Locking a Motor

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Ether

The braking torque is proportional to speed.

Yes, because the 'brake' is simply a short across the motor which is acting as a generator, causing the generator to have a load which slows it down. But only when it is moving, and when moving slow the effect is minimal.

Anthony, you need to find a different solution to lock the motor in place, in general adding a little power to hold the motor still is not good for the motor (it gets hot, sometimes too hot).

[Poseidon5817]

You could do it mechanically or set it to hold its position with a PID loop.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

to hold the motor still is not good for the motor (it gets hot, sometimes too hot).

Originally Posted by Poseidon1671

You could do it mechanically or set it to hold its position with a PID loop.

Mechanically is a good idea. PID loop maybe not so much.

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Mechanically is a good idea. PID loop maybe not so much.

I like mechanical. Take a look at the CAD of 118's robot from a couple years ago (don't remember exactly which year). They had a mechanical gear brake in their drive system.