RoboteQ Official Manual for Motor Control Modes and General Operation

General Operation

Selecting the Motor Control Modes

For each motor, the AX500 supports multiple motion control modes. The controller’s fac- tory default mode is Open Loop Speed control for each motor. The mode can be changed using any of the methods described in “Loading, Changing Controller Parameters” on page 134.

Open Loop, Separate Speed Control

In this mode, the controller delivers an amount of power proportional to the command information. The actual motor speed is not measured. Therefore the motors will slow down if there is a change in load as when encountering an obstacle and change in slope. This mode is adequate for most applications where the operator maintains a visual contact with the robot.

In the separate speed control mode, channel 1 commands affect only motor 1, while chan- nel 2 commands affect only motor 2. This is illustrated in Figure 13 below.

Controller

FIGURE 13. Examples of effect of commands to motors in separate mode

Open Loop, Mixed Speed Control

This mode has the same open loop characteristics as the previously described mode. How- ever, the two commands are now mixed to create tank-like steering when one motor is used on each side of the robot: Channel 1 is used for moving the robot in the forward or reverse direction. Channel 2 is used for steering and will change the balance of power on each side to cause the robot to turn.

Figure 14 below illustrates how the mixed mode works.

36 AX500 Motor Controller User’s Manual Version 1.9b. June 1, 2007