Krill Labs - 2x32 amp Sabertooth Driving 2 Jazzy Wheel Chair Motors w/ RC

Krill Labs assembles a demo using the 32A Sabertooth motor/speed controller with 2x 250w Jazzy Wheel Chair motors operated by a standard PWM transmitter/receiver pair in preparation for a DIY robotic rover build and discusses the expected current draws, quick wiring tips, and desktop performance.

[@iamvonimmel]

I have been WAITING for a video like this for 20 years!! THANK YOU!!

[@juanpablosterl7216]

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[@cuylerwilkinson4414]

With your description i bought the sabertooth 2x32 . i have 2 250 watt wheelchair motors mounted on a lawnmower with the front wheels in place. i wondered like 4430salton and i can tell all-it works. it drags the front wheels around through turns and is very easy to use. my 85 year old mom operated the mower from the front porch and just had a blast. told me it was so easy to steer and at over 100 feet away from the house she still had control of it ! i almost had to pry it away from her but then the mower ran out of gas and she handed the controls (i have the same frysky FS-T6 and 6 channel receiver that 4430 speaks of) . in 50 years of rc airplane experience this was the best i've ever known. Painless! I contacted Dimension Engineerings' Tech support and Charleen answered my questions and gave me further valuable advice. What a great rush this is!

[@captrodgers4273]

just bought most of the parts needed so with some luck i hope to be assembling mine this weekend

[@ervinjeanpierrevelandiaalv5158]

That was sick, nice work dude!

[@barneycarparts]

Most people don't know where to get wheels for eBay sold motors. I found the Harbor Freight wheels are a perfect 4 bolt match for the stock 4 bolt motor hubs. The HF wheels are rated at 300 Lbs each. My RC lawn mower pulls abt 9 amps MAX @24 volts so one could use a cheaper $74 2x12 amp "Sabertooth" with a 10 Amp fuse. The Sabertooth 2x32 costs abt $124

[@ikilep01]

Great! Thanks. I’ve copied your circuit and it’s excellent.

[@nauticalstar8363]

Hey Dan, good info! What size of fuse do you recommend to protect the Sabertooth board with the setup you have? Also, what’s the dip switch setting you’re using in this setup?

[@davidn7310]

Very helpful video Dan! I have one question: Beside Sabertooth 2X32 is there any compatible part out there we can use? Sabertooth is very good, but too expensive in my opinion. Thanks!

[@rtdave6982]

Do you have a video showing how you mounted those wheels?

[@julianlebron562]

How do you keep the current draw where it needs to be to avoid overloading the driver (I.e. one wheel getting caught or going uphill with the current increase)? Is this solely by the software on Dimension Engineering or are there any failsafe protections I can add I.e. breakers at each motor?? Thanks

[@adidasgimp]

great video! im a bit curious, if you remove brakes how do you stop? do the motors go out of gear when you let go of the stick?

[@HsingSun]

Hi Dan, thank you for the video. It is a great project. Base on this video screen, I have few questions below: Question 1: From the controller output, you connected two set of wires to two motors; also, where are those two yellow & black (banana clips) come from? Question 2: From the receiver output, you connected wires to controller input. At receiver input, two red & black (with banana clips) where do they come from (power source)? Question 3: From the receiver output, you connected the orange cables to what unit? Thank you when you give me the answers.

[@JoshBeingJoshYT]

Can you link the controller and transmitter you use? I looked at other builds and I like how you controller can control both motors with one stick. The controller I currently have in my shopping cart has two joysticks like yours but I do not know if it is left/right and up/down or if they swivel 360 like your controller. Thank you

[@rockiru007]

I am building a electric lawn mover and wondering how do you charge the deep cycle battery? also which motor controller should I use 2*25 vs 2*32? I am trying to push a manual friskars lawn mover.. I need speed with traction to cut grass.

[@VernonKalugdan]

Are the wheels keyed to the motors? How did you mount? My jazzy has a keyed shaft and couldn’t find harbor freight wheels to fit

[@mikebluegalindez5329]

hi can you post a close up pic of the dip switch setting cuz i have 4 motor 12 v each and a 2x60 sabertooth thx

[@protonhead1]

I noticed the axles looked off center,or is the motor moving causing this when powered up

[@greavous93]

If you were to use a little more modern transmitter with the ability to adjust your joystick function you can increase your Exponential values which will lower the response of the stick around the center position. It makes moving at ultra slow crawl rate to full speed ahead all possible without having everything happen too fast. Very much worth while feature. And, using 2.4ghz transmitters just make the experience more enjoyable. I use 5.8ghz FPV camera and transmitter on mine so I can cut the grass using my FPV headset of sit inside the house and cut the grass on the 60inch TV and have a cool one.

