do we need encoders?

[lsayed]

Hi everyone,

I have built a rover using roboclaw2x30A, pixhawk 4 controller, 2x24 V brushed DC motor, R-XSR receiver and Taranis x9D plus, Mission planner SGC), driving the rover skid steering will go forward but not backward,left and right but what I did notice that the speed of 2 motors are different, my question is where I should look to fix this? do I need encoders? can roboclaw fix this without encoders? I did try autotune in velocity and position but after the tuning the motor will keep running and the basicmicro studio will become unrensponding.

Thank you

[Basicmicro Support]

1. It sounds like your RC receiver is connected to the ROboclaw wrong. One channel appears to be connected(but see 2 below) and the other isnt, atleast not the correct channel.

2. If one channel is the throttle on your stick make sure it is centered when you power on. If it is all the way down the autocalibration will set the stopped point all the way down and you wont ever be able to go backwards.

3. No, you dont need encoders. You can run just in Duty mode(eg power) as you currently are.

[lsayed]

Thank you
the receiver is connected to pixhawk 4 to the sbus plug , I will review my channels configuration again and again , just wondering why when I do auto-tuning after the wheels go backward and forward for a bit and then they start keep running forever!!!. thank you and appreciate your responding

[Basicmicro Support]

1. Make sure you have the latest firmware/Basicmicro Motion Studio.
2. If the motors start running forever during autotuning it may not be reading the encoders correctly or the encoder direction is backwards. The autotuner does try to detect a reversed encoder but it is not garunteed to do so.

a) Manually run the motor using the PWM Settings screen. Move the motor slider UP to move the motor forward. Make sure the encoder reading is increasing when moving forward. Move the motor slider down and make sure the encoder value is decreasing. Also determine if the encoder readons seem reasonable. Eg if the motor is going like a bat out of hell and your encoder reading is barely changing that could indicate a problem .

Note the autotuner may not work well with some systems. Specifically linear actuators with a lot of backlash and low resolution encoders is one such case. Fortunately tuning linear actuators is pretty easy. Call in and we'll walk you though it if that is the case.

[lsayed]

Solved, it was just calibration and channel matter, all good now it goes forward and backward, I was calibration my transmitter i a wrong way

Thank you heaps lovely support people

[Basicmicro Support]

Good to here. Let me know if you need anything else.