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ClassicDIY / SkyeTracker

Dual Axis solar tracker
Apache License 2.0
66 stars 19 forks source link

Using bigger motor controller #11

Closed thijstriemstra closed 4 years ago

thijstriemstra commented 4 years ago

The actuators I'm using need 3A each (at peak) and we decided to use 2 BTS7960 motor controllers.

There is a https://github.com/eicke123/BTS7960Library Arduino library for BTS7960 that seems to do the same. Any ideas on how to extend the LinearActuatorNoPot class? Could you add an interface that can be extended (I'm new to C++) with different types of Actuator implementations?

thijstriemstra commented 4 years ago

If you're interested in testing I can always order and send you such a BTS7960.

graham22 commented 4 years ago

I don't think you need that library it's used to control the motor speed using PWM (Pulse Width Modulation), the motor on the actuators are either off (0V) or full speed (12V)

I used this board https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32821835744.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.1e817501MJYbYr&algo_pvid=a486cb93-3348-4bdd-9e9e-e138d92e8bbc&algo_expid=a486cb93-3348-4bdd-9e9e-e138d92e8bbc-28&btsid=0ab6d70515842269997617572e56f1&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_ with the ESP32 pins as defined in the platform.ini file, the code sets PWMa high/low & PWMb low/high to set the direction then enable to run the actuator for the amount of time required.

[image: image.png]

line 147 LinearActuatorNoPot.cpp [image: image.png]

On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 6:47 PM Thijs Triemstra notifications@github.com wrote:

The actuators I'm using need 3A each (at peak) and we decided to use BTS7960 motor controllers.

There is a https://github.com/eicke123/BTS7960Library Arduino library for BTS7960 that seems to do the same. Any ideas on how to extend the LinearActuatorNoPot class? Could you add an interface that can be extended (I'm new to C++) with different types of Actuator implementations?

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thijstriemstra commented 4 years ago

I see. This setup looks similar to what you're describing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvXa6GKLu6E I'll give it a try asap.

thijstriemstra commented 4 years ago

Managed to get the actuator working using 3 ESP32 pins and it works the same as the SkyeTracker setup.

esp32-BTS7960

Note that PWM covers 2 pins on the BTS7960: L_EN and R_EN receive the same signal from the ESP32.