[@saswatipal7280]

Hi Dan, Thank you for an amazing video. Can you kindly provide the connection diagram of your circuit? It would be more easier to understand that way ( Motor Driver connection with APM board/Radio board).

[@1FishinAddict]

Could the sabertooth take 42v ? I got ebike 36v lithium pack and thinking about using that instead of lead acid.

[@energyrovers5794]

Which model of sabertooth should I use for 24v DC motor

[@derpherpp]

How did u mount the wheels on the motors..?

[@dgb5820]

I see that the 32x2 amp sabertooth driver is the most common driver but I do wonder why a typical wheel chair motor single or dual controller is rated at 90-160 amps depending on the model of controller

[@Home_made_ch]

Hi. Looks video is 6 years old. Did you find since that time what current was used ander load, and could advise what controller better to buy this days? I dound something similar to you Sabertooth for sale now, that is shown in video, but looks from less Amps

[@discountbrains]

I trust this Sabertooth can handle what they say it can, but this thing is absolutely astounding. I mean how in the World can something with components that small handle even as much as 32A per motor? I think most older designs used 8 power MOSFETs which are not tiny. I think they have a cavity milled out in the heatsink under the board. But, even then whatever they're using can't be very big.

[@filipemarques4091]

Hi Dan You have the link where you buy the batteries? thank you

[@freemurray]

so what your saying that in independent mode this means you use both joysticks on the remote? one for left side and one for right? Im building a RC mower with 4 motors but I want to control one side with the left joy stick and the other side with the right joy stick. It would also turn around faster if needed. Im using One sabertooth motor driver

[@samellis5861]

good job i like the info

[@4430salton]

Hello Dan, what pin configuration are you using for the receiver? I need one for throttle and one for stopping one wheel at a time for turning. the FS-T6 transmitter does not have a mode for a car only ones for plane or heli, is that a problem for controlling a RC lawn mower? Thanks

[@binarybedlam]

it doesnt matter what mode the transmitter is in, but you want to set the sabertooth to "independent" mode, it allows you to drive the robot like a tank, i used the pin configuration on their website.

[@gq12o]

I had a question about your motor shafts... how did you extend yours? I have a jazzy wheel chair motor but the shaft is like 1.5 inches long and most of the tires/hubs are at least 2.5 inches wide.

[@motherearth1147]

Use coupling

[@discountbrains]

I bought one of these controllers to replace the controls of a robot lawnmower which I feel was poorly designed (worked for a while until several things fried). The guy had his controller mounted on a 1/4" thick aluminum plate inside a rectangular Al tube. The 2 motors can draw as much as 40A (has 40A fuse). I don't have many choices but to mount the Sabertooth the same way he did. The tube will be sealed on the ends. I will use heatsink paste on top and bottom of the Al plate. I'm concerned this thing could get too hot. It probably won't. This guy has been making these lawnmowers for years, but it didn't work well for me. My sense is other customers have also had many problems. I was hoping I might put some vent holes in it so air could travel across the fins, yet not let water or moisture in. Just the mass of the 2 pieces of Al tightly attached may be quite sufficient to keep it cool. Do u have any suggestions?

[@MucaroBoricua]

That pointing stick looks familiar. Is that a bamboo back scratcher?

[@manoharadari161]

But how to conect charger...to battery charging..?please explain

[@adilfarooq1430]

where did you buy the 32A Sabertooth motor/speed controller?

[@inmyimage1081]

Thanks for the vid. Couple of questions though... the 2x32 has outputs for motor break control so why did you remove the brakes? And... is that a wizard wand o.O

[@binarybedlam]

+Bill Tackett I removed the motor breaks because I wasn't always using the sabertooth to drive them, in fact sometimes I directly attached them to batteries for speed and torque tests. My wand is actually a back scratcher.

[@inmyimage1081]

Makes sense, thx. Just wanted to make sure that there wasn't something about the brakes on the scooter/wheelchair motors and the brake control on the 2x32 that wasn't obvious.

[@ChrisfromKeyfarm]

Thanks

[@wolfrunforge8530]

Did you finish this project? If so, how many amps did these motors pull when driving completed robot?

[@binarybedlam]

I have yet to measure the motors under load, and now with all the cables mounted in the chassis, it would be quite difficult, I will have to let you know when I can tear it apart for upgrades.

[@michaelplaford4474]

hi my mobility scooter wont move ligths all work brake work but just wont move any help please

[@rogergoffii3901]

Can you connect 4 motors to that saber tooth where the two right and the two left would move in sink?

[@binarybedlam]

i dont know about that, i probably wouldn't try it unless the motors were significantly smaller than the ones in this video.

[@cjoliver3524]

Have you finished the project? I'm assuming this is more some rc mower, either case was wondering the current draw under load

[@binarybedlam]

I have yet to measure the motors under load, and now with all the cables mounted in the chassis, it would be quite difficult, I will have to let you know when I can tear it apart for upgrades.

