Manual

Option 3: R/C Diff-
Drive Mix
R/C Diff-Drive Mix is used for
robots and vehicles with tank style
steering using two SyRen motor
drivers. Using this mode requires
two R/C channels to be fed into S1
and S2 of both controllers. This can
be accomplished with four servo
pigtails and two Y-Cables, or two
servo pigtails and some solder. The
proper setup diagram is shown in
Figure 5.3. The channel fed into S1
is used for forward/reverse control,
and the channel fed into S2 is used
for steering control. Switch 5 is used
to select the right or left wheels.
Switch 6: R/C Failsafe Timeout
In all the R/C modes, if switch 6 is set to the UP position,
then Timeout Failsafe mode is active. This will bring the
motor to a stop if the servo signal is interrupted. Once
several valid control signals are sent, the motor will restart.
This is useful to prevent to robot driving away if it
encounters interference, drives out of range, or if the
transmitter is inadvertently de-activated. Many robot competitions require this feature.
If switch 6 is set in the DOWN position, then Timeout Failsafe mode is de-activated. This means
that the SyRen will continue to drive the motor according to the last command until another
command is given. If the control link is possible unreliable – like a radio - then this can be
dangerous due to the robot not stopping. However, it is extremely convenient if you are
controlling the SyRen from a microcontroller. In this case, commanding the controller can be
done with as little as three lines of code.
Output_High(Pin connected to S1)
Delay(1000us to 2000us)
Output_Low(Pin connected to S1)
This makes it easy to use R/C mode without having to set up a repeating pulse stream. This is
most advantageous on controllers like Basic Stamps, which don’t have the ability to perform
background tasks.
R/C Diff-Drive Right R/C Diff-Drive Left
Figure 5.3: R/C Diff-Drive hookup
R/C Failsafe Timeout Disabled