GDamiani2927
commented
9 months ago Something's off with the power scale (power of 1 is nowhere near the max RPM boasted on the REV website). Ticks are now able to be read, with 28 ticks per revolution at the output shaft of the motor, but with a 9:1 gear ratio we can read 252 (28*9) ticks for every revolution. This is ideal because it allows us to know more precisely where the payload is at a given time, allowing us to time a release precisely without having to physically a photointerrupter. 252 may sound high, but this still isn't an optimal resolution, as we have an error of >1 degree. In the future we want to switch to a 20:1 gear ratio on the gearbox to increase this resolution for better consistency of release.
The motor we are using is a REV HD Hex Motor, which is not made to connect to a PiCo, much less talk to it effectively. Powering it isn't super difficult, but we have to use an H Bridge to better control speed and direction. Motor odometry is native to the REV system using an internal encoder.