Data Sheet

RoboClaw Solo Motor Controller Data Sheet
(c) 2016 Ion Motion Control. All Rights Reserved.
3
Main Battery
ThepeakoperationalinputvoltageforRoboClawSolois34VDC.Themaximuminputvoltagecannotbeexceeded.
FullychargedbatteriescanexceedtheirratedvoltageandinternexceedtheconnectedRoboClawmaximumvoltage.In
additionRoboClawisaregenerativemotorcontroller.Duringperiodsofmotorslowdownregenerativevoltageswillbe
created,thesevoltagescanpeakovertheRoboClawsmaximumratedvoltage.Thiscanpotentiallycausedamage.
Logic Battery
RoboClawacceptsalogicbattery.Thelogicbatteryisalsoknownasabackupbattery.Theuserregulatedpoweroutput
(BEC)isbydefaultpoweredfromthemainbatteryunlessalogicbatteryisdetected.Thelogicbatterysourceiscoupled
tothemainbatterythroughasimplediodecircuit.Ifthemainbatteryvoltagedropsbelowthelogicbatteryinputlevel,
thelogiccircuitanduserregulatedpoweroutputwillbedrawnfromthelogicbattery.
Software
RoboClawcanbeeasilyconguredusingfreedownloadablesoftware.Thesoftwarecanbeusedduringruntimeto
monitorandcontrolseveraloperationalparameters.ThecongurationsoftwareisavailablefromtheIonmc.comwebsite.
Itcanbefoundinthedownloadssectionofthesite.
User Manual
Thisdatasheetonlycoversmodelspecicinformationandbasicwiring.ToproperlysetupanduseRoboClawrefertothe
RoboClawUserManualavailablefordownloadfromhttp://www.ionmc.com.
Cooling
RoboClawwillgenerateheat.Themaximumcurrentratingscanonlybeachievedandmaintainedwithadequateheat
dissipation.Themotorcontrollershouldbemountedtoensuresufcientairowismaintained.Properairowwillassist
indissipatingheatawayfromthemotorcontrollerduringoperation.SomemodelsofRoboClawincludebuilt-inautomatic
coolingfancontrolwhichcanbeusedtomaintaincontinuouscurrents.
Emergency Stop
Themotorcontrollershouldbewiredusinganexternalcontactororrelaytocontrolthemainpowerinput.Asecond
powersourceshouldbeusedtopowerthelogicsectioninsituationswherethemainpowerwillbeunderheavyload.
Voltagedropscanoccurfromconstantfullloadorhighspeeddirectionchanges.Voltagedropcancauselogicbrownouts
ifonlyamainbatteryisusedwithoutalogicbattery.
USB
ThemotorcontrollersUSBportshouldbeusedforcongurationanddebugging.TheUSBprotocolisnotdesignedfor
electricallynoisyenvironments.TheUSBportwilllikelydisconnectandnotautomaticallyrecoverduringoperation
inelectricallynoisyenvironments.TorecoverfromadroppedUSBport,themotorcontrollersUSBcablemayrequire
beingunpluggedandre-pluggedin.TheTTLserialcontrolshouldbethepreferredmethodofcontrolinelectricallynoisy
environments.
Firmware Updates
Firmwareupdateswillbemadeavailabletoaddnewfeaturesorresolveanytechnicalissue.BeforeusingRoboClawfor
thersttimeitisrecommendedtoupdatetothelatestrmware.DownloadandinstallIonStudio.RefertotheRoboClaw
UserManualforupdatingtheRoboClawrmware.