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Betz Drive

An Open Source Actuator for Robotics Research and Development

All-In-One

The design of Betz Drive was intended to pursue low-cost motor controllers capable of both running a brushless DC motor and collecting necessary data for controlling a complex robot. The project started as and remains the core of blue robot. As such, the controller contains a variety of devices and sensors built into one board.

  • 6-axis IMU
  • 3-Phase Current Sense
  • On-axis Encoder
  • Temperature Sensor

The most unique feature of Betz Drive is the 'disco-bus', a pass-through connector built in which carries power, communications and a special enumeration pin. This system allows quick and easy serial connection of a set of motor controller boards that does not rely on unique identifiers. Each board is serialized on boot and maintains that identification number during operation. In the event of a fault, the identifier is stored in EEPROM which will restore the ID and continue operation.

Specs

Power Requirements

  • Operating Range (24V - 48V DC)
  • Operating Current (3.5A continuous, 6.5A peak)
    • Generally used with high-impedance gimbal motors.

Devices

  • Microcontroller (STM32F405)
  • Driver (DRV8312)
  • Current Sensors (INA253)
  • Encoder (AS5047U)
  • Temperature Sensor (MCP9808)

Connectors

  • Power [V+, GND]
  • Serial over RS485 [D+, D-] (custom protocol)
  • Disco Bus [In or Out] (spec)
    • The input is the connection surrounded by capacitors

Dimensions

  • Single board: 60mm x 60mm x 13.8mm
  • Double stack: 60mm x 60mm x 20mm
  • Holes: 52mm separation (square)

Images