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Real simple.

I'm having trouble figuring out how i'm going to securely mount the roboclaw, if it had mounting holes on the ends of the heatsink it would be easier to mount, i could just drill holes in the chassis of my rover and lock it down with some screws/bolts/nuts.

Would be easy to have future roboclaw's heatsinks simply have mounting holes to the ends.

I don't want to remove the heatsink for obvious reasons, but i'm just having trouble deciding how to mount it. I was thinking velcro, but i've not had a lot of luck with that in the past. The velcro usually holds stronger than the adhesive backing.

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Universal Robot Controller

Hi, I am not sure which one you have. Actually I am not sure which one I have (Probably a 10)... I simply stack the Roboclaw on top of my BB2. I put it on top as to make it easier to experiment with it.

I removed the screws holding the heat sink from the roboclaw and found it had the same hole pattern as the Lynxmotion Bot Board 2 or the Arc32. On my Tri-track I have my BB2 mounted with standoffs, I have some threaded standoffs like: http://www.lynxmotion.com/p-157-nylon-h ... ap-10.aspx, that screw into these standoffs and hold the BB2 in place and then I simply use some screws like: http://www.lynxmotion.com/p-136-steel-s ... 0-100.aspx to screw through the RoboClaw into these standoffs...

Kurt

I intend to use longer screws and just go into my chassis, though i'll need to find longer screws first. Will use 2 screws in opposite corners.
In fact 2 mounting holes would be enough really. Just something to secure it down.

I'll figure something out, but it's more or less an idea for future roboclaws, not really for me.
A general improvement idea.
I'll have found my own solution before then. Like tomorrow morning.

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Universal Robot Controller

I basically have my 5a RoboClaw wedged between two decks of my 'bot ("fingers" on top and bottom edges).

It is held in place by the edge of a U-shaped bracket that slides in against it.

Alan KM6VV

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I ended up just taking 2 opposite holes, removing the screws and using some long screws and nuts to hold it down. A tiny bit of foam padding stops any vibration or movement from loosening the screws, and also allows for a tight, but safe fit.
I can tighten down the 2 nuts and compress the foam a little. It's not a long term solution, but it'll do for now. It looks really good at least.

Still a couple mounting holes would be nice.


On an unrelated note, another product improvement, this one would be easier to include.
http://www.basicmicro.com/Basic-ATOM-La ... _p_68.html
The LCD is only held in place by it's header pins. Theres no other support.
I suggest including 4x 11mm standoff supports for each of the corners in the package,
12mm would probably work though, since 11mm may be uncommon.
Just a little something i noticed with it, if left to wiggle about, eventually something will break.
Theres already holes drilled for this, so i assume it was something that was intended, but just never followed through on.
The 12mm round standoffs here would probably work
I'll probably buy a pack of these standoffs myself later on.

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Universal Robot Controller

Foam will also tend to insulate (heat), you really want all the heat sinking ability you can get. Mount the heat sink against the metal of the 'bot, where possible. heat sink grease helps as well.

Alan KM6VV

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If your robot motors are going to use lots of juice, I would do either something like Alan mentioned, where it can use the body of the robot to extend the heat sink, or what I did as to make it easy to play with, which is I gave it a lot of room for the Air to circulate around it.


Note: in I have wires running everywhere. I have Y cables on most signals as I end up using the logic Analyzer to confirm what is being sent and received.

As I mentioned in the earlier post, I am using the holes on the board itself as it is designed with the same pattern as other BM and Lynxmotion boards.

In my case it was probably overkill as I don't think the two motors for the tracks come anywhere near to full usage of the the controller. But it is sometimes better to be safe than sorry.

Kurt

Same hole pattern as a BBII? You must have a bigger RoboClaw board! I'm pretty sure the 5a RoboClaw holes don't match my BBII or ARC-32 boards!

You can probably get away with your mounting (open air). Mine is deep in the innards of the robot's drive deck, not much air circulation in there!

One could also add a small uP cooling fan, I suppose.

Alan KM6VV

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The foam is only a couple tiny strips.
I was thinking of using ceramic grease and just attaching it right up. But i'll need to wait till i get my dremel for christmas to remove the powder coat on the chassis.

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Universal Robot Controller

The RoboClaw 10a and 25a have the same screw hole pattern as the SSC32/ARC32/BBII. The 5a is much smaller.

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