Control Large Gearmotors with PWM & Arduino

[@boxingfan5742]

I'm so glad I found you on KZbin. I'm in my 50's and had to put my programming and robotics interests on the back burner for too many years to be able to recollect the technique specifics. You're a life saver; particularly as I'm trying to pivot in my career. Your tone, pace and thoroughness are perfect. I just can't overemphasize how grateful I am to find your channel and for what an outstanding job you do. ✌

[@lucasrem1870]

All he says is use mosfet transistors, they are faster. Programming these logic control board, i do suggest, use LEGO mindstorms first, before you start coding these. If your good enough, use his scripts!

[@churnejii57]

anybody kno2 that motor spec ?

[@tinkerpertao8383]

i think i found workbotshop about 2years ago. I would like to second your comment. Busy working & time goes by fast. I'm over half a century yrs old and still learning. Last, I would like to thank Mr. WorkBotShop a lot too.

[@fabiolus2007]

I can't express enough how much I admire how well you explain details that are necessary to know.

[@anthonyskilton8634]

I agree, they're wonderful.

[@jlucasound]

Love your videos. This particular one is close to my heart. Arduino, Robots, and the motor controller I just learned of. I think one of the best parts of your videos is your wiring diagrams. So easy to follow. Thank You, Sir! Interesting is the effect of different frequencies and that the Arduino can actually deliver them. What a difference in current draw. Batteries will last MUCH longer. Nice.

[@phil4110]

Using a ramp with a change in slope by measured degrees would be a more accurate way to determine efficient torque versus frequency distortion. You'd need to secure that load and use higher traction wheels though. Great video and in depth knowledge. I'm completely new to this and I appreciate your simplified and detailed tutorials.

[@Inventor101]

Amazing video and nice channel👍

[@barneycarparts]

BTW: I see eBayers selling Wheel Chair motors without wheels. I found that Harbor Freight pneumatic wheels with 4 bolt holes line up perfectly, and cost around $5. You should knock out the inside bearing to fit the hub nut, and fill the tire with Fix a Flat or Slime since the valve stem will be on the inside mount side. I think they are the 4-5 in rim, white wheels. The BT-2 45 amp motor controller works on a wheel chair motor. You can get the BT-2 cheap 2 for $15. I bench tested my Wheel chair motor yesterday and it only pulled 10-12 amps under no load so there is plenty of amps left for a load. I believe DWS said the BT-2 were 30 Amps continuous. 45 peak. I just looked on eBay Wheel Chair motor prices have skyrocketed They run from $130 to $200 each. It might be better to look on Craigslist and buy a whole chair for $100-300 from an estate sale. 5 years ago I got 2 eBay motors without wheels for $75. I also had 2 chairs given to me when a friend's mother passed away

[@ThiefKingBakuraX]

Quality content always

[@noeviracochea431]

where can i get the md10c (i'm from bolivia)

[@joshuamadden2442]

This video was so incredibly helpful. I especially liked those camera switches very professional. Thanks for all the effort you put into this will be watching and learning from all your videos.

[@victorinborsciov6817]

At last I found someone knowing what he is saying. Just for kicks I measured my Hitachi battery powered hand drill, starting current with no load reached peaks in the range10-15A, when loaded 30-35A. Good job!

[@catchulater7483]

I know this video is over three years old. I keep referring back to it (thanks YT library) to remind me of the importance of clocking, for frequency. Thank you.

[@rusticagenerica]

Your work area is of a medicaly cleanliness. Stunning job.

[@wishicouldarduino8880]

I found a DC to pwm kit I also got the cytron I can't wait to see how they work cytron seems really neat

[@rickhunt3183]

I would strongly consider using a preset 555 timer for duty cycle and frequency and a programmable frequency devider to drive the input of an h-bridge. This would of course be beyond the scope of just one video. I would suggest a series of videos carefully planned out with the just the information required to stay on the objective lasting only 10 or 12 minutes each. This would allow noobs the oppertunity to absorb the information without getting intimidated or overwhelmed by the magnitude of the information. It’s easer to remember 12 minutes of information than 35, and sitting through a 10 minute video 3 times is a lot more appealing than a 35 minute video 3 times. If someone is going to leave a dislike or a negative comment. They should at the very least be willing to offer a solution.

