Modular Motor Controller
Date started: 9 Sept 2024
GitHub Repository: coming soon!
After joining a robotics team which competed in the First Tech Challenge competition in my sophomore year, I learned the ins and outs of the Control Hub that the company, FIRST, gives to its competitors.
FIRST Control Hub
As a lover of modular machines, components, and software, this hub was beautiful. It easily allowed the mechanical engineers to plug in the motors to a specific port and the software engineers to put in a piece of code that referenced that specific port. It is able to emit its own wifi connection for simple wireless connectivity.
Since I had become well versed with Raspberry Pi's with my Auto Plant System and AlfredAI, I felt confident that I could build this - however I lacked the financial opportunity to buy another one.
After countless hours of research, I finally settled on a Le Potato: a copycat Raspberry Pi that has the ability to run Raspbian (a Debian version of Linux that is built for Pi's). I wanted my design to be modular just like the Control Hub from FIRST, which made me realize that I needed to design my own circuit - one that was built on a perfboard.
My goal for this project was to create a user-friendly, one-to-one copy of the Control Hub for myself. I merely challenged myself to see if I could create something that allowed simple modularity through complex wiring and software.
01
Breadboard Prototype
An initial prototype was first created using the Le Potato, L293D, and a small breadboard. This was to ensure a proof of concept with the circuitry and plausibility of the project.
02
Initial Perfboard Soldering
After a working breadboard circuit was completed, the initial soldering of the perfboard began. This was all hand soldered and all the connections are documented in my Dev Journal.
03
Completed Circuit
After coming across circuitry issues with voltage drops and irregular current, the circuit was modified to include a buck converter and capacitors. The buck converter takes in 12V input and converts it to a stable 5V while the extra capacitors enable smooth voltages for the L293D's.
04
Full 3D Printed Case
Once the circuit was finalized, I designed a case for the project using a tablet app named Shapr3D. This new case allowed organization of the wires and ease of use.
Early Designs
Pages 1-2 of Dev Journal
Pages 3-4 of Dev Journal
Shown above are the first 4 pages of the initial sketches I made for the motor controller. You can see the circuit diagram and design I was inspired by. On the 3rd page, an outline of the wireless joystick controller was designed which is followed by the pinout of the board itself for documentation.