Im spending time on how DC (direct current) motors interact with Arduinos because this weeks Humboldt Microcontrollers (MCUs) Group meeting will be at least partly focused on motors and MCUs. When the group is discussing this topic, it would be nice if I have at least a general understanding of what theyre talking about, even if some or a lot of what they say is over my head, both knowledge and experience-wise.
I started out by watching the Jeremy Blum Arduino Basics #5 video tutorial, which addresses motors and transistors. I didnt try to do the exercises in the video while I watched it today because figuring out the exercises, wiring up the breadboard, writing the code and figuring out what I did wrong will take a couple hours, based on my experience with the earlier Blum video tutorials. Tonights video viewing was just to find out what components were used in the exercises and to get an overview of what Jeremy is trying to teach in the video. At right is the DC motor that came with the official Arduino Starter Kit. I need to figure out whether that motor will work with the exercise Jeremy presents, because he doesnt always use parts from the starter kit that I have.
The post talks about controlling motors with an MCU using Arduino shields for motors, using a motor driver carrier PCB, using electronic speed controllers (ESCs) and using H-bridges. One of the authors goals was to find an inexpensive Arduino motor control method because they were shopping for parts to teach a summer camp class in robotics. After the post was written, someone suggested the author use a transistor as a very inexpensive way to run small motors and protect the Arduino from a high current load. The tutorial linked by the author for the transistor method shows pretty much the same concept as Jeremy explained in the #5 video.
One last webpage I read about motors and MCUs was on a Wikispaces wiki called Arduino-Info. This page had some info not covered on the other online places I visited today. It talked about two ways to totally protect the Arduino from the motors high voltage or high current. (I dont know if you need to protect it from one or the other or both. Something else to try and figure out before this Thursday evenings meeting.) The two complete isolation methods are to use an opto-isolator (as shown to the right above) or use a mechanical relay.
The Blum videos are Arduino basics tutorials, but someone as inexperienced with electronics as I am needs to spend a fair amount of time researching and talking to people to figure out how to hook up the different circuits shown in the videos. Thats mostly a good thing because figuring that stuff out, rather than just blindly following each step, helps me to better understand and remember the concepts presented in the videos.
However, when someone new to microcontrollers comes to the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group to learn how to use MCUs, we need to be aware of that persons potential frustrations when they dont have a clue about how to hook up some of the circuits in the Blum videos.
Reminder! This Thursday, June 12, from 6 to 8 PM is the third meeting of the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group at 1385 8th Street, Arcata, California, USA. To make sure no one gets locked out of the building (which happened two weeks ago), well start out the night by meeting at the big table right by the front door. Well also have a sign on the door with a cell phone number of someone whos in the meeting so if were not by the door later in the evening, people who are inadvertently locked outside can call for someone to come open the door.
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