[@antonetrinh8662]

Sir, You are a wonderful teacher. Thank you.

[@tedsykora1858]

Does the Arduino analog output pulse width return to the factory setting if you write a new sketch? If not, what divider is the default value to reestablish the pulse width frequency?

[@tedsykora1858]

reply to myself: yes, if you remove setPwmFrequency() code out the Arduino defaults back to factory setting. I tested with oscilloscope. Fun

[@Bonjour-World]

Three questions: 1) Are those DC motors brushed or brushless ? 2) Is the Cytron controller limited to either brushed or brushless motors ? 3) Will the Cytron controller work with permanent magnet DC motors ?

[@MelihCANBOLAT]

12:20; void loop already loops indefinitely. I think while(1){} is not necessary, is it?

[@Cory_Springer]

I was wondering the same thing.

[@hadireg]

Excellent ! I'm grateful to all the folks sharing so kindly their knowledge and on top of that with this high quality! Thank you sir!

[@ozgemmo3445]

Hi Bill - simply brilliant video with excellent graphics etc! You have now prompted me to get into this very interesting area of controlling large gear-motors through an Arduino and will now duplicate your project! Just as an additional thought I think you could produce a graph for each motor (or pairs of) showing motor efficiency compared to PWM vs frequency and current draw. - would be very interesting to see graphically; please let me know what you think? Cheers & thanks from Down Under. PS: just signed up for your News Letter as well.

[@Yosemite_Sam]

Interesting. 10 minute videos are an excellent idea to supplement your others. Cheers from OZ.

[@luisfernandomoncayomarulan1208]

I loved the camara changing at 1:12

[@T2D.SteveArcs]

just to let you know your sig gen can put out DC you could have used ch2 to generate 5V direction signal also there is a frequency counter built into the scope.. and should be a counter built into sig gen aswel

[@NoahPeeters]

Amazing informative video! Could you maybe make a video about the esp 32 module? I'm trying to figure out how it's Bluetooth and wifi work and how it can be connected to a smartphone. I would really appreciate it if you could make a video about it. Keep up the great work!

[@neilausten9404]

Am I the only one having LCD issues with your sketches. I pasted in your second sketch but found that only the left, up and reset buttons on my shield responded. Thought it must be an LCD shield problem so went and bought another shield. This time the UP button worked once to push PWM from 0 to 1 and then nothing. No other button responded on this second shield apart from reset which occasionally worked. Have tried loading other LCD test sketches and find all the buttons working normally on both shields -just not functioning properly on your sketches. If all had worked it would have been great for me as I am helping my grandson with a project and this was just what we wanted. Anyway thanks for the video..

[@rewardsoverwater7821]

I like your channel. I'm poor so I can't afford to throw stuff out. My portable swamp cooler is getting electronic components added to maximize the cooling with little power. I was hoping to put a new motor but the machine has a custom motor. So I need to get a better board built. Again thank you.

[@reamer59]

Just a correction...The Collector/Emitter junction when in saturation (switched fully on) is only 0.2 volts not 0.7 as stated. Still Mosfet's are still better as stated :)

[@T2D.SteveArcs]

You should check if the fluctuations are real and if they are maybe you should build a low pass PI filter for the power supply, The PWM looks to be interfering with the feedback of the power supply? good work thanks for vids they are very good

[@shaunstewart4064]

Why are you using the while loop directly inside the loop function? The while loop cannot be exited and is currently redundant. I am just curious. I really enjoy your videos and I am looking forward to the robot build series.

[@deWeik]

Loop( ) is the function's name. The while( ) keyword causes the code inside it to repeat.

[@DailyCakeSlice]

I'm wondering the same thing

[@shaunstewart4064]

@@deWeik The loop function executes continuously anyway in Arduino. The while loop is redundant in this context.

