BasicMicro - Forums

Hi,
I'm interested in using a RoboClaw for a fixed robot that will be running off of a DC power supply, rather than batteries. Has anyone used one powered from a regulated DC supply?

Is there any way to disable the regenerative power feature or is it not an issue when running on a wall supply?

Cheers,
Michael

We have used them with desktop power supplies. If your power supply has a high voiltage cutoff then you will want to change the mainbattery max voltage setting. By setting the maximum voltage cutoff on the roboclaw to below the maximum cutoff on your power supply your power supply should never see the over voltage because the roboclaw will disconnect(eg the motors will coast) during the over voltage and then reconnect once it has passed.

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Basic Micro - Robotic Technology Evolved

If I'm using an off the shelf DC supply, do you have any suggestions for how to test what a safe cutoff point would be?

I can measure the open circuit supply voltage, seems like that would be a reasonable threshold, but I dunno if that's too conservative or aggressive.

Cheers,
Michael

Give me an example of the kind of DC power supply you may be using and I can give you a better idea of what to do.

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Basic Micro - Robotic Technology Evolved

Sure!

Use a convenient wall-wart of a few amps.

My favorite is a LAB Bench supply (set the voltage and current limiting). But be aware, setting the current too low will give you a uP reset, and it won't be that obvious. (don't ask me how I know).

Could add a cap, although a good regulated (linear) supply probably already has enough.

Alan KM6VV

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I would not recommend running a roboclaw with a wallwart unless you have a multiamp one(which are pretty rare). The best wallwart I haev can push 5amps and I've never had a problem with it and the charging feature of the roboclaws. Most walwarts arn't smart so its probably not a problem with them. A nice desktop supply however will usually have some kind of over voltage protection so you will probably want to set the max over voltage to just above the supplies setting.

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