[@satiesh2008]

how did you connect the wheels to the motor shaft... im. stuck there as mines have bearings in them and i also bought em from harbor freight

[@binarybedlam]

The wheels have a metal protrusion, you could drill perpendicularly through that and the shaft at the same time and run a strong steel pin or bolt through both, this is not the best way though since the pin could sheer. The key is actually not even mounting the wheel directly to the shaft. Instead bolt the large drive gear directly to the wheel, this way no torque conversion is occurring in the shaft, only from the motor to the gear to the tire. In that case, the shaft could actually be fixed so long as the tire and gear are free to revolve around it.

[@MrCoder101]

@@binarybedlam So fixed shaft and bearing of the HarborFrieght wheel is what rotates it freely.. Nice idea. Although I have to find a way of centering the gear wheel while attaching it directly to the wheel. Not sure how to achieve perfect center of wheel hub and gear as HarborFrieght wheel bearing is not exact 5/8".

[@cutweldngrind]

what do you think will be max amps at 24v per motor. I have 2 motors for a RC build and hope the sabortooth is enough.

[@binarybedlam]

+Jorge Serna - I stand by their rating and trust their engineered safety factor, so I'd say you can go right up to the 32 amp rating, but in everyday use, I'd try not to exceed 20 amps per channel.

[@cutweldngrind]

+Dan Krill Thanks for the quick reply, my question was not clear sorry. Do you think these motors may exceed 32 amps once loaded up with weight? I haven't ran any test on my motors since I haven't mounted the tracks on my rc build. This is the controller I have been looking at. Once again thanks.

[@binarybedlam]

+Jorge Serna - I haven't done any loaded tests either, but from what I've been reading, you can expect them to draw around 20 amps each with a heavy load, and as much as 30amps when approaching stall.

[@discountbrains]

+Dan Krill The lawnmower I have had a 40A fuse. U could just put a fuse like that in your device so it doesn't go over 40A.

[@uraniumrod6808]

Do u still respond to comments i hope. Does anyone no what the motor RPM is before the gear box???

[@N.V.V.SOLAR.Assemble]

Wow super 👍👍👍👍🏆

[@gramio123]

Is current being read between the Batteries and Sabertooth? as in should I only expect both motors to draw from 3-5Amps combined during normal operating conditions. If they are 250W motors I would expect around 10.5A (250W/24V).

[@MichaelJeffers75]

Always prep for the higher current situations for safety.

[@MrCoder101]

Like Michael said.. what about stall current? Better add fuse and use higher rated motor controller. How much amp a motor will draw will be based on the weight of your robot. Don't go with 250W as max work done by motor.

[@williamgunter5199]

I'm new to the Sabertooth 2x32A drive. I purchased a FlySky FS-CT6B transmitter/R6B receiver... I discovered I need a 5 volt source for the receiver...It's not even stipulated in the manual. Is there a unversal connector for this application....Oh, by the way I'm drivving 2 Jazzy Wheelchair motors

[@bobfitzjohn]

William Gunter The sabertooth has a 5V output designed to drive your receiver.

[@HsingSun]

Most of the electrical connectors can be modified the way you wanted.

[@DPHfarms]

I am working on a robot and need a set of controls like, motor controls for a wheelchair motor which I'm using for the drive system. Do you have a kit or can you put together something that I can purchase and just connect my motors to.

[@binarybedlam]

See if this works: www.ebay.com/itm/113958899855

[@arthurkuntz1525]

CAN I USE THIS SABERTOOTH FOR 4 MOTORS OR DO I NEED 4 CHANNEL CONTROLLER FOR 4WD

[@sew04ss]

How did you mount those HF hubs to the wheelchair

[@MichaelJeffers75]

I have the same wheels and will be mounting a sprocket to each in a few days by stacking washers over longer hub bolts till they evenly reach the sprocket, then I'll weld everything together as needed.

[@iongiant4500]

hi - - hope you get this in the near future :) ... i have one of these - - been playing with it for ages -- still cant get mixed mode to reverse correctly .... i.e. forwards and right should be stick forward and right which in turn should be left wheel forward ... but then to my mind .. if i want to reverse and turn .. stick back and right should be left wheel back ... but it doesnt .. it does right wheel back .. ive tried mixing things up in the tx etc .. but so far no joy . hope that makes sense - - . any ideas ?

[@binarybedlam]

+iON GiANT I think I see what you mean, not sure what the issues is there, but something tells me the problem actually has something to do with your PWM signal, perhaps either your remote or the receiver is not producing a wide enough range for the sabertooth to translate a reversal request? Perhaps you can try going to a hobby store and seeing if they will let you use one of their transmitter/receivers so you can at least rule out if thats the prob or your sabertooth is the prob.