[@bluehornet6752]

@@shaunstewart4064 Right... The one thing that *will* happen though, is that the built-in "serialEvent" method would never get called, as that gets called between iterations of the loop() function. So if you were listening for control data over the UART and wanted to use the serialEvent() function in a non-interrupt type of scenario, you'd be out of luck. It wouldn't get called, because there wouldn't be iterations of the loop() function--only the while(1) loop would be iterating. So you this is an excellent point you raise, and I would skip the while loop in the main event loop function.

[@1951split]

It's not redundant. The loop() function does more than just repeating the code and therefore it takes more time for it to restart. A while(1) loop doesn't do the extra stuff and therefore repeats itself much quicker. I recommend testing it yourself with a simple blink sketch or a stopwatch sketch...

[@harleywang]

Excellent course. That's the course I needed for motor driving. Thanks a lot!

[@TuanTran-xi4vs]

Your lectures are so easy to understand. Thank you very much.

[@alejandrosilva7520]

excellent thank you very much but I do disagree with the conclusion about the lowered power current consumption when you raise the frequency. Your power supply meter probably does not have the same accuracy near 400Hz than at 3Khz. You should verify your results with a real rms ammeter.

[@omego23]

Great learning video sir. could you please make a video of h bridge operating two large motors. I am working on making controller for electric wheelchair for disabled. your suggestions about that will be warmly welcom. Thanks

[@alicegabriel1909]

Great video ! I always learn something new any time I watch your video ,keep it up .

[@808GT]

EXCELLENT NEWS! MORE DRONEBOT WEEKLY!!!

[@chrisBruner]

I would be curious if putting capacitors across the motors would change the efficiency by smoothing out the pwm, so it becomes more DC then pulsing DC.

[@andreafalconiero9089]

That seems like a good idea. Capacitors across the motors would damp both the peaks and the troughs on the supplied waveform, averaging out the voltage. It should reduce the reactive losses, but I'm not sure how this actually affects the torque delivered by the motor at low speeds. Do DC motors need those full-voltage pulses to maintain torque?

[@newburypi]

Thanks DB. I'm looking forward to the robot series, and hoping it gives me the insentive to get my fellow rolling.

[@jomango1929]

You are the best professor on KZbin !

[@ProGamer-kr5tn]

I love your work setup!!

[@neilausten9404]

The response of the LCD buttons seems totally dependent on the LCD. I have tried many combinations of arduinos with LCDs. Some give no response, some will have one responding button and the best I can come up with was one LCD had all buttons respond except the DOWN. Wonder how Bill got all his LCD buttons to work first time. Same applies to both of Bill's sketches.

[@Tri_3st]

Thats awesome, i am looking forward too see your upcoming content! Really well produced video as always :)

[@MattyEngland]

Thks for all the hard work making these videos, it's really appreciated.

[@jeanpierrelabonte2868]

How about changing direction in one side and turning the tray’s directionandlooking at the power variations?

[@Tamingshih]

Great job! I am just in need of this solution.

[@fernandopalacio4026]

Fantastic!!! is great!!! my answer is, i need control 4-6 DC motors like this ones at same time, how ca i do?? can i combine the (Adafruit 815 PCA9685 - 16-channel server driver, 12-bit PWM I2C - ) and the Cytron M10 modules??? thanks for all

[@heinrichhelmbold419]

Your videos are absolutely incredible and really informative.... Thank you!! Any chance you could do this tutorial on the ESP 32 board still using the Cytron MD10C?

[@LuisRivera-jk8jc]

All of your videos are excellent

[@trekangle4907]

I tried to modify this for the MDD10A, but I've been struggling to get things running. May I ask if you will be creating a video on the MDD10A in the future?

[@stephengrattage5219]

I am currently trying to build a circuit for my two year olds electric ride on car. The throttle is just a switch on or off and if he’s on slippery ground the drive wheel just spins and he’s not going anywhere. I still want to use the throttle switch but start the drive wheel slower and speed up if the switch is held on longer. Also obviously stop when it’s released lol.

