Explanation of locked antiphase and sign-magnitude?

General discussion of using Roboclaw motor controllers
Post Reply
User avatar
Basicmicro Support
Posts: 1594
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 9:45 pm
Re: Explanation of locked antiphase and sign-magnitude?

Post by Basicmicro Support »

Sign Magnitude drive, powers one side of the motor and grounds the other side when running the motor. Depending on the direction the side being powered changes.

Locked Antiphase Powers both sides of the motor and the ratio of the PWM Duty determines the direction and power the motor "sees".

P.S. Locked Antiphase Drive only works because motors are inductors. You should never use Locked Antiphase drive mode on a resistive load.

In general Sign Magnitude drive mode is more efficient because there are less switching losses. Locked Antiphase drive mode is a holdover from the original design of the Roboclaw when that was the only drive method. In my opinion there is no reason to use Locked Antiphase drive mode anymore but we keep it around for backwards compatibility.

Post Reply