Thread: PID How to hold an arm in a fixed position without a locking gear box
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Unread 24-01-2007, 03:03
eugenebrooks eugenebrooks is offline
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Re: PID How to hold an arm in a fixed position without a locking gear box
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian_Xodus View Post
Thank you for all of your input but my question has still not really been answered.
do you guys build your own gearboxes for the globe motors?
Do you use any special programming to make the motor stay slightly engaged to keep the arm up?
Do you use globe motors, van door, or window?
Generally, it is best to design your mechanical system so that continuous motor power is not required to have the arm hold its position. Doing this pretty much boils down to using a worm gear setup to prevent back drive, whether it be one of the motors in the KOP that has a worm gear built into it, or by building your own worm gear setup that is driven by one of the other gear boxes available in the kit such as the banebots unit. We use either of these options, depending on how much power and torque we need to support with the mechanism.

The control software then uses a small dead band window. Once the motor gets the arm into the window the power can be completely shut off in order to prevent overheating. The FP and the motors on the small bane bots gear boxes will overheat quickly if run at stall.

Have fun,
Eugene
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