[@infinytower3317]

Super great news! I am just beginning to watch the video, but it must contain tons of great contents, as always! Thank you so much!

[@ntang4922]

Great video! Do you also happen to have a video on the control of AC motors?

[@kinsgabil5004]

Love to watch and learn from you. I like the style you explain with demos and pics. Thank you

[@DennisMurphey]

Sounds like something i need to explore for my Model Train, I keep burning up diodes or drivers now with MOSFETs seems there is hope. Can we get them at the 20VDC range in smaller sizes? I am sharing with my team. Our Control Lead is from S.A. so it takes us some rotations of earth to close our knowledge loop. Thank You So Very Much, Dennis

[@SchwanaCARDHUT]

Thank you very very mach ............

[@judys5964]

probably a noob question but I can't get a straight forward answer from Google. Will this work with servo motors? Do servo motors need special controllers? I have the PCA 9685 but it can't drive the motors that I have... probably because they draw too much current. (3A max for each of the 6 servos)

[@edmondedwards6729]

I need microsecond control of the pwm pins, so am glad to see this tutorial as I was thinking it was too slow, with the fastest speed of 1 millisecond. With this proposed modification, what is now the fastest switching time of the pwm pins in microseconds? Thanks for a great tutorial on the subject...

[@davidmalawey]

If I designed a reliable torque measuring kit, and provided it to you, would you rerun this test for the true torque data?

[@GiancarloAllasia]

Amazing video, very well done sir! I just want to highlight that putting the code into a while(1) into the void loop() statement is not really necessary, since the loop() function is an infinite loop itself, not that this changes the working principle :D

[@jpsilver3510]

Thank you so much! So if i understand this correctly, i would be able to control the speed as well as the torque using this? I understand that i could control the speed using the pwm signal, and the torque using the pwm frequency? This would be awesome seeing that im trying to make a DIY Racing sim steering wheel as cheap as possible.

[@caveratward6218]

GREAT VIDEO. For a beginner myself I'am learning a lot. Thankyou

[@calvinlee7915]

Very nice workshop. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@scamper_van8470]

Well i'll bookmark that specific video and thank you for sharing both video and code.

[@InssiAjaton]

Open loop application, apparently. I wonder if there might be IR compensation, or not even that on the driver board. To get better than 10:1 speed range, you normally need at least the mentioned IR compensation. Better yet, you could measure the Back EMF for a pretty good accuracy, though drifting along with the motor warming up. The really good ones you get with an accessory tacho generator that is independent of the motor heat. You could get speed range of maybe 1000:1. Similar accuracy and speed range, or even better, can be achieved with an encoder instead of the tacho. The encoder can also provide position control in addition to the speed control. But of course, your 255:1 PWM steps mean no finer speed control anyway.

[@toprudder1]

Excellent! Good illustrations, great video work, excellent information.

[@AstrofishGames]

Really great stuff! Would you say the reason for motor efficiency going down with frequency increase is due to the rise/fall time of the motors (inductive loads?) I guess you get to a point where your frequency starts capping off the amplitude due to BEMF etc.

[@opalprestonshirley1700]

Very nicely done. Most all of this I follow no problem. I would like to know how you determined the proper motor to use. Thanks for your hard work.

[@lucamyot8443]

Thank you, I wish I could learn from everyone like I can learn from you. God bless you.

[@cecilialinck7778]

Nice tutorial, could you post a schematic diagram of your final setup including the breadboard and how the shield connects to the lcd screen and Arduino? Maybe it's supposed to be self explanatory but I'm very new with electronics and am trying to test out a gearmotor hooked up to a power tool battery pack

[@dule1635]

Thank you for your great lesson, Sir!

[@rayleblanc7209]

Can the Cytron MD10C be programed off an Arduino the same way as an L298, without the use of the LCD or using a library. I like the simplicity of the L298. just 3 input wires for each motor and a simple code for direction control and no library needed.

[@Michael-lo3ht]

You have a make & model of the motors? I would like to make a robot too using those.

