS Settings
Read the PID and QPPS Settings.
Send: [Address, 56]
Receive: [P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), D(4 bytes), QPPS(4 byte), CRC(2 bytes)]
61 - Set Motor 1 Position PID Constants
The RoboClaw Position PID system consist of seven constants starting with P = Proportional, I=
Integral and D= Derivative, MaxI = Maximum Integral windup, Deadzone in encoder counts,
MinPos = Minimum Position and MaxPos = Maximum Position. The defaults values are all zero.
Send: [Address, 61, D(4 bytes), P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), MaxI(4 bytes),
Deadzone(4 bytes), MinPos(4 bytes), MaxPos(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
Position constants are used only with the Position commands, 65,66 and 67 or when encoders
are enabled in RC/Analog modes.
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62 - Set Motor 2 Position PID Constants
The RoboClaw Position PID system consist of seven constants starting with P = Proportional, I=
Integral and D= Derivative, MaxI = Maximum Integral windup, Deadzone in encoder counts,
MinPos = Minimum Position and MaxPos = Maximum Position. The defaults values are all zero.
Send: [Address, 62, D(4 bytes), P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), MaxI(4 bytes),
Deadzone(4 bytes), MinPos(4 bytes), MaxPos(4 bytes), CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
Position constants are used only with the Position commands, 65,66 and 67 or when encoders
are enabled in RC/Analog modes.
63 - Read Motor 1 Position PID Constants
Read the Position PID Settings.
Send: [Address, 63]
Receive: [P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), D(4 bytes), MaxI(4 byte), Deadzone(4 byte),
MinPos(4 byte), MaxPos(4 byte), CRC(2 bytes)]
64 - Read Motor 2 Position PID Constants
Read the Position PID Settings.
Send: [Address, 64]
Receive: [P(4 bytes), I(4 bytes), D(4 bytes), MaxI(4 byte), Deadzone(4 byte),
MinPos(4 byte), MaxPos(4 byte), CRC(2 bytes)]
65 - Buffered Drive M1 with signed Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position
Move M1 position from the current position to the specied new position and hold the new
position. Accel sets the acceleration value and deccel the decceleration value. QSpeed sets the
speed in quadrature pulses the motor will run at after acceleration and before decceleration.
Send: [Address, 65, Accel(4 bytes), Speed(4 Bytes), Deccel(4 bytes),
Position(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
66 - Buffered Drive M2 with signed Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position
Move M2 position from the current position to the specied new position and hold the new
position. Accel sets the acceleration value and deccel the decceleration value. QSpeed sets the
speed in quadrature pulses the motor will run at after acceleration and before decceleration.
Send: [Address, 66, Accel(4 bytes), Speed(4 Bytes), Deccel(4 bytes),
Position(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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67 - Buffered Drive M1 & M2 with signed Speed, Accel, Deccel and Position
Move M1 & M2 positions from their current positions to the specied new positions and hold the
new positions. Accel sets the acceleration value and deccel the decceleration value. QSpeed sets
the speed in quadrature pulses the motor will run at after acceleration and before decceleration.
Send: [Address, 67, AccelM1(4 bytes), SpeedM1(4 Bytes), DeccelM1(4 bytes),
PositionM1(4 Bytes), AccelM2(4 bytes), SpeedM2(4 Bytes), DeccelM2(4 bytes),
PositionM2(4 Bytes), Buffer, CRC(2 bytes)]
Receive: [0xFF]
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Reading Quadrature Encoder - Arduino Example
The example was tested with an Arduino Uno using packet serial wiring and quadrature encoder
wiring diagrams. The example will read the speed, total ticks and direction of each encoder.
Connect to the program using a terminal window set to 38400 baud. The program will display
the values of each encoders current count along with each encoder status bit in binary and the
direction bit. As the encoder is turned it will update the screen. Additional example programs can
be downloaded from Ionmc.com.
//Set mode to 7(packet serial address 0x80) and option 4(38400)
//Includes required to use Roboclaw library
#include "BMSerial.h"
#include "RoboClaw.h"
//Roboclaw Address
#dene address 0x80
//Dente terminal for display. Use hardware serial pins 0 and 1
BMSerial terminal(0,1);
//Setup communcaitions with roboclaw. Use pins 10 and 11 with 10ms timeout
RoboClaw roboclaw(10,11,10000);
void setup() {
//Open terminal and roboclaw at 38400bps
terminal.begin(57600);
roboclaw.begin(38400);
}
void loop() {
uint8_t status1,status2,status3,status4;
bool valid1,valid2,valid3,valid4;
//Read all the data from Roboclaw before displaying on terminal window
//This prevents the hardware serial interrupt from interfering with
//reading data using software serial.
int32_t enc1= roboclaw.ReadEncM1(address, &status1, &valid1);
int32_t enc2 = roboclaw.ReadEncM2(address, &status2, &valid2);
int32_t speed1 = roboclaw.ReadSpeedM1(address, &status3, &valid3);
int32_t speed2 = roboclaw.ReadSpeedM2(address, &status4, &valid4);
terminal.print("Encoder1:");
if(valid1){
terminal.print(enc1,HEX);
terminal.print(" ");
terminal.print(status1,HEX);
terminal.print(" ");
}
else{
terminal.print("invalid ");
}
terminal.print("Encoder2:");
if(valid2){
terminal.print(enc2,HEX);
terminal.print(" ");
terminal.print(status2,HEX);
terminal.print(" ");
}
else{
terminal.print("invalid ");
}
terminal.print("Speed1:");
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if(valid3){
terminal.print(speed1,HEX);
terminal.print(" ");
}
else{
terminal.print("invalid ");
}
terminal.print("Speed2:");
if(valid4){
terminal.print(speed2,HEX);
terminal.print(" ");
}
else{
terminal.print("invalid ");
}
terminal.println();
delay(100);
}
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