User Manual

RoboClaw Series
Brushed DC Motor Controllers
RoboClaw Series User Manual
40
Safety Wiring
In all system with movement, safety is a concern. The wiring diagram below illustrates a properly
wired system with several safety features. An external main power cut off is required for safety.
When the RoboClaw is switched off or the fuse is blown, a high current diode (D1) is required
to create a return path to the battery for any regenerative voltages. The use of a pre-charge
resistor (R1) is required to avoid high inrush currents and arcing. A pre-charge resistor (R1)
should be 1K, 1/2Watt for a 60VDC motor controller which will give a pre-charge time of about
15 seconds. A lower resistances can be used with lower voltages to decrease the pre-charge
time.
Encoder Wiring
A wide range of sensors are supported including quadrature encoders, absolute encoders,
potentiometers and hall effect sensors for closed loop operation. The encoder pins are not
exclusive to supporting encoders and have several functions available. See Encoder section of
this manual for additional information.
Encoder 1
A
B
GND
+5V
EN1 A
EN1 B
5VDC
GROUND
Encoder 2
A
B
GND
+5V
EN2 A
EN2 B
5VDC
GROUND
M1A
M1B
M2B
M2A
B-
B+
+
-
Battery
RX0
TX0
+5V
GROUND
ROBOCLAW
Motor 1
Motor 2
UART TX
UART RX
5VDC
GROUND
MCU
R1
F1
D1