[@souhardyadas114]

Please make a video about how to use it in wireless mode

[@robertcalaway4970]

Hello, I am using the Cytron MD10c with Audrino Uno to control a Leiner actuator to do the height adjustment on a remote-controlled lawnmower. I want to thank you for explaining the way these function in a way I can understand. As I am totally in the dark on how all this works. When I get to the code it scares me a little but I think I can figure it out. Now if you have a suggestion on a better way of doing this please let me know as I am open to suggestions. Again Thank You.

[@peterdrury5627]

Very nice presentation. I was hoping to see the results of running your PWM clock at 20KHz. This would put the primary frequencies driving your motors above the threshold of normal human hearing. Not sure how high dogs can go, but in the interest of making your robot K-9 friendly, testing above that frequency might be a worthwhile experiment.

[@lucasrem1870]

He needs other motors, they are just DC, you need PWM motors, they have 4 wires.

[@marctalcott5613]

Another awesome video. Thank you.

[@sambarakat2]

Hi, I just want to say thank you for this well-done video I build my watch kinetic charger using your setup,it works just fine and I'm really happy with it .thank you looking forward to build my next project, I love to share a video of my kinetic charger.

[@VeryMuchBlessed]

Excellent! The comparison with the different frequencies was very cool. Thanks much. New subscriber here!

[@MrManta2012]

Your graphics really help your message, Thanks

[@HoppyTheRobot]

The MD10C seems to be no longer available. Not in the UK anyway. Any alternative suggestions?

[@rjimene1]

excellent video, premium content, Thank you so much.

[@AdityaMehendale]

Great tutorial but: 4:12 --> Saturated bipolar transistors have a forward drop that is much much smaller than 0.7V. Merely the Vbe is 0.7V, not the Vce! (at least, not when wired up like you show at 4:25 ). If you make an emitter-follower, though, (NPN at the top and PNP below) then what you say is correct. The emitter-follower is a "fool-proof" way to wire power-transistors, trading off efficiency for inherent safety; though this gives BJTs their bad rep.

[@geoffkelland5606]

So ...using a 5v Arduino PWM signal, at, say 100% duty cycle... would run the 12v motor at maximum 12v speed?

[@sritamroy4430]

Great video ,a lot of information to know. Excellent teaching technique.Looking for more.Thank you Sir!

[@OsoPolarClone]

I am a relatively new viewer to your channel. I am enjoying your teaching style, the articles, and your very informative web site. I am staying current with all of your new videos while going back and looking at older ones. Will you be combining the google ai voice hat with the robot? I noted the hat has the ability to control servos and immediately thought of the recent robot videos. Thanks for your efforts at producing excellent educational videos.

[@PhG1961]

Waw more video ! Great ! Hmmm, building a robot for over 40 years... this sounds so familiar ! I go to sleep and wake up with it !

[@john5950]

What effect would adding smoothing to the arguing output

[@kvaliantis]

Thanks for the video. Can you please list all the test equipment you are using?

[@MyInnerChild81]

Can u build a wireless start with servo motors for a automobile?

[@patricioantonio4189]

Excelente tutorial (como siempre). Felicitaciones y muchas gracias por sus enseñanzas.

[@gloubiboulgazeblob]

Hi, Clear explanations, thanks ! Just a detail : apparently it's easy to modify the ATmega MC registers with a simple C instruction as if the name of the register were known by the compiler. As TCCR0B and TCCR1B aren't declared anywhere in the sketch (I prefer : the term "program", oh, well...), do we only simply have to use the register name in a program like any other variable ? Are these register names "internally" known by the compiler ? And, since these are registers, they're reinitialized at boot time, right ?

[@simonmay9039]

You mention that a biploar H-bridge will have a voltage drop of 1.4v as seen by the motor, I think on the assumption that it is 2 x Vbe. Is this really correct? The voltage drop surely is 2 x Vce, which at sensible currents and with the correct component selection could be significantly less than 1.4V.

[@007hansen]

Love your videos and your voice, just a quick question: can you please read out this tongue twister: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

[@amelliamendel2227]

What is the limit to what was l298n can do? Can they run 2 12v barbie jeep motors? I thought they could. They are only 12v

[@abualis1178]

Hello DroneBot, thank you for sharing all the knowledge and experiences with us, your classes are fantastic and well prepared and delivered. I have a question for you or the community if anyone can help with some advise, I want manage the direction of a 2 phase 220v motor with and Arduino, the motor has been removed from a winch, what kind of driver should I be using. Many thanks

[@mrtmrf5007]

Hello Sir , could you do a video on controlling brushless high motor (like drone , skateboard motor(200kv)) with bidirectional and arduino ?? thanks

[@legpetruchka2124]

Merci beaucoup pour cette vidéo et pour faire connaître le MD10C. Juste une question sir, As -t-on le même résultat avec des moteurs de 24 V dc à forts ampérages?

[@Tech-NO-City]

30:40 "We are completely high right now"

[@OsoPolarClone]

Why wasn’t a case statement used for the button selections at the start of the while loop? Thanks

[@rickhunt3183]

Okay dude …I can see what you’re trying to do here so let me break it down and help you out..I know it’s simple to use a prefab board for a motor h bridge, but forget that thing you were using. Use mosfets with a heatsink and build your own h- bridege. 13 amps going through that boad continuously is going to catch on fire and burn down your house ( 12volts X 13amps=156 watts with no heatsink is a fire in the making ). I might trust it at 2 and 1/2 amps maybe…Don’t trust the numbers without testing under real conditions. First that power supply is jumping all over the place because the load is contantly changing due to frequency of the pwm. The power supply is contantly trying to make adjustments and keep up with the demands. Use a 12 volt battery that can deliver some current. Put a scope on the output of that power supply and see if anything strange is going on uder those loading conditions. Forget about using the arduino for generating the pwm frequency and duty cycle. Use a 555 timer and adjust the frequency and duty cycle times and use the Arduino to simply trigger the timer’s on time to drive the h-brigde. Dump the delay function of the arduino when controling the motor turn on and off times. Use the arduino millis funtion. Try to lower the cpu utilization by making your code simple and elimination of the delay function when possible by the substitute use of the millis function instead. I’m not trying to be a know it all. I don’t want you insulted. If the microcontrollers cpu utilization is 70% or better. It’s way too high and a solution needs to be found unless you’re using it as a dedicated slave device for another microcontroller. Just saying. This is pretty simple stuff..It’s easy to over complicate something. It’s always good to have more input from people. Solitude might be the school of genius but conversation enriches the understanding…Rick

[@MrDomingo55]

Power dissipation of 156 watts is mostly by the motor, not the mosfets. Assuming voltage drop over a single mosfet of 0.1v, the power dissipated by mosfet is 13*0.1, ie 1.3 watt max. This becomes 2.6 watts max for 13 amps current. In any case, the pcb is not meant to be used at 13A continuous. I would suspect its designed for much less but 13 max rating is required to handle transient peak currents drawn by the load.

[@andreafalconiero9089]

​@@MrDomingo55 Agreed. These Cytron boards use n-channel mosfets for both the upper and lower halves of the H-bridge, and therefore have extremely low on resistance. They also switch incredibly fast. The design uses NCE3080K fets, which have an Rds-on of less than 10 milliohms @ 80A. This means that when switched on and driving 13A of current, each fet will be dissipating less than 1.7 watts. The TO-252 package can dissipate a bit more than that at ambient temperatures (~1.8W). Heatsinks are therefore unnecessary on the mosfets.

[@nawinlifehacks9978]

Hello sir..ENA , IN1 , IN2 , IN3 , IN4 ENB pins in L298N motor driver.but cytron motor driver was fully different.how can declare IN1, IN2 , IN3, IN4 and ENA ENB pins.. please explain sir in cytron motor driver.

[@endlesslearn41]

what is the clock speed on a Uno? Very interesting..THX