[@iongiant4500]

Good idea Dan, I'll try that first .... :)

[@discountbrains]

+iON GiANT In my message above I talked about a lawnmower I had bought. I believe the seller used a controller of his own manufacture. I have also had trouble controlling the direction in reverse. Maybe this is a bug no one has really solved. But, on second thought there are many electric wheelchairs. This should be unacceptable for them.

[@CerebralDad]

how did you connect the wheels...the harbor freight wheels arent keyed. thanks

[@binarybedlam]

In this vid the wheels are simply pressure fit to the shaft, in the final project i drilled holes through the rims and directly bolted them to the spur gear so that the wheels don't need to be directly coupled to the axle.

[@CerebralDad]

Dan Krill I need to get the spur gears. I accidentally threw them away with the wheels :(

[@Andrew876was]

A video on this would be great. People want to know how to add custom wheels to wheelchair motors.

[@MedicDillahunty]

Awesome! I'm just starting on a bot using the same setup. How did you adapt the HF wheels to the motor shafts? All the pneumatic wheels at my store have bearing hubs... Did you just weld them to an axle?

[@binarybedlam]

+Colorado Flight Films These tires have bearings as well. So in this vid the tires are just free spinning over the axels, and the inside diameter of the axels is also very close to the motor shaft, so again, in this vid they are just sitting on top. But in practice I have mounted 1/2inch bore roller chain sprockets to the motor, then using long 2inch stand offs, and drilling holes into the wheel hubs, I mount large 40tooth gears directly to the tires and link the 2 with #25 chain, such that the axel going through the bearing in the wheels are now irrelevant.

[@luispozas6191]

HI i'm using the same parts and set up but i can not figure out how to mount the tires, could you make a video about it?

[@HsingSun]

@@luispozas6191 tires and motors should be matching and line up.

[@SamGuimbellot]

How did you mount your wheels to the motors?

[@dsmith5167]

Not sure how he did it, but I turned some custom axles. www.ebay.com/itm/122923593601?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

[@zlatkoturcic3041]

I have 2 wheelchair motors made in the same way, Sabertooth 2x32A, but my motors heat up a lot and after 10-15 minutes they weaken a lot, they have no power.

[@dgb5820]

why are we removing the brake mechanism when the 2x32 has a brake circuit function

[@motionsick]

That's what I'm trying to figure out. I haven't seen anyone using the brakes, instead just taking them off.

[@pol_khol____6405]

I want to use 95 Volt PM DC tredmill motor instead of Wheelchair motor to modify my electric mower,,. & I bought the motor driver which has the following Descriptions, Specifications: - Input supply voltage: 12V-40VDC - The maximum output power: 0.01-400W - The maximum continuous output current :8A; - The overload and short circuit protecting current is 10A - PWM frequency: 13 kHz - Item size:60 * 55 * 28mm Now Please advise me that above motor driver is good for my project.? Thanks in advance

[@flyinlo1474]

Great video! I want to convert a wheelchair to RC base for 360 mounted camera for virtual tours. Do you have links to good Bluetooth receiver and how to configure Android device to control this?

[@LightwaterFilms]

Did you ever build that? Curious about your setup. I saw that indie mogul video too .

[@flyinlo1474]

@@LightwaterFilms I did and it did not do well. The pole shook back and forth so it was not usable. It would have needed a pole that had some dampening shocks to keep it from vibrating back and forth. It was an "oh well, I tried" project.

[@namta2907]

Sabertooth Dual 25A Motor Driver viet nam?

[@Ravdh]

can I drive 4 pancake 350 motors with 2x60 sabertooth

[@jacobw446]

I know that it is an old comment, but NO. Sabertooth has a regenerative circuit, so when the motor comes to a stop, it throws some of the Counter electromotive force (C-EMF) voltages back into the battery, to recover some power. Probably your best bet, is to get two of them, and use a Y-cable from your receiver to both controllers. Sabertooth has a "slave" mode, so that you can do this. www.dimensionengineering.com/datasheets/Sabertooth2x60.pdf

[@Ravdh]

@@jacobw446 yo !! thx for the reply

[@satiesh2008]

also i got no clue as how to hook them up

[@torsakmuenkaew1274]

How much a motor cost?

[@torsakmuenkaew1274]

And sabertooth cost

[@DrSkrillGames]

i got two motors for $70 on ebay and saber for $125

[@samellis5861]

i just found a zazzy on the side of the road

[@mdkhalid4797]

Please can you help me???🤕

[@torsakmuenkaew1274]

How much a motor cost?

[@joetri1970]

How do you justify recommending a controller you said yourself you haven't put a load on and you say it doesn't get hot either nothing will with no load this is nothing